Aria walked through the crowded campus, her footsteps barely making a sound against the worn stone path.
Head down, oversized glasses resting on the bridge of her nose, she clutched her textbooks tightly against her chest.
Her mind was always somewhere else—lost in the intricate world of robotics and AI, where the clashing of metal and code felt far safer than the unpredictable cruelty of human interaction.
Today was no different. The fall breeze stirred the auburn strands of her hair, her dark eyes hidden behind her glasses, darting nervously as she passed groups of students.
They laughed, oblivious to her presence. Most people didn’t see Aria. And if they did, they certainly didn't care.
Except for them.
“Look, it’s her again.” The voice was sharp, cutting through the idle chatter of the courtyard like a blade.
Aria’s breath hitched as she glanced toward the group gathered under the oak tree. Claire, the queen bee of the social hive, smirked, her perfect nails tapping against her phone.
The others quickly joined in, their voices low but biting as they whispered about Aria, the "campus nerd."
“Surprised she can walk and read at the same time,” Claire snickered. “I mean, with a brain so heavy from all those numbers.”
Aria quickened her pace, heart racing, cheeks burning under the weight of their mocking laughter. But she didn’t stop. She wouldn’t give them the satisfaction. After all, she wasn’t just another girl they could push around.
She was Aria. Top of her class. The genius who’d built a functioning AI in her sophomore year. The one who created a machine that could think—maybe even feel. But in moments like this, her intelligence felt like a curse rather than a blessing.
Claire's voice echoed behind her, fading as she put more distance between them. “I bet even robots don’t want to hang out with her. Freak.”
Aria gritted her teeth, her fingers clenching around her textbooks. They didn’t know.
They could never understand what it meant to be different, to have a mind constantly spiraling into ideas, to see the world as more than just parties and popularity contests.
But their words, no matter how insignificant, still stung.
Here, among the quiet hum of intellect, she was safe. She could breathe.
But even here, the shadows of their cruelty lingered.
Aria Jensen:
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At 19, Aria was already considered a prodigy by many of her professors. She’d spent countless nights in her lab, tweaking her creations, dreaming of a future where humans and technology could coexist.
