The next morning felt quieter than it should have.
Not outside.
Outside, everything sounded normal. Vehicles passed below the apartment at uneven intervals, distant conversations drifted upward through open windows, and somewhere nearby, construction work had already started again with metallic sounds echoing across the buildings.
But inside my head—
everything felt softer.
Like the world had lowered its volume overnight.
I stood near my window for longer than usual, staring up at the sky above A Wing.
Clear blue.
Normal clouds.
Nothing strange.
And yet…
it still didn't look the same.
The sunlight entering my room carried a pale golden warmth, but somehow the colors around it felt slightly faded, like reality itself had become thinner after yesterday.
I rubbed my eyes once.
Then looked again.
Normal.
Everything was normal.
So why did it still feel wrong?
A knock suddenly hit my door.
Hard.
Repeatedly.
"SOPHEN!"
I exhaled immediately.
Aurea.
"What?" I shouted back.
"Mom said if you don't come eat right now she'll blame me for it!"
"That sounds like your problem."
"IT BECOMES YOUR PROBLEM IN TEN SECONDS."
I smiled despite myself and opened the door.
Aurea stood there with one sock on, holding a spoon dramatically like she was seconds away from declaring war.
"You look dead," she said immediately.
"Good morning to you too."
"You're thinking again."
"That's usually how humans function."
"Not you."
She walked away before I could answer, continuing her completely unnecessary commentary about how Nash apparently ate half the snacks we brought back yesterday.
"He said he was 'preserving food balance,'" she complained while walking downstairs.
"That doesn't even mean anything."
"I KNOW."
And somehow…
hearing that made things feel lighter again.
Breakfast passed normally after that.
Or at least it tried to.
But every few minutes, my mind drifted back toward the lake.
Toward the silence.
Toward the sky turning silver-purple for just a second too long.
Toward Grace already looking up before I did.
I stopped eating halfway through.
Aurea noticed immediately.
"You're doing it again."
"Doing what?"
"That thing."
"What thing?"
"That dramatic staring into nothing."
"I'm literally eating."
"You're emotionally eating."
"That's not even close to what that means."
She narrowed her eyes suspiciously.
"You're weird today."
"I'm always weird."
"Yeah, but usually entertaining weird."
I almost laughed.
Almost.
By afternoon, the clouds had started gathering slowly across the city.
Not enough for rain.
Just enough to dim the sunlight occasionally before letting it return again.
The atmosphere outside felt strange.
Heavy.
Warm.
Like the air itself was waiting.
I found Nash downstairs near the garden wall spinning a basketball lazily on one finger.
"You alive?" he asked without looking up.
"Barely."
"That's good enough."
I sat beside him on the low wall quietly.
For once, even Nash seemed calmer than usual.
The basketball slowed before falling from his hand.
Neither of us picked it up immediately.
After a while, he spoke.
"You've been thinking about yesterday."
It wasn't a question.
"Yeah."
"You're making that face again."
"What face?"
"The one where you look like you discovered the meaning of life and hated the answer."
I let out a quiet laugh.
"You always say stupid things seriously."
"And yet I'm usually right."
"That's unfortunate."
"It's a gift."
The wind moved softly through the garden, rustling leaves overhead.
For a few seconds, neither of us spoke.
Then—
"Did it feel strange to you too?"
The question left my mouth before I could stop it.
Nash looked at me for a moment.
Not confused.
Not surprised.
Just… thinking.
"Yeah," he said quietly.
That answer stayed heavier than I expected.
Before I could say anything else, movement near A Wing caught my attention.
Grace.
And Siena beside her.
The moment Grace noticed us, she slowed slightly.
Not enough to seem obvious.
Just enough for me to notice.
The wind moved again at the same moment, softer now, carrying the faint smell of rain even though the sky remained mostly clear.
Siena's eyes shifted upward briefly.
Like she heard something distant.
Then she looked away again.
"You guys look suspiciously serious," Grace said as they approached.
"That's because Nash failed emotionally," I replied.
"That's impossible," Nash said immediately. "I'm emotionally gifted."
"You ate six sandwiches yesterday."
"That's unrelated."
"It's deeply related."
Grace laughed softly.
And somehow—
the heaviness around me loosened slightly again.
Siena sat quietly near the edge of the wall while Axel appeared from the opposite corridor a few moments later, carrying two cold drinks.
"You people gather everywhere," he said.
"That sounds judgmental," Nash replied.
"It is."
Axel handed one drink to Siena before sitting down beside her.
For a few moments, things felt normal again.
Comfortably normal.
The kind that makes you wonder if maybe you imagined everything else.
Then Grace spoke.
Quietly.
Carefully.
"Did the sky look strange to anyone else yesterday?"
Everything stopped.
Not physically.
Just inside me.
Nash looked toward her immediately.
Axel's expression changed slightly.
Even Siena looked up.
Grace seemed to realize what she had just said.
Too late.
For the first time since I met her—
she looked genuinely unsure.
"I mean…" she started softly, looking away toward the trees. "Maybe it was just lighting."
Nobody answered immediately.
The wind passed through the garden again, colder this time.
"It did," I said quietly.
Grace looked back at me instantly.
For a second—
something strange passed between us.
Not fear.
Not relief.
Something in between.
Like finally hearing someone else say something you thought only existed in your own head.
Siena suddenly frowned slightly.
Very slightly.
"You hear that?" she asked softly.
All of us looked toward her.
"Hear what?" Axel asked.
She stayed still for a second longer.
Listening.
The wind moved through the trees again.
The sky above us darkened briefly behind the clouds.
Then Siena slowly shook her head.
"…nothing."
But the way she said it made my chest tighten slightly.
Because it didn't sound like nothing.
It sounded like she didn't want to say what it really was.
Nash suddenly stood up.
Too suddenly.
"Alright," he said loudly. "This conversation is getting weird."
"That's because you're here," Grace replied immediately.
"True."
And just like that—
the tension cracked slightly.
Reality settled again.
Normal sounds returned.
Birds.
Wind.
Distant traffic.
Everything ordinary.
But now it felt impossible to ignore.
Something had changed.
Not just around us.
Between us.
By evening, the clouds had thickened across the city completely.
Dark blue shadows stretched across the buildings while lights slowly began appearing behind apartment windows one by one.
I stood near my balcony later that night staring upward again.
The sky looked normal.
Almost painfully normal.
And yet—
I couldn't stop looking at it.
Then for one second—
the clouds above A Wing shifted unnaturally.
Not moving with the wind.
Circling.
Slowly.
Like something invisible existed beneath them.
My breath caught.
And then—
normal again.
The clouds drifted naturally across the night sky as if nothing had happened at all.
But somewhere deep inside me—
I knew I hadn't imagined it this time.