The moment I sat beside her, Anaya turned toward me like she'd been waiting for this seating arrangement since birth.
"Oh good," she whispered. "You don't look boring."
I blinked. "Um... thanks?"
"Don't thank me yet. You might still disappoint me."
Before I could respond, the teacher started taking attendance. I opened my notebook to the first blank page.
And then—
A tiny spark slipped out of my fingertip.
Barely a flicker.
Barely a hiss.
But the corner of the page browned.
A thin curl of smoke rose up before I slapped the notebook shut.
My heart punched against my ribs.
Not here.
Not now.
I looked up.
Anaya was staring at my notebook as if it had just started giving TED Talks.
"...Did your book just SMOKE?" she demanded.
"No."
"It did."
"It didn't."
She tapped her glasses. "I have eyes. They work."
"You have specs," I muttered. "So technically you have four eyes. Maybe you're seeing double."
She gasped dramatically.
"Did you just roast me with budget math?! ON DAY ONE?"
"It was a joke."
"It was a CHAPTER TITLE," she corrected. "Don't move, I'm writing this down."
She scribbled in her notebook:
Observation #1 — Tejas makes paper smoke and lies about it. Suspicious.
"It didn't smoke," I insisted.
She raised an eyebrow. "Bro. I SAW it."
"I don't know what you think you saw."
"Then why did you slap the notebook shut like it owed you money?"
I froze.
She leaned closer, whispering, "Relax. I'm only, like... 80% convinced you're a fire hazard."
"Eighty?!"
"It was ninety before the specs joke. You bought some goodwill."
I buried my face in my hands.
Then the teacher turned to write on the board.
Behind her hand, Anaya whispered:
"Welcome to 11-B. We're going to get along GREAT."
I wasn't sure if she meant great or chaotic.
Probably both.
DAY 2
Anaya greeted me like we'd known each other for ten years.
"Morning, fire hazard!"
"What?"
"Your notebook smoked yesterday. I'm giving you a nickname."
"It didn't smoke."
"It DID," she insisted. "I SAW IT. With my four eyes, remember?"
I facepalmed.
She scooted closer. "Fine. If you won't admit it... then I will observe."
"Observe what?"
"You."
"No."
"Yes."
"No."
She wrote in her notebook:
Observation 2: Denial. Suspicious.
I groaned.
When the teacher asked us to solve a chemical equation on the board, Anaya elbowed me.
"Go. Show them your genius."
"I'm not a genius."
"Everyone who denies being smart IS smart. That's math."
"That's not math."
"Says the genius."
I ended up going to the board anyway. A few students whispered.
"New kid?"
"He looks serious."
"He probably toppled a lamp and burned a wall or something."
"Shut up, Kabir."
Kabir.
The boy with the expensive haircut and the teacher's favorite voice.
He smirked.
Anaya whispered, "Avoid him. He's allergic to humility."
I solved the equation quickly. When I returned, people stared—not at me, but at the desk where my hand had rested.
The surface looked... slightly warmer.
Faintly discolored.
Not burnt.
Just... heated.
Anaya tapped it.
"Ohooooo."
"It's nothing," I whispered.
"It's NOT nothing," she hissed. "Desks don't heat themselves. Unless this school is HAUNTED. Is it haunted? I hope it's haunted."
"It's not haunted."
"Hmph. Says the guy heating furniture."
My chest tightened.
I tried to calm myself.
Deep breath in.
Deep breath out.
The warmth faded from the desk.
Anaya's eyes widened.
"...That was weird," she whispered softly. "You got calmer... and the heat went away."
She looked at me like she'd seen a ghost.
But before she could say more, the bell rang.
DAY 3
By the third morning, Anaya was convinced she was starring in a detective show.
She slammed her notebook on the desk. The front said Casefile #01: Tejas? (Possibly supernatural) with a smiley face beside it.
"Good morning," she sang, "you beautiful enigma."
"Stop calling me weird names."
"I will stop when you stop being weird."
She leaned forward. "Yesterday. You panicked. Desk heated. Then you calmed down. Desk cooled. Science? Coincidence? Demons?"
I sighed. "Just drop it."
"No."
"Anaya—"
"Nope."
"Please."
"Nope times infinity."
I rubbed my forehead. She watched me like a hawk.
But something strange happened.
When she teased me more—really pushed—
I didn't flare up.
I didn't heat.
Instead—
I cooled down.
And the spark...
did nothing.
Anaya frowned. "Why... aren't you reacting today?"
"I don't react to nonsense," I muttered.
She slapped her desk. "OH. MY. GOD."
"What?"
"You get stronger when you're CALM."
"What?!"
"Yesterday you heated stuff when you panicked. Today you're zoning out and nothing is happening. Oh this is BIG. This is a PLOT TWIST."
I stared at her, horrified.
How could she connect dots THIS fast!?
She scribbled furiously in her notebook.
I leaned forward and whispered, "Please don't tell anyone."
Her scribbling stopped mid-stroke.
She closed the notebook gently and tucked it in her bag.
"Tejas," she said softly, "I'm not stupid. I know you're hiding something. But I'm not going to tell anyone."
"Why?"
"Because I'm not your enemy."
Something in my chest softened.
Something else flickered inside me.
Not heat.
Not fire.
Something calmer.
Like a warm glow that didn't seek to escape.
Before I could say anything, she elbowed me. "But I AM going to find out eventually. I'm nosy."
I couldn't help it.
I smiled.
....
Three boys pushed past us in the corridor. The smallest one among them flinched visibly but didn't complain.
Anaya's eyes followed him.
"That's Nithin," she whispered. "He's... complicated."
"What do you mean?"
"He gets picked on a lot. People say things about his family."
"What things?"
She shrugged uncomfortably. "Rumors. Sad stuff. You'll see."
I felt a faint tremble in my chest.
A ripple of heat.
Not dangerous—just familiar.
I forced myself to breathe.
Calm.
Stay calm.
Calm is control.
The tremble faded.
Anaya noticed.
Of course she did.
She quietly wrote something on her notebook:
"His fire listens to calm."
I pretended not to see.