Chapter Twenty one - The Breakfast

We walked to the dining hall together, the morning sun casting long shadows across the quad. Myles kept his hands in his pockets, his shoulders tense, his eyes scanning the campus the same way mine did.

"Stop looking around," I murmured.

"Now you're telling me?"

"Someone has to."

He exhaled a short laugh. "Fair."

Ashley was already at our usual table, surrounded by textbooks and a half-eaten bagel. She looked up when we approached, her eyes narrowing.

"Well, well, well." She crossed her arms. "Where have you been, Nova? I woke up and your bed was empty. Your jacket was gone. I thought someone kidnapped you."

"Couldn't sleep. So I went for a walk and ran into Myles."

"A walk." She raised an eyebrow. "At 6 AM?"

"What can I say, I'm an early riser."

"Since when?"

I slid into the seat across from her. Myles sat beside me,closer than usual, his knee brushing mine under the table. He didn't move it.

Ashley's eyes darted between us. "Okay. Something's weird. You two are being weird."

"We're not being weird," Myles said, letting out a nervous laugh.

"You're being weird. Nova never sits next to you. She always sits across from you. And you…" She pointed at him. "You're wearing yesterday's shirt."

Myles looked down. "It's a clean shirt."

"It's the same shirt."

"I have two of them."

"You have two of the exact same faded band shirt?"

"They were on sale."

Ashley wasn't buying it. But before she could interrogate us further, Madden arrived, her cast now removed and her arm looked perfectly fi

She sat down without a word, grabbed a piece of toast from Ashley's plate, and took a bite.

"Morning," she mumbled.

"Morning," we said in unison.

Madden looked up. Squinted at me. Then at Myles. Then back at me.

"You slept in his room."

My face went hot. "What? No…"

"Your hair is flattened on one side. You're wearing the same clothes as yesterday. And you have a pillow crease on your cheek." She took another bite of toast. "Myles, you have the same pillow crease. Opposite cheek. You slept on the floor."

Ashley's mouth dropped open. "Oh my God."

"It's not what you think," I said.

"Then what is it?" Ashley leaned forward. "Because from where I'm sitting, it looks like you and my best friend's boyfriend…"

“…Alice's boyfriend," Myles corrected. "Past tense. And nothing happened."

"Then why did you sleep in his room?"

I looked at Myles. He looked at me. The truth sat between us, heavy and dangerous. I wasn't ready. Not yet. Not in the middle of the dining hall with strangers at every table and eyes everywhere.

"Someone broke into our room again," I said.

Ashley's face went pale. "What?"

"Last night. After you fell asleep. I heard the fire escape creak. I got scared. I left."

"You left? Without waking me?"

"You were sleeping so deeply. I didn't want to…" I stopped. The lie tasted bitter. But the truth would taste worse.

"You should have woken me." Ashley grabbed my hand across the table. "We're in this together, Nova. Whatever's happening, you don't have to face it alone."

Her words hit me like stones. Because she didn't know who I really was. She didn't know that "Nova" was a mask, that "together" was built on a foundation of lies.

But soon. Today. She would know.

"Can we meet later?" I asked. "All of us. Somewhere private."

"The library?" Myles offered.

"Too public." Madden shook her head.

"Myles room then. Derek will be at practice until dinner. We'll have the place to ourselves."

“How did you know that?” Myles forehead cringed.

“I usually see him around.” She retorted almost immediately

“So you are keeping an eye on him now, huh?” Myles teased

“Oh shut up.”

I nodded. "Okay guys so it’s settled. Let’s meet by noon."

Madden stood up. "Noon."

She walked away without looking back.

Ashley squeezed my hand one more time, then gathered her textbooks. "I have class. But I'll be there. Noon." She paused. "And Nova? Whatever you need to tell us... we're here. Okay?"

I nodded. She left.

The table was empty now, just me and Myles and the crumbs of a breakfast I hadn't touched.

"You okay?" he asked.

"No."

"That's honest."

"I'm trying something new."

He smiled. Small. Sad. "Let's get you some real coffee."

We found a quiet corner of the campus coffee shop, away from the windows, away from the crowd. Myles ordered two black coffees and sat across from me, his elbows on the table.

"Talk," he said. "For real. No more secrets. Not between us."

I wrapped my hands around the cup. The warmth seeped into my fingers.

"Alice called me three days before she died," I said. "She said she needed to tell me something. Something important. But she wouldn't say it over the phone. She wanted me to visit."

"What did she find?"

"I don't know. Something in the lab. Something in the basement. Earl said she found evidence. Proof of what really happened to Natalie Vasquez."

Myles's jaw tightened. "Natalie? Madden's ex-girlfriend."

"She disappeared two years ago. The family sued. Non-disclosure agreement. The whole thing got buried."

"And Alice dug it up."

"So someone killed her before it got exposed."

We sat in silence. The coffee shop hummed around us,the hiss of the espresso machine, the clatter of cups, the low murmur of students who had no idea that murder lived next door.

"I want to help," Myles said. "Not because I feel guilty about Alice. Not because I owe her anything. Because I believe you."

"Why?"

"Because you're scared. And you're still here. Anyone else would have run by now." He looked at me. "You didn't run."

"I don't know how."

"That's not true." He reached across the table and took my hand. His fingers were warm. "You just don't want to."

I didn't pull away. His warm hands wrapped around mine felt like home for a minute.

---

Noon came too fast.

We gathered in Myles's room,me, Myles, Ashley, and Madden. Derek was gone, just like Masaid. The room felt smaller with four people in it, the walls pressing close, the air thick with unspoken questions.

Ashley sat on the bed, her legs crossed, her eyes fixed on me. Madden leaned against the desk, her arms crossed, her expression unreadable. Myles stood by the window, his back to the glass, watching the door.

"Okay," Ashley said. "What's going on? Why the secret meeting? And the creepy hallway whispers?"

I stood in the center of the room, my hands shaking. The photograph was in my pocket. The napkin. The truth.

"My name isn't Nova," I said.

Ashley's smile faltered. "What?"

"It's Alexa. Alexa Lean."

Silence. The kind of silence that happens right before everything changes.

"Lean," Madden said slowly. "Like Alice Lean."

"Alice was my sister. My twin."

Ashley's face went pale. "You're lying."

"I wish I was."

Madden pushed off the desk. "Why are you here? Why did you pretend to be someone else?"

"Because the police almost closed the case. Because no one was asking questions. And I made a promise to Alice and myself that I would find out what happened to her." My voice cracked.

"You need to tell us everything ?" Madden said, visibly upset.

I shook my head. "Not now. Later. I promise. But first…" I pulled out the photograph of Alice in the lake. The warning on the back. The napkin. "Someone killed my sister. Someone left these warnings. Someone has been watching me since the day I arrived."

Ashley stared at the evidence. Tears welled in her eyes. "Why didn't you tell us?"

"Because I didn't know if I could trust you."

"And now?"

I looked at each of them. Ashley, with her cat socks and her fierce loyalty. Madden, with her cast and her secrets. Myles, with his steady eyes and his warm hand.

"Now I don't have a choice."

Madden picked up the napkin. Turned it over in her fingers.

"Now I get it," she said. "This is why you were asking."

“And Earl was murdered.” The words came out as punishment

“What?” Madden and Ashley said in unison.

“How do you know that?” Ashley folded her arms

“I was supposed to meet him that night, I got there and found a dead body instead, and they left a note.”

“What did it say?”

“You are too late.”

“Oh my.” Ashley gasped, tears threatening to fall from her eyes.

“He said something about a basement.”

“Who? Earl?” Madden asked

“Yes, so that’s my next destination.”

"We'll all go," Myles said.

"No. It's too dangerous."

"We're going." Ashley stood up. "You're not doing this alone anymore."

I opened my mouth to argue. But the words died in my throat.

Because my phone buzzed.

Unknown number. A photograph.

The four of us. In this room. Taken from the hallway. Through the window in the door.

The timestamp read: 11:58 AM. Two minutes ago.

We were being watched right now.

I turned toward the door.

The window was dark. The hallway was empty.

But the handle was turning.