Tyler darted into the hallway the moment he exited the classroom.
"Hey! Don't run!" Eris shouted from behind.
Her warning came a second too late. Tyler had already taken off down the corridor, weaving past scattered students still leaving their classes. His shoes tapped sharply against the polished floor as he moved toward the stairwell.
"You started this!" he called back over his shoulder.
Eris chased after him, clutching her bag strap with one hand so it wouldn't slide off. "You called me a bookworm again!"
"That's because you are one!"
"I am not!"
Tyler reached the stairs and began climbing quickly. Eris followed immediately, determination pushing her forward.
Halfway up the staircase Tyler slowed deliberately, placing one hand on the railing as he climbed the remaining steps at a calmer pace.
"Don't run on the stairs," he said casually.
Eris nearly tripped.
She reached the upper floor and glared at him. "Look who's talking! You were the one sprinting up here!"
Tyler shrugged lightly and continued walking down the hallway toward the club room.
Eris finally caught up beside him, slightly out of breath. Her cheeks were faintly red and her breathing uneven from the run.
"You…" she said between breaths, "are incredibly annoying."
Tyler glanced sideways at her but said nothing.
After a few seconds he spoke again. "So tell me something."
"What?"
"Do you actually play in that club?" he asked lazily. "Or are you just their errand girl?"
Eris straightened immediately.
"Of course I play," she replied defensively. "What do you think?"
Tyler gave her a long side glance before looking ahead again.
"Doesn't look like it."
Eris stopped walking for half a step in disbelief. "What's that supposed to mean?"
Tyler simply kept walking.
She caught up again, clearly irritated now. "Fine. Then let's do a one-on-one match sometime."
"Nope," Tyler replied instantly. "I'm happy with my soccer."
Eris folded her arms as she walked. "Scared, huh?"
"Yes."
She blinked.
"You're admitting it?"
"Yes," Tyler repeated calmly.
Eris opened her mouth to reply, but he continued speaking before she could.
"Yes," he said again, "I'm scared that you'll get angry at me."
Her expression shifted from confidence to confusion. "Why would I get angry?"
"You said before you don't like losing."
Eris froze for a moment.
Then she snapped back, "Why do you think I would lose in badminton?"
Tyler stopped walking.
He turned and looked directly into her eyes.
For a moment neither of them moved.
"I never mentioned the word 'badminton,'" he said quietly.
Eris went completely blank.
Her brain replayed the conversation rapidly.
Tyler's lips curved slightly.
"Let's go in."
He turned and opened the door.
Eris looked up automatically.
Above the doorframe were the words:
Literature Club
"…Oh."
She blinked twice and quickly followed him inside.
The Literature Club room had changed drastically since the day they first entered it months ago.
What had once been a chaotic storage room filled with half-opened boxes and scattered bookshelves had transformed into a warm and organized space.
Tall bookcases lined two walls, filled neatly with novels, historical texts, poetry collections, and old literary magazines. A wide window faced the school courtyard, letting afternoon sunlight spill across a long reading table in the center of the room. A few comfortable chairs had been arranged near the window, while smaller desks formed a semi-circle for discussions.
The room smelled faintly of paper and ink.
It felt calm.
Hanna Moore was already inside.
She looked up from a stack of books when the door opened.
"Oh, you're here," she said with a smile.
"Hi Hanna," Eris greeted.
Tyler raised his hand casually. "Afternoon."
Hanna pushed her glasses up slightly and leaned back in her chair. "How was school today?"
"Same as always," Tyler replied.
Eris placed her bag on the table. "Ms. Hart tried to trap Tyler with questions again."
Hanna's eyes brightened with interest. "Really? What happened?"
"He answered everything," Eris said with mild annoyance. "Even the advanced part."
Tyler pulled out a chair. "That's because the questions were easy."
Hanna laughed softly. "You say that about everything."
A few minutes later the door opened again.
Jane and Lyrus entered together, both carrying books.
"Looks like everyone's already here," Jane said.
"Barely," Hanna replied. "We just started talking."
Lyrus dropped his bag beside a chair. "So what's today's activity?"
"Reading session," Hanna answered. "Everyone picked a different text last week."
Tyler pulled a book from the shelf and sat near the window.
The room settled into a comfortable rhythm once everyone had taken their seats.
Books opened across the table. Chairs scraped lightly against the floor as everyone adjusted themselves. The soft rustling of pages filled the air, broken only by the occasional tapping of a pen or the quiet hum of the ceiling fan above.
For a few minutes, everyone simply read.
Hanna was the first to break the silence.
She closed the book in front of her halfway and rested her elbow on the table. "Alright," she said, looking around at the others, "before everyone disappears completely into their books, how about we actually discuss something today?"
Lyrus lifted his head immediately. "Discussion already? I just started reading."
"That's the point," Hanna replied with a faint smile. "First impressions are always more honest."
Jane leaned back in her chair, spinning her pen slowly between her fingers. "What are we discussing this time?"
Hanna tapped the cover of the book in front of her. "Character motives."
Eris looked up from her page. "That's vague."
"It's supposed to be," Hanna said calmly. "Take the story you're reading. Think about the main character's biggest decision. Ask yourself one question why did they actually do it? Not what the story says. What you think."
Tyler, sitting near the window, turned a page lazily but didn't comment yet.
Jane spoke first.
"The character in mine left home because he wanted freedom," she said.
Lyrus snorted. "That's the most obvious interpretation possible."
Jane raised an eyebrow. "And?"
"And obvious interpretations are usually wrong," Lyrus replied. "Characters rarely do things for just one reason."
Hanna nodded approvingly. "Go on."
Lyrus leaned forward slightly. "Think about it. If someone leaves home suddenly, it's rarely about freedom. It's usually about pressure. Maybe family expectations. Maybe guilt. Maybe he thought staying would hurt someone."
Jane frowned slightly, considering the idea.
"That's… actually possible," she admitted. "The story does hint that his family expected him to inherit their business."
"Exactly," Lyrus said, pointing his pen toward her. "So maybe leaving wasn't freedom. Maybe it was escape."
Eris tilted her head thoughtfully. "Or both."
The table went quiet for a moment.
Hanna smiled faintly. "Good. That's the kind of thinking literature is supposed to create."
Jane leaned back again. "Alright then, what about yours?"
Hanna lifted her book slightly. "Mine is about a girl who forgives someone who betrayed her."
Eris frowned. "That sounds unrealistic."
"People forgive betrayal all the time," Hanna replied.
"Not easily," Eris said. "If someone breaks trust once, you'd always question them again."
Lyrus chuckled. "You sound like you've been betrayed before."
Eris shot him a quick glare. "I'm speaking logically."
Jane looked curious now. "So why does the character forgive them?"
Hanna shrugged slightly. "That's what I'm trying to figure out."
Tyler finally spoke from the window seat.
"Because she didn't forgive them."
Everyone looked toward him.
He didn't even lift his eyes from the page.
Jane frowned. "What?"
Tyler turned another page calmly. "Forgiveness in stories is often a lie."
Hanna leaned forward slightly, intrigued. "Explain."
Tyler closed the book slowly and rested his elbow on the table.
"Sometimes characters say they forgive someone," he said quietly, "but what they actually mean is they've accepted that holding onto anger doesn't change anything."
The room went silent.
"They're not forgiving the person," he continued. "They're just tired of carrying the resentment."
Jane blinked slowly.
"…That's depressing."
"It's realistic," Tyler replied.
Lyrus leaned back in his chair with a small grin. "You read too much psychological fiction."
"Or you read too little," Tyler said calmly.
Jane burst into laughter.
"Okay," she said between chuckles, "I didn't expect that level of emotional damage in our peaceful literature club."
Eris shook her head slightly but smiled.
"That's not emotional damage," she said. "That's just Tyler being Tyler."
Hanna rested her chin lightly on her hand.
"That interpretation actually makes sense," she said thoughtfully. "A character forgiving someone doesn't always mean the pain disappears. It just means they chose not to fight it anymore."
Lyrus nodded slowly. "Which is honestly harder than revenge."
Jane pointed her pen toward Tyler. "So tell us, Mr. Psychology. What are you reading?"
Tyler lifted the book slightly.
"Historical travel journals."
Jane blinked. "That's boring."
"Not really," Tyler replied. "People reveal more about themselves when they're describing places."
Eris tilted her head. "How?"
"Because they compare everything to home," Tyler said. "What they miss tells you who they are."
Hanna smiled faintly. "That's actually a beautiful observation."
Jane leaned back again dramatically. "I swear half the time Tyler says things that sound like quotes from old philosophers."
Lyrus nodded in agreement. "And the other half he's asleep."
Everyone laughed.
Even Tyler allowed himself a faint smile.
The conversation drifted naturally after that.
Jane began describing the story she had been reading, occasionally exaggerating certain scenes for comedic effect. Lyrus argued with her interpretation of the ending. Hanna guided the discussion whenever it started turning into playful chaos.
Eris listened carefully, occasionally adding thoughtful remarks about narrative structure or character behavior.
Tyler mostly listened.
But when he spoke, the others paused.
Because his comments often reframed the entire discussion.
At one point Jane leaned back again and sighed dramatically.
"You know," she said, looking around the table, "this club almost got shut down six months ago."
Hanna laughed softly. "Please don't remind me."
Lyrus nodded. "Seventeen members to five. That was brutal."
Jane pointed across the table. "And now the two responsible for saving the club are sitting right there."
Eris waved her hand dismissively. "We just joined."
"You joined when nobody else would," Hanna corrected.
Tyler shrugged slightly.
"It was quiet here," he said simply.
Jane laughed. "Yes, Tyler joined because the club had peaceful reading conditions."
"That's a valid reason," he replied calmly.
Eris smiled faintly.
The atmosphere felt warm.
Comfortable.
For a while, the room filled with casual debates, occasional laughter, and the peaceful presence of books.
The next hour passed peacefully.
Everything felt normal.
A faint pulse struck Tyler's head.
It was small.
Almost nothing.
He ignored it and continued reading.
Another pulse came.
Sharper.
His fingers tightened around the page.
Something was wrong.
Tyler slowly closed his book.
"Leaving already?" Hanna asked.
"Yeah," Tyler said quickly. "Something came up."
Jane frowned. "That's sudden."
"Just remembered something I need to do."
He stood up quickly.
Eris looked confused. "You're leaving already?"
"Yeah. I'll see you tomorrow."
Before anyone could question further, Tyler stepped out of the room and disappeared down the hallway.
Inside the club room, silence lingered for a moment.
"That was weird," Lyrus muttered.
Jane nodded. "He never leaves early."
Hanna turned to Eris. "Did something happen?"
Eris shook her head slowly.
She walked toward the doorway.
Empty.
"I'll go check," she said, grabbing her bag.
Tyler ran.
The headache intensified rapidly.
Each step made the pain pulse harder inside his skull.
His vision blurred.
The hallway lights stretched and warped.
He reached the stairwell and started descending.
Then—
A sudden spike of pain stabbed through his mind.
Everything froze.
His foot slipped.
Tyler lost balance and crashed onto the stair landing between the third and second floors.
His breath escaped sharply.
"Shit…," he muttered weakly.
The pain was stronger than before.
Much stronger.
His vision darkened at the edges.
"Ty!"
The voice echoed from above.