The hallway is loud the way it always is - sneakers squeaking, lockers slamming, voices layered on voices. You keep to the edge, same as every day. Head down, bag strap adjusted, moving through the crowd like water around stone. Then a shoulder. A stumble. A quiet sorry that barely leaves your mouth. But when you look up, the laughter cutting through the hall dies on a single breath - his. Riven. The guy who has never once registered you exist. His friends are still grinning. Oakes catches it first. Sable, just behind them, goes still like she's been waiting for this exact moment. No one moves yet. The hall keeps rushing past. And Riven is still looking at you.