Chapter 1 - The Boy Across the Street
Rain always made the city feel lonely.
Not empty.
Just...quiet.
Lena stood near the window of her new apartment, holding a hot mug of tea between her hands while watching the rain fall over the buildings outside.
She had moved here three days ago.
New city.New apartment.New life.
At least that was the idea.
The apartment still smelled like cardboard boxes and fresh paint. Half her things were still unpacked on the floor, but she didn’t really care.
She was too tired to organize anything.
Near the closet, one box stood apart from the others.
Unlike the rest, it was fully taped shut.
Written on it with black marker:
DON’T OPEN YET
Lena looked at it for a second.
Then quickly looked away.
She pushed the box deeper into the closet with her foot and closed the door.
Not tonight.
Lena liked silence anyway.
Silence didn’t ask questions.
People did.
“Are you okay?”
“You disappeared.”
“You should go outside more.”
She hated those conversations.
So moving away felt easier.
No friends nearby.No family nearby.Nobody watching her slowly become someone quieter.
Thunder rumbled softly outside.
Lena took a sip from her tea and looked down at the wet street below.
That’s when she noticed him.
A guy standing on the balcony across the street.
He looked around her age.
Dark hoodie.Messy hair.A mug in his hand too.
He wasn’t doing anything strange.
Just standing there in the rainlight, looking at the city exactly the way she was.
Lena looked away quickly.
Living in apartments came with rules.
One of them was:
Don’t stare at strangers through windows.
She walked back toward the kitchen and opened one of the boxes near the counter.
Books.Old notebooks.Random useless things she forgot she even owned.
But after a few seconds—
her eyes moved back toward the balcony.
The guy was still there.
She lifted her mug slowly and drank again.
Across the street—
he lifted his mug too.
Lena stopped.
Coincidence.
Obviously.
She lowered the mug.
He lowered his too.
Her eyebrows frowned slightly.
Okay...
Still possible.
People did similar things all the time.
Right?
Lena shook her head lightly and tried focusing on unpacking again.
A few minutes later, she walked back toward the couch and turned on the lamp beside it.
At the exact same second—
the balcony light across the street turned on too.
Lena looked up immediately.
The guy was looking directly at her now.
Not smiling.
Not angry.
Just... watching.
A strange feeling moved through her chest.
Slowly, she stood up.
Across the street—
the guy stood up too.
Now her heartbeat changed.
Lena stared at him carefully.
Then, almost jokingly, she lifted two fingers into the air.
The guy lifted two fingers too.
Same movement.
Same angle.
The smile slowly disappeared from Lena’s face.
No.
Okay.
This was weird now.
Very weird.
She stepped closer to the window.
The guy stepped closer too.
Lena suddenly felt cold.
The rain tapped softly against the glass between them.
Then slowly—
the guy reached down beside him and picked up a notebook.
He wrote something calmly.
Then lifted it toward the window.
Lena moved closer automatically.
Three words.
Written in black marker.
YOU MOVED FIRST.
