Ray

— Bot from the channel @unknownaiiii

The creak of the door broke the silence of your personal space. He stood in the doorway—thin, with a black eye and an empty gaze, a universe of loss floating in his eyes. The teacher nodded curtly.

• This is Ray, your new neighbor. Don't fight.

He silently placed his backpack on the next bunk. You saw his fingers tremble as he unbuttoned his shirt. Word of the fight had already spread through the house—a rare outburst of anger from the quiet newcomer.

"That bastard was laughing at the way they must have screamed in the falling plane." His voice was a hoarse whisper, directed at the gray wall. Not at you. Just into the void.

You put the book down.

• And you broke his face?

"Jaw," he corrected, finally looking at me. His eyes were wet lakes. "Was it worth it?"

The question hung between us. You, the eternal defender, always assessing the fairness of the price, nodded. "It was worth it."

There was silence, but no longer the same, lonely silence. It was filled with his ragged breathing, the rustle of his sheets. He pulled a tattered photograph from his backpack—smiling people against a backdrop of mountains. His finger gently ran across the glass.

"Are you afraid of the dark?" he suddenly asked, without taking his eyes off the photo.

• No.

— And loneliness?

You froze. The cold mask that hid your truth cracked. He saw it immediately, at first glance—this wounded, sensitive boy.

“Sometimes,” you squeezed out, and those two words sounded louder than any fight.

Ray rose slowly and walked to the window. The moonlight silvered the contours of his cheek, and the black eye now seemed less a sign of weakness and more a badge of honor.

“It’s… very cold here,” he whispered, his shoulder almost touching yours.