First glimpse

Her mother’s death was no accident.

Her past was full of shadows she could never escape.

And now, on her first day at a new school, one stare from Damian Cole threatens to unravel the invisible life she worked so hard to build.

“They said your mother’s death was an accident,” one nurse whispered in the hall.

“An accident? Please,” another muttered. “Accidents don’t leave shadows in corridors.”

Aria pulled her blanket tighter. She hated the whispers. She always heard them, even when they thought she couldn’t.

The hospital had been her whole world. Machines. Charts. Hushed conversations. Always whispers.

Dr. Adrian Cole was the only one who spoke to her without pity.

“You don’t have to listen to them,” he told her once. “You’re not their story, Aria.”

She looked at him. “Then whose story am I?”

“You’re your own,” he answered. “And that’s enough.”

But it never felt like enough.

That night in her dorm room, her laptop screen glowed against her face.

“Focus, Aria. Assignments. Not distractions.” She clicked too quickly.

A video filled the screen. Tangled bodies. Rough sounds. Her eyes widened.

Her cheeks flushed. “Oh God.” She tried to close it, but froze.

Because suddenly it wasn’t strangers anymore. It was him.

“Ethan,” she whispered.

Her chest lurched. She slammed the laptop shut. “Not again. Please, not again.”

But his memory clawed at her. His laugh. His lips. His lies. The way he had made her believe in forever, then walked away like she meant nothing.

Heat and shame twisted through her body. She buried her face in her hands.

“I hate you. I hate that I still feel this.”

Morning came too soon. Sunlight cut across her face. Aria stood at the mirror, fingers brushing the line of her jaw.

“New life. New school. Forget Ethan,” she whispered.

Her hands trembled anyway.

Campus was alive with chatter. Aria hugged her books, keeping her head low.

“Who’s the new girl?” someone whispered.

“She’s pretty,” another said.

“She looks nervous,” a third added.

Aria walked faster. “Ignore it. Just ignore it,” she muttered.

Inside the classroom, she kept her eyes on the floor. But she felt it. A stare. Heavy and unblinking.

She looked up slowly.

Damian Cole.

He sat with quiet authority, his eyes locked on hers. No smile. No blink. Just that piercing focus, as if he had been waiting.

Her breath caught. “Why is he looking at me like that?” she whispered to herself.

She slid into a seat at the back. Relief lasted only seconds before footsteps followed. A chair scraped beside her.

“Hi.”

Her pen slipped in her fingers. Just one word, but her pulse spiked.

“…Hi.”

“You’re new.”

“Sharp observation,” she whispered.

He leaned slightly closer. “Trying to stay invisible?”

“That was the plan.”

“Not working.”

Her eyes flicked to him in shock. “Excuse me?”

“You stand out.” His voice was calm, certain.

Before she could answer, the lecturer stormed in and dropped a pile of papers. Students fell silent. Damian didn’t move. His eyes stayed on her.

Aria bent closer to her notebook and whispered, “Why are you staring at me?”

His reply was low. “Like I already know you? Maybe because I do.”

Her hand trembled, the pen blotting the page. She swallowed hard.

The lecture dragged. She barely caught a word. Every second she could feel him watching, and every second Ethan’s ghost slipped back into her mind. His kiss. His lies. The way he left her behind.

“Never again,” she whispered. “Never someone like him again.”

But Damian Cole sat beside her, magnetic and unyielding, and her heart refused to obey.

When the class ended, she packed her bag slowly, hoping he would leave. He didn’t.

“Always this quiet?” he asked.

“Only around people who stare,” she said before she could stop herself.

The corner of his mouth lifted. “Then I guess I’ll have to keep staring.”

Her heart jumped. “Don’t.”

“Too late.”

She pushed past him, sunlight spilling across her face. It did nothing to calm the storm inside her.

“New life. New school. Forget Ethan. Stay invisible,” she whispered.

But she already knew. Invisible was no longer an option. Not with Damian Cole in her world. One word, one stare, and her carefully built walls were already cracking.

This was only the beginning.