Chapter Six: Shared Silence
The next day felt quieter.
Not because the world was quieter—but because Feifei was.
She moved through school like she was wrapped in glass, careful not to let anything touch too deeply. She answered questions when called on, kept her head down, and avoided unnecessary conversations.
At lunch, she walked to her usual spot under the tree at the far end of the compound.
She liked it there because it was out of the way. Because no one expected her to be social. Because silence didn't feel like rejection when she chose it herself.
She sat down and opened her lunch slowly.
Then she sensed it.
A presence.
Feifei looked up.
Kael stood a few steps away, his posture relaxed, eyes unreadable.
"Can I sit?" he asked.
She hesitated for half a second before nodding. "Sure."
He sat beside her, leaving just enough space to be respectful. They ate in silence, the sounds of distant laughter and chatter filling the air around them.
Minutes passed.
Feifei waited for the awkwardness to arrive.
It didn't.
Kael didn't force conversation. Didn't stare. Didn't act like silence needed fixing.
Strangely, that made it easier to breathe.
"You always sit here," he said eventually.
She nodded. "It's quiet."
"I like that," he replied.
Feifei glanced at him, surprised. "Most people don't."
He shrugged slightly. "Most people talk to avoid thinking."
That hit closer than she expected.
They fell quiet again.
Feifei realized she wasn't tense. Her shoulders weren't tight. Her chest didn't feel as heavy as it usually did around people.
It scared her.
"Do you ever get tired?" she asked suddenly, before she could stop herself.
Kael turned to look at her fully now. "Of what?"
"Of pretending you're okay," she said, her voice barely above a whisper.
For a moment, she thought she'd crossed a line.
Then Kael looked away, jaw tightening just slightly.
"All the time," he said.
The honesty in his voice made her throat tighten.
They didn't say anything else after that.
But something settled between them—an understanding that didn't need explaining.
When the bell rang, they stood up together.
"I'll see you around," Kael said.
Feifei nodded. "Yeah."
As she walked back to class, she realized something important.
She hadn't laughed.
She hadn't cried.
She hadn't pretended.
She had just been.
And for the first time in a long while, that felt like enough.