---
Rea Jones hated crowds.
The way bodies pressed too close, the noise that swelled like a storm, the feeling of being trapped with no escape—it was suffocating. And yet, here she was, standing in the main hallway of Ridgewood High, surrounded by hundreds of students who didn't even notice she existed.
Her fingers curled around the straps of her backpack as she tried to steady her breathing. One step at a time. Just move. But her feet refused.
The school smelled like pencil shavings and over-perfumed teenagers, the air thick with voices that blurred together. Lockers slammed, laughter rang out, and someone shouted across the hall. Rea flinched at the sudden noise, hugging her arms closer to her chest.
She had rehearsed this morning a hundred times—walking in, finding her locker, making it to homeroom without drawing attention. But reality was messier than she'd imagined.
A group of students brushed past her, nearly knocking her aside. She stumbled, her sneakers squeaking against the tile.
"Watch it," a girl muttered before disappearing into the crowd.
Rea swallowed hard, heat crawling up her neck. Invisible, just like always.
Taking a shaky breath, she forced herself forward, head down, feet moving. Her locker was somewhere in this hallway. She just had to find it.
---
New School, Same Rules
The combination lock spun under her fingers, smooth and cold. It took three tries before the door finally creaked open. She stuffed her books inside, her hands trembling slightly.
No sudden movements. No eye contact. Blend in. Don't stand out.
Those were the rules she had lived by at her last school, and they had served her well. No one noticed the quiet girl in the back of the room. No one asked questions.
She wished Ridgewood would be the same, but a sinking feeling told her things were about to be different.
"Hey, new girl!"
Rea stiffened. She hadn't even been here an hour, and someone had already noticed her. Slowly, she turned.
A girl with caramel skin and dark, wavy hair stood a few feet away, her arms crossed over her chest. Her sharp brown eyes studied Rea like she was a puzzle waiting to be solved.
"You look lost," the girl said, her tone more curious than unkind.
Rea hesitated. Was this a trap? Some kind of cruel joke? She forced herself to shake her head. "I—uh, I'm fine."
The girl raised an eyebrow, clearly unconvinced. "You sure? 'Cause you've been standing at your locker for like five minutes, and you look like you're about to pass out."
Heat crept up Rea's face. She lowered her gaze, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. "Just... first-day nerves."
The girl smirked. "Fair enough. I'm Elena. And you're...?"
Rea hesitated before answering. "Rea."
"Well, Rea, consider yourself lucky. You just made your first friend."
Friend? That word felt foreign, unfamiliar. People didn't just declare friendship like that.
Before Rea could process it, Elena slung an arm around her shoulders, steering her away from the lockers. Rea tensed at the sudden contact, but Elena didn't seem to notice.
"C'mon, I'll show you to homeroom. You'll get eaten alive if you wander alone in this place."
Rea didn't argue. She let herself be led, not sure if she was more terrified or relieved.
---
By some miracle, Rea survived her first few classes. She sat in the back, avoided eye contact, and tried to ignore the way her heart pounded every time she was called on.
Lunchtime, however, was a different kind of nightmare.
The cafeteria was chaos—students packed into tables, voices overlapping, trays clattering. The sheer volume of it made her head spin.
She gripped her tray tightly, scanning the room for an empty table, but there was no such thing.
"Rea!"
She turned to see Elena waving her over. Relief flooded through her as she hurried toward the table.
Elena sat beside a boy with shaggy brown hair, sketching absentmindedly in a notebook. He barely looked up as Rea sat down.
"This is Milo," Elena introduced. "Milo, this is Rea—the new girl I told you about."
Milo glanced up, giving her a lazy smile. "Hey." Then he went right back to drawing.
Rea wasn't sure what to say, so she focused on her food. The noise still made her anxious, but sitting here—where she wasn't alone—made it bearable.
Elena chatted easily, occasionally pulling Milo into the conversation. He responded with quiet, thoughtful comments, his attention half on his sketchbook.
"Do you draw?" Milo asked suddenly, glancing at Rea.
She blinked, caught off guard. "Um... no."
Milo just nodded, as if he had already expected that answer.
The conversation moved on, but something about Milo intrigued her. He didn't seem to care about fitting in or standing out—he was just himself.
Rea wished she knew what that felt like.
---
Aster Westwood
The first time Rea saw Aster Westwood, he was leaning against the lockers, his dark blue hoodie pulled up, hands tucked into his pockets.
There was something about him—something untouchable. He had the kind of presence that made people look twice.
She didn't mean to stare, but for some reason, she couldn't look away.
Aster's gaze flickered toward her, and for a brief second, their eyes met.
Her heart stuttered. She immediately looked down, pretending to be fascinated by the floor.
Don't be stupid, Rea. Someone like Aster Westwood was not meant for someone like her.
But fate had a funny way of ignoring the rules.
---
Rea spent the next few days at Ridgewood High trying to follow her usual rules—stay quiet, stay invisible, don't attract attention. But between Elena's relentless friendliness and Milo's quiet curiosity, she found herself being pulled into a world she wasn't used to.
And then there was Aster.
She didn't mean to notice him. But he was there—in the hallways, in the cafeteria, even in her English class, where he sat two rows ahead of her, always looking like he was somewhere else entirely.
Rea knew his type. The kind of boy who didn't care about school but somehow managed to scrape by. The kind with a reputation that followed him, whether he wanted it or not.
But there was something about him that didn't quite fit the rumors.
Like the way he always seemed to be alone, despite the fact that everyone seemed to know his name. Or the way he sometimes stared out the window like he was waiting for something just out of reach.
She shouldn't care. She didn't care.
But the problem with being invisible was that it gave her too much time to see the people who weren't.
---
"Alright, class, let's do some peer work today," Mrs. Caldwell announced, clapping her hands together. "Everyone pair up!"
Rea's stomach dropped. No, no, no—
She hadn't figured out how to handle these situations yet. At her old school, people ignored her, so she could work alone. Here, things were different.
Elena and Milo weren't in this class.
Panic crept up her spine as students paired off around her. Desks scraped against the floor, voices buzzed with excitement.
She kept her head down, hoping the teacher would let her sit this one out.
But then—
"Hey."
A shadow fell over her desk. Rea looked up and froze.
Aster Westwood.
She stared at him, unable to form a single coherent thought. He was looking at her like it was the most normal thing in the world, like they knew each other.
"Guess we're partners," he said, sliding into the seat next to her.
Rea's mind short-circuited.
This isn't happening.
But it was.
Aster leaned back in his chair, tapping a pencil against the desk. "So, are you gonna say anything, or are we just gonna sit here?"
Rea's mouth opened, but no words came out.
Aster smirked. "Not much of a talker, huh?"
She gripped the edges of her desk. "I—I just wasn't expecting—"
"Me?" His expression was unreadable. "Yeah, I get that a lot."
Rea wasn't sure what to say to that, so she didn't say anything.
For a second, silence stretched between them. Then Aster sighed and glanced at the worksheet in front of them.
"Alright, new girl. Let's get this over with."
Rea wished she could disappear.
But for the first time in her life, it felt like someone saw her. And she wasn't sure if that terrified her or thrilled her.
Maybe both.
---
Over the next few weeks, Rea fell into an uneasy rhythm.
Elena and Milo became constants in her life, making it impossible for her to retreat back into the safety of solitude. Elena dragged her into conversations, into study sessions, into plans that Rea never would have agreed to if she had been given more time to think.
Milo was quieter, but he had a way of asking questions that made Rea feel like he actually wanted to know the answers.
And Aster…
Aster was something else entirely.
It started with small things. A shared glance in the hallway. A passing comment in English class. The way he always seemed to notice when she was uncomfortable, even when no one else did.
She told herself it didn't mean anything.
But then one afternoon, everything changed.
---
Rea was sitting on the bleachers behind the school, trying to breathe. The day had been overwhelming—too many people, too much noise, too much everything.
She didn't expect anyone to find her.
But then—
"You always hide out here?"
She jumped. Aster was standing a few steps away, hands in his pockets, watching her with an unreadable expression.
Rea's heart pounded. "I—I just needed some air."
Aster nodded like he understood. And maybe he did, because instead of leaving, he sat down next to her.
They sat in silence for a long time.
Then Aster spoke. "You don't like crowds." It wasn't a question.
Rea hesitated, then shook her head. "No."
Aster exhaled, running a hand through his dark hair. "Yeah. I get that."
Something about the way he said it made Rea look at him. He wasn't just saying it to fill the silence. He meant it.
"Why are you here?" she asked before she could stop herself.
Aster was quiet for a moment. Then he smirked. "Maybe I just like ruining your alone time."
Rea rolled her eyes, but there was something different about this moment—something that made her feel seen in a way she hadn't before.
And that was dangerous.
Because Aster Westwood was the kind of boy she was never supposed to fall for.
But sitting here, next to him, with the whole world fading into the background…
She wasn't sure if she had a choice.
---
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