School was the only place Elara could breathe.
Not because it was safe.
But because it was anonymous.
Students filled the hallways.
Voices echoed.
No one noticed the quiet girl sitting in the back of every class.
Which was exactly how she preferred it.
At lunch, she sat alone beneath a tree.
Her notebook rested on her lap.
Inside it were formulas.
Complex models.
Encrypted ideas.
If anyone else saw them…
They might realize something.
She flipped to the latest page.
The market crash prediction.
The numbers still bothered her.
There were missing variables.
Someone could influence the system.
Someone powerful.
She was writing another equation when a voice suddenly interrupted.
"You know that's not high school math."
Elara looked up.
A girl with short black hair stood beside the bench.
Her expression was curious.
"And that algorithm," the girl continued, pointing at the notebook, "looks suspiciously like a financial prediction model."
Elara slowly closed the notebook.
"Who are you?"
The girl grinned.
"Maya Santos."
She sat down beside Elara.
"And you're either a genius…"
Her eyes sparkled.
"Or someone building something very dangerous."
Elara studied her carefully.
"How do you know what this is?"
Maya shrugged.
"I've hacked enough financial servers to recognize patterns."
Silence.
Then Maya leaned closer.
"So tell me."
Her voice dropped to a whisper.
"What exactly are you predicting?"
Elara hesitated.
But something about Maya felt different.
Not threatening.
Curious.
She opened the notebook again.
And pointed to the graph.
Maya stared.
Her smile slowly faded.
"That's…"
She swallowed.
"That's a global crash prediction."
Elara nodded.
Maya looked up.
"Please tell me you're joking."
Elara didn't answer.
Because the numbers never lied.