nt

trying too hard to keep everyone awake. My desk was still cluttered from the morning rush

ront of me, but my pen hovered over the p

ym

d double-checked everything I wore this morning, straightened my hair twice

ton paused near my desk, her

I said, stacking p

every thought on my forehead. "Don't

ll

Cynthia. Don't be that girl who can't

ge from last night, and my lips

ld talk again.

I'd lik

today,

rday. E

rfe

r, I caught myself smiling

-

slept, but my brain still woke up early,

orite mug, legs swinging like a kid's. She na

piciously hap

e and leaned on t

ne you get when you're about to do some

just c

he myst

d," I said before I

, name drop. And you said it w

hip. "You'r

r mug to mine.

heart did that unsteady thing a

-

y fingers gripped my bag strap so tightly it ache

n he wa

ym

dark hair brushed back,

ike he wasn't sur

mile felt s

reached for the door, holding it open like

ned us. People laughed softly over laptops, a barista call

he world outside blurr

then at me. "You drink

s fine,"

sn't sure if I was about to ord

e, nervous but real. "Yo

out getting them rig

nd I looked away quickl

s work - "freelance logistics," vague enough to mean anything - and I talked about my lab, care

d quietly, "You're n

"What does

stronger. Most people I meet are eithe

throat tighten.

." His eye

t it wasn't uncomfortable. It felt like wait

cup down and said, "

art hammerin

n a long time, I did

-

orning had shifted into something new. I caught my reflection in t

t coffee. Maybe it

wasn't afrai