The sky was gray, not heavy with thunder, but soft - held in for too long. The cloud above rolled slowly, quiet and patient, as if waiting for something to change. Kai stood beneath the awning of an old school gate, watching raindrops trace line down the rusted metal. The soft patter of rain echoed in the the silence around him, familiar and oddly comforting. he had always liked the rain. It made everything quieter. It made it easier to be alone. Students had already left, their laughter fading down the road like echoes of the world that had never quite included him. He didn't mind. He was used to this - slipping into the background, like a sketch never colored in. Then one day she appeared. She didn't walk like others. She moved as if the world didn't weigh on her shoulders. Her eyes carried something bright, and her smile-soft, effortless-left something behind in its wake. he never spoke to her , not really. Just moments - shared glances, passing words in group projects, the brush of presence in a hallway. But in those quiet collisions, something inside him shifted. it wasn't love. Not exactly. It was more like seeing sunlight for the first time after days of rain. He didn't expect her to notice him. He just wanted to become someone worth noticing. Year would pass. Season would change. and in between the cracks of unspoken words and missed chances, he would grow - slowly, quietly - like a flower that learns to bloom after the storm. He look at the sky now. It was still raining. But the cloud were beginning to part, just a little.
*This is where it began,* he thought. *Not with a confession, not with a promise. But with a single moment...*
And in that moment, he smiled.
Grade 4: First Light