Chapter 2 – "The Quiet Ones Like You"
"Still hanging out with that guy, huh Isla?"
The boy named Jeremy had raised his voice on purpose. That little gang in the cafeteria line was at it again during recess. For some reason, Bairon's complete silence only made them more eager.
"What do you even talk about with someone like him?" another one jeered. "He doesn't say a single word all day!"
Bairon kept his head down, slowly tearing off the edges of the bread on his tray. If he didn't react, they would eventually stop. That's how it always went.
But Isla, once again, didn't hold back.
"And yet when you open your mouths, you actually think you're saying something?" she said in a loud, clear voice. "It's so easy to see how empty the loud ones are. At least every word Bairon says is real."
Jeremy's mouth dropped open, but nothing came out. Isla bumped his shoulder as she stepped out of the line and came over to sit next to Bairon.
"They're exhausting," she said as she sat down. "It's like their whole life revolves around mocking others. Honestly, if they stayed quiet for just one day, they wouldn't even remember who they are."
Bairon looked at Isla for a moment.
Her hair was braided again on both sides, though it was clear it had come a bit undone from running that morning. A few rebellious strands hovered over her eyebrows, dancing as if with a mind of their own. Her skin still held a soft tan from summer, and her eyes sat somewhere between hazel and chestnut—sometimes deeper in the dark, sometimes gentler in the sunlight.
Bairon, on the other hand, always dressed the same: a plain gray T-shirt, a dark blue jacket, and a black backpack. His light brown hair fell over his forehead; his eyes were always slightly narrowed, as if the sun was always in them. He avoided eye contact—especially with Isla.
"You quiet ones," Isla said before rolling her eyes, "you're actually the loudest. But hearing it takes a little effort."
Bairon didn't reply.
But that sentence echoed in his head for hours.