Unreadable Hints

The Girl Who Never Noticed

The day had a familiar chill, like the kind that seeped into the walls of high school corridors, heavy with unspoken words and secrets lurking in glances. Adrian leaned against his locker, watching the usual flow of students, lost in his own thoughts until he caught sight of her.

Ella Wright walked down the hallway, hugging her books close to her chest, eyes fixed straight ahead, avoiding anyone who dared to look her way. To most, she seemed like a ghost, invisible yet present in the spaces between laughter and whispers. But to Adrian, she was someone he couldn't quite ignore, no matter how much he tried. There was something in her solitude, the way she distanced herself from everyone, that made him curious. He noticed the way she clutched her books as if they were her shield, her armor against a world that hadn't been kind.

She sat alone at lunch, picked at her food in silence, and left without a word. It wasn't that she seemed sad—more like she was lost, in a world only she could see. She didn’t seem to care for the conversations or connections that filled everyone else's days. She never looked up, never responded to the whispers that chased her as she passed by. To others, she was invisible. But to Adrian, she was the girl who never noticed, the girl who lived in a bubble he couldn’t understand.

And maybe that was why, one afternoon, he found himself walking over to her table in the library, where she always sat alone. He wasn't sure what he'd say or even why he was doing it. He just knew he wanted to break through that silence, to see what was on the other side.

"Hi," he said, his voice breaking the quiet of the library. She looked up, startled, as if she hadn't expected anyone to be there. For a moment, there was only silence, the kind that weighed heavy, filled with things unspoken.

She blinked, her gaze shifting from her book to him, her expression blank and unreadable. "Hi," she replied softly, almost as if she were afraid to disturb the stillness.

He tried to smile, feeling a bit out of place under her quiet gaze. "I just thought… you looked like you could use some company."

Ella looked down, her fingers tracing the edges of her book, a nervous habit he’d started to notice. "I’m fine," she murmured. "I’m just… reading."

Adrian nodded, not wanting to push too hard. "Yeah, I get it. Books are… easier, sometimes." He waited, hoping she'd say something more, anything that might crack the shell she wore so carefully. But she simply nodded, eyes drifting back to her page, as if he’d already faded from her world.

He walked away, feeling the sting of her indifference, yet somehow more intrigued than before. She was a mystery he wanted to understand, a riddle that lingered long after he left. And as he left the library that day, he couldn’t shake the feeling that, for some reason, he was meant to know her.