Chapter 12: Between the Lines

Ryan didn’t reply to Langley’s email.

Not immediately.

He stared at it for hours. First on his phone, then on his laptop, as if the size of the screen might make the words sound less… off.

“Let’s meet off-campus. I know a place where we can talk freely.”

It was probably harmless.

But so were a lot of things until they weren’t.

Daniel wasn’t home when Ryan stopped by that night.

Instead, his sketchpad was lying on the table, still open to the drawing he’d been working on: a figure with Ryan’s posture, standing tall on a cliff’s edge, arms open to the wind.

For a moment, Ryan traced the outline with his eyes. There was strength there the kind Daniel kept seeing in him even when he didn’t believe it himself.

And maybe that’s why he made the decision he did.

He met Langley the next afternoon.

In public.

A coffee shop in town, close enough to campus to feel safe but far enough to avoid running into classmates.

Langley was already there, seated in the corner, wearing a sweater just slightly