Silence

 Zephry sat on the edge of her bed, the small light from her desk lamp casting shadows across the room. She was surrounded by the comforting stillness of the night, away from the noise of school, away from the endless chatter of people who barely noticed she existed. This was her space—quiet, calm, and safe.

Her phone buzzed softly on the table next to her, pulling her out of her thoughts. She almost didn't check it, assuming it was nothing important—another notification or something from the group chats she never bothered to read. But something made her glance over, and when she saw Aerith's name on the screen, her heart gave a small, unexpected jolt.

*Aerith? Why is she texting me?*

For a moment, Zephry stared at the single word: *"Hey."* It was simple, but coming from Aerith, it felt out of place—like a glitch in the normal order of things. They had never spoken, not really. Not in all the years they'd been in the same classes. Aerith had always been part of that world—Jake, Hazel, Holden, Lola. The world Zephry watched from the sidelines but never joined.

She picked up the phone, rereading the message a few times. Was it a mistake? Maybe Aerith had meant to text someone else and sent it to her by accident. But the more Zephry thought about it, the more it didn't seem like an accident. The way Aerith had looked at her earlier in the hallway like she was finally noticing her after all these years—there had been something in her eyes, a kind of desperation.

Zephry didn't respond right away. She wasn't sure if she should. She liked the distance she had from people like Aerith and her friends. They lived in a different reality, one filled with drama, love triangles, and betrayal. Zephry had seen enough of their tangled messes from the outside to know she didn't want to get involved.

And yet...

A small part of her was curious. Why now? Why, after all these years of being invisible to Aerith, was she reaching out? Was it because of Jake? Because of Hazel? Zephry had seen the way they acted around each other, and even though she tried to stay out of the drama, she wasn't blind to what was going on. The group had been slowly fracturing for a while now, and Zephry had a feeling Aerith was starting to notice.

Her fingers hovered over the keyboard. She didn't want to get pulled into whatever was happening between Aerith and Jake—or anyone else for that matter. But something about that text, that one word, gnawed at her. It wasn't like Aerith to reach out to someone like her. Aerith was the type of girl who always had people around her, always had someone to turn to. If she was texting Zephry, it meant something had changed.

Finally, after a few more moments of hesitation, Zephry typed back a simple response: "Hey."

She hit send before she could overthink it, watching the message go through and wondering what would happen next. Her stomach tightened slightly with unease. This wasn't her world, and she had no intention of stepping into it. But for some reason, Aerith had opened the door, and now Zephry had responded.

She set the phone down again, trying to shake off the strange feeling that had settled over her. She wasn't sure what Aerith wanted, but whatever it was, Zephry couldn't imagine it was good. 

Aerith's response came quicker than Zephry had expected.

"Sorry if this is weird. I just... didn't know who else to talk to."

Zephry stared at the screen, her brow furrowing. *Didn't know who else to talk to?* That was even more surprising. Aerith, the girl who had always been surrounded by people, was turning to *her*? The girl no one even noticed unless they needed something quiet or forgotten.

Zephry's fingers hovered over the phone again, her mind racing. She could ignore it. Pretend she hadn't seen it. That would be the smart thing to do. But something stopped her. Aerith sounded... different. Fragile, almost. Not like the girl she had seen laughing with her friends or whispering with Jake in the hallways. It was like Aerith was finally seeing the cracks in her perfect world.

But what could Zephry do about it? She wasn't part of their group, and she had no interest in getting involved with their problems. 

*Still...*

Zephry sighed, leaning back against her pillow as she typed a reply. *"What's going on?"*

She kept the message short, still unsure about getting too involved. But the truth was, part of her wanted to know. Part of her wanted to see what was happening behind those perfect smiles and whispered secrets. Maybe, for once, she wasn't just watching from the sidelines.