The next day Noxan arrived at school ten minutes early again.
Sylas was already in the classroom. Only three other students were there ,the quiet kind of silence that feels like everyone is trying not to breathe too loud.
Noxan walked to his seat and opened his phone.
The others froze for a second. His phone had been the silent spark that led to everything yesterday , the unspoken "spying" rumor that sent the whole room into a storm.
But he didn't open the camera. He opened a game. Loud, obvious, unmistakable.
He wanted them to see it.
He wanted yesterday's whispers to die out.
Students slowly filled the room.
Some looked at him disturbed.
Some looked at Sylas with confusion.
Everyone had theories.
Everyone thought they "knew" something.
Noxan didn't care. Let them think. Let them be wrong.
Then the door opened.
Not the lesson teacher , but the class teacher and the school's social teacher.
"Circle of chairs," they said.
A quiet shock ran through the room.
The class teacher started:
"We all know something happened yesterday. But we don't know the intentions. That's why we're here."
Sylas spoke first.
His voice was small but steady:
"Noxan said 'eww why would I take pictures of Sylas', and that… hurt.
Not because of the words, but because it felt like he called me ugly.
But later he cried… way more than he should've. I don't know why he was that hurt."
The teacher looked confused.
The social teacher didn't.
"Noxan? Please explain."
Noxan took a breath that shook a little.
"I wasn't calling Sylas ugly. I reacted because I didn't want to be shipped with another boy.
I didn't think. I didn't mean it.
Later, when his friends warned me… I realized I hurt him.
I don't want to hurt people anymore. Not here. Not in this school.
I've already hurt too many people in my life.
And Sylas… he was one of the last boys here who never experienced pain in school.
And then I caused the first."
His voice cracked.
"When he slapped me, it felt… real. Like the damage I caused was real.
And that's why I wanted to run. To escape. To jump..
And then everything went black."
The room was dead silent.
The kind of silence where even dust in the sun looks frozen.
The social teacher finally spoke:
"This wasn't something evil. This wasn't bullying.
This was a human reflex that got misunderstood and escalated.
Noxan, please come with me to my office."