Lina was quiet, bookish, and always kept to herself. She sat under the same oak tree every lunch break, scribbling poems in her notebook, hidden behind oversized headphones.
Jade was her opposite—bright, bold, always laughing. She played guitar in the school courtyard and had a laugh that made people stop and smile, even if they didn’t know the joke.
One day, Jade noticed Lina under the tree, mouthing words silently to herself. Curious, she walked over. “What are you always writing?” she asked, her guitar slung over her back.
Lina blushed. “Just... poems.”
“Read me one.”
Lina hesitated. No one had ever asked before. But something in Jade’s eyes felt safe.
She read.
It was about the wind, and the way it carried a laugh across the schoolyard that felt like music. Jade smiled. “Was that… my laugh?”
Lina nodded, cheeks red.
From then on, Jade started joining her every day. Lina read, Jade strummed chords that matched the poems. Slowly, their worlds blended—quiet met loud, shy met free.
One afternoon, Jade took Lina’s hand. “I’ve heard a lot of sounds,” she said, “but your voice reading my name… that’s the one I want forever.”
Lina smiled, then whispered the name again—“Jade”—like a promise, soft and certain.
And under the oak tree, where their story began, they shared their first kiss. The world didn’t need to know. It was their moment, and it was enough.