V

of day-two nerves. Students milled about, laughing, hurrying, or pretending they weren't running on caffeine

t there!-and I tucked

I loo

fr

an R

the arts building, coffee in one hand, the other tucked into his hoodie pocket. The sunlight hit just ri

his gaz

casu

vagu

tly.

ke it had hit a wal

the nearby tree extremely fascinating, like its

my ear like she'd teleported

not to sound like I'd just been

too much glee. "You looked at him like he was the l

look. "You're

oudly, tugging me toward class. "And he was sta

ouldn't. "Maybe he's ju

jacket like a Wattpad fever dream? P

rything about Nathan was strange-too strange. Accide

noticed. Not back in high school.

s felt different. Lik

in a blur of welcome speeches, marker fumes, and half-hearted icebreakers. I focused, kind of.

th

g

ad now buzzing louder than before. I slung my bag over

pau

something unfamilia

ache

at. Unassuming. My name written on

v

t kicked in

and I could practically hear her eyes widen. "O

s I opened the flap. A single not

ed your pen

t giving it ba

reason to spe

Na

e I loved-thought I lost. I hadn't even

my arm. "I.

ing lightly into the paper like I

He noticed. Held onto it. Wro

tle but it's intentional. You don't slip a note into someone's bag un

processing. "He cou

. And that's t

asn't

. Just... thoughtful. And it made me fe

barely touched the ground. I kept touching the note in

p of someone's playlist muffled by walls and the sou

up the note from where I'd

ere, next to

t about

way that wasn't performative or exaggera

o one ever

n a long time, I wasn't

ed mor

ht with the note sti

w was d

time all semeste