Kai Mercer

There is this girl. Her name is Nora Whitlock. The perfect student. Student council president, top of every class, always polite, always smiling. Teachers adore her, classmates rely on her, and everyone assumes she has the perfect life. She doesn't. Every afternoon she unlocks the door to an empty apartment. Her parents work overseas and rarely come home, convincing themselves that expensive gifts and monthly bank transfers are enough. Birthdays become video calls that last five minutes. Report cards earn a simple "Good job." Somewhere along the way, Nora stopped asking if they'd ever come back for good. And there is this guy. His name is Kai Mercer. He's always late to class, half asleep, and usually wearing headphones. Most students think he's lazy or doesn't care about school. They're wrong. Every morning before sunrise, Kai helps his grandparents open their tiny neighborhood bakery. His grandfather's eyesight isn't what it used to be, and his grandmother's hands ache too much to knead dough alone. After school, he rushes back to work until closing before spending half the night finishing homework. He never complains. One rainy afternoon, Nora forgets her umbrella and takes shelter in the little bakery on the corner. She's surprised to find Kai behind the counter, sleeves rolled up and covered in flour. "You work here?" she asks. "I kind of have to," he shrugs. That simple conversation changes everything. She begins stopping by after school to study while he works. He secretly leaves her favorite pastries on the table before she arrives. She helps him close the shop when it gets busy. He walks her home whenever it rains, even if it means biking back alone afterward. People at school can't understand why the perfect honor student spends so much time with the "lazy" guy. They don't know she's finally found someone who asks if she's eaten. And they don't know he's finally found someone who makes the bakery feel less lonely.