Ruz's POV
I pushed the door open and stepped into grade 12 high school section C, room 203.
The moment I walked in, a few heads turned in my direction.
Then more.
Then, predictably, the whispers started.
New girl effect. It followed me everywhere, like a shadow I had never asked for and could never shake.
I walked straight to an empty seat near the window, placed my bag down with deliberate care, and sat.
Simple. Quiet. Controlled.
Just the way I liked it.
"Hey."
That was fast.
I looked up from the desk, A boy had appeared beside my desk like he had been summoned from thin air. Messy black hair fell across his forehead. His smile was bright,
"You're new, right?" he asked, like it was the most obvious conclusion in the world.
I blinked once, slowly.
"…No," I said calmly. "I just enjoy walking into random classrooms."
He froze.
For one beautiful second, his smile faltered and his brain visibly short circuited.
"…Oh."
A full second passed in uncomfortable silence.
Then his eyes widened dramatically. "WAIT, you're joking, right?!"
I nodded, just slightly. "Finally."
He let out a loud laugh, scratching the back of his head with an embarrassed grin. "Okay, good. I was about to question my entire intelligence."
I leaned back in my chair just a little. "You probably should anyway."
He placed a hand on his chest like I had just insulted his entire bloodline, three generations back. "Wow. First day and you're already attacking me?"
"Relax," I said flatly. "I'm being friendly."
His grin returned, wider than before. "If this is your friendly, I'm actually scared to see your rudeness."
"Smart."
Without asking permission, he pulled the chair in front of my desk, turned it around, and sat down facing me. Like we had known each other for years. Bold. Very bold.
I raised an eyebrow but said nothing.
"I'm Liam Castillo," he announced, extending a hand that I did not take. "Officially your first friend in this class."
I looked at him. "Who said you're my friend?"
"I did."
No hesitation. No doubt. Just pure, unfiltered confidence.
I studied him for a second. His eyes were warm, not calculating. His smile was genuine, not practiced. He wasn't trying to prove anything or get anything from me. He just… wanted to talk.
"…Confident," I said finally.
"Very," he agreed.
Before I could reply, the classroom door opened again, and the atmosphere shifted.
Teacher Arrival
"Good morning, class," the teacher said as he walked to the front of the room.
Everyone straightened slightly in their seats, the casual chaos of moments ago folding neatly into something more respectable. "Good morning, sir," the class responded in uneven unison.
The teacher's gaze moved across the room with the slow precision of someone who had done this for many years and missed very little. It stopped on me, of course.
"You must be the new student."
I stood up, my chair scraping softly against the floor. "Yes, sir."
"Introduce yourself."
I glanced around the room. Curious faces everywhere. Some interested, some bored, some already judging from behind carefully neutral expressions. Typical. Nothing I hadn't seen before.
"My name is Ruzelle Richelle Cruz," I said, my voice steady and even. "You can call me Ruzelle. I just transferred."
And I sat back down.
Silence.
Then whispers erupted like small fires across the room.
"That's it?"
"So short…"
"She didn't even say anything else about herself."
Beside me, Liam leaned closer and lowered his voice to a conspiratorial whisper. "You just gave the shortest introduction in the history of this school."
I kept my eyes forward. "I don't like long speeches."
"…I like you already," he said, and I could hear the grin in his voice without looking at him.
Class… Kind Of
A few minutes into the lesson, when the teacher's voice had settled into the familiar rhythm of someone explaining something that half the class would forget by tomorrow, a piece of paper slid onto my desk.
I glanced sideways without moving my head.
Liam. Of course.
I unfolded the paper under the cover of my textbook and read his messy handwriting:
Important question: Do you always talk like this or am I special?
I picked up a pen and wrote back in small, neat letters:
"You're not special."
I folded the paper and slid it back without looking at him.
I heard him open it. Heard the soft exhale that might have been a laugh.
Then the paper returned.
"That hurts. I'm wounded. Emotionally destroyed."
I wrote back:
"You'll survive."
Another return:
"Will I though?"
I almost smiled. Almost.
Instead, I took the paper one more time and added another line before sliding it back:
"But you're entertaining."
He read it. I could feel him reading it. And when I finally glanced over, he was smiling like he had just won something valuable.
"I'll take that," he whispered.
A few minutes later, a pen dropped loudly from the back of the room.
The sound echoed through the sudden silence sharp, unexpected, almost aggressive. Half the class flinched. Someone even cursed under their breath, the word just loud enough to make a few people stifle laughs.
I didn't move. Didn't react. Didn't care.
Liam slowly turned his head toward me, his expression curious. "…You didn't react."
I looked at him. "Should I?"
"…Most people do." His voice was quieter now, like he was studying me rather than just talking to me.
I gave a small, almost invisible smile. "I'm not most people."
He stared at me for a second longer than necessary, his eyes searching my face for something I wasn't sure I wanted him to find. Then he leaned back in his chair, a new kind of amusement coloring his expression.
"Yeah," he said quietly. "I figured that out already."
After that we paid attention to the teacher's lesson. The bell rang, and all the students spoke in uneven unison, "See you again, Sir!"
The teacher smiled warmly and replied, "See you again, kids and Don't forget your homework."
The classroom slowly filled with laughter and the sound of moving chairs as the students hurried out,
Chairs moved in every direction. Bags zipped open and closed. The volume of coversation rising from a murmur to a roar in the span of three seconds.
Liam stood up and stretched dramatically, his arms reaching toward the ceiling like a cat waking from a long nap.
"So," he said, dropping his arms and turning to me with renewed energy, "as your officially self declared best friend, I will now guide you around this school."
I stood up, pulled my wallet out of my bag like it was some priceless treasure, and started walking toward the door as if the entire world was waiting for my grand exit."I don't remember agreeing to that."
"You didn't," he said easily, falling into step beside me "I agreed for you. It's much more efficient this way."
I walked past him into the hallway.
"…You're annoying."
He followed immediately, matching my pace without any apparent effort. "And yet, you didn't say no."
I stopped walking.
Turned slightly to face him.
"…I'm considering it," I said.
He grinned, wide and unshakable. "Too late. We're already friends. The paperwork has been filed. It's official."
I shook my head and started walking again.
But a small smile slipped through anyway, uninvited and unwelcome.
Something… Different
As we walked down the hallway together, something felt different.
Lighter. Less tense. Less carefully controlled.
Strange. Very strange.
Maybe this place wouldn't be that boring after all.
But I knew better than to trust that feeling. Normal never lasted. Peace never lasted. Every time I started to feel comfortable somewhere, something happened to remind me why I stopped trying in the first place.
Still.
For now, this was fine.
In my old school, I wasn't like this.
I was loud. Mischievous. Short tempered. Chaotic in a way that made my aunt Regina Cruz sigh and my uncle Antonio Cruz laugh and Adrian threaten to lock me in a closet for some peace and quiet. But that version of me only appeared with people I trusted. My aunt, who had take care of me like I was her own daughter. My uncle, who never once made me feel like a burden. And Adrian..
With everyone else, I kept my distance. Always. It was easier that way. Safer. Less to lose when things fell apart.
My aunt told me to change. To try. To talk more. To let people in, just a little. To live normally, whatever that meant.
I didn't know if I could. But I would try.
For her, for my tita.
I tightened my grip on my bag slightly, the memory pressing against the edges of my mind like it always did. Then I let it go. Pushed it down. Buried it where it belonged.
For now, I would start with one thing.
"Hey," I said, glancing at Liam as we walked.
He turned immediately, his attention snapping to me like I had just said something important. "Yeah?"
"…Don't call yourself my best friend yet."
He blinked, momentarily caught off guard.
Then he smiled not the loud, performative grin from before, but something smaller and more real.
"Okay," he said. "I'll earn it first. Then upgrade later."
I almost rolled my eyes.
Almost.
But I didn't.
Maybe this wouldn't be easy.
But at least, with Liam around, it wouldn't be boring.