Chapter 2

His mouth was twisted, and one finger was in it as he gnawed on his nail in a frenzy.

The nail that had once been whole was now bitten ragged. White powder flaked along the broken edge.

When he realized I'd accidentally caught him watching me, he seemed deeply unsettled.

His bloodshot eyes rolled in their sockets as he quickly backed away.

He kept retreating until he and his plain white shirt almost blended into the cherry blossoms outside the window.

Only then did he press a hand to his chest with difficulty and turn his face away from me.

The huge gap between how he'd treated me before and how he acted now ate away at my nerves. I rushed forward and grabbed his hand.

"Why? What exactly about me makes you uncomfortable?"

"No, no, it's not your fault!"

Connor was almost five foot nine, but he screamed outright and flung my hand off like I was something untouchable.

As if I were some kind of monster.

I felt hurt.

Why?

I clearly hadn't done anything. I'd treated them well.

But first Grace, then Connor. Both of them treated me like this.

I took out a mirror and looked at myself from every angle, but I couldn't find anything wrong.

Teenage skin wasn't perfect, sure, but it wasn't so bad that people should find me disgusting.

I lowered my head, suddenly self-conscious.

When Connor saw that, he seemed guilty and wanted to comfort me.

Then all at once, he sprang up in terror and started clawing at his own back like he'd gone insane.

He shouted nervously, "Sorry, sorry."

Then he turned and tried to jump out the window.

I quickly rushed over with the other students who'd woken up and pulled him back.

After that, I worried about his mental state, so I didn't keep pressing him the way I'd pressed Grace.

I only watched him quietly, afraid he'd do something foolish.

Then one day during P.E., I noticed Connor was missing. Worried, I searched everywhere for him.

In the end, I found him in the classroom, sitting in my seat.

With a crazed expression, he was rummaging through my desk.

My eyes widened. "Connor, what are you doing?"

He seemed not to hear me. At last, after finding a piece of paper, he suddenly let out a scream.

When he looked up at me, his eyes were wide, and his pupils trembled violently.

Before P.E. had even ended, he'd rushed into the faculty office and told the teacher he wanted to change seats.

The teacher was helpless. "That seat's perfectly good. It's at the front of the room. Now you want to move to the middle?"

"Yes. I don't want the front. I don't want the back either. Please, teacher!"

As he spoke, Connor kept glancing anxiously out the window.

Then he happened to see me standing at the door.

A tall, sturdy boy like him burst into tears on the spot.

"Please, teacher. I'm begging you!"

The teacher lost patience. "I also have to consider the other students' needs. You're making so many demands that I have no way to satisfy you."

Connor looked as if he'd been struck by lightning. His legs went weak, and he dropped to his knees.

He looked like he couldn't wait to run away.

But when he saw me standing at the door, he didn't dare come out.

I sighed heavily and turned back to the classroom.

The seat beside me stayed empty. Connor never came back.

The next day, the teacher announced that he was taking leave from school.

"Connor says he's feeling unwell and needs to take some time off."

I couldn't understand. Connor had always been healthy. How could he suddenly be sick?

The teacher tapped the blackboard sternly.

"Even though you're only juniors, you still need to focus on studying. Forget the excuses—keep your head clear, and everything else falls into place."

She said that, but I couldn't stop thinking about the reason behind it.

As soon as class ended, I turned around to find my best friend, Theo Whitaker. The two of us went into the hallway to talk.

I clenched my fists and said, "I have to figure out why this is happening. Otherwise, I'll keep thinking about it."

Theo rested his chin in his hand with a troubled look. "I have no idea either, but if you want to investigate, I'll go with you."