Bound by the Cosmos

Aria’s pov The message continued to blink on my screen like a hallucination. NASA. NASA. I read it again and again. My Brian refused to believe this wasn’t some kind of sick joke the universe was playing on me. I don’t remember getting this message. Why would I ignore such an important message like this? How is this even possible?! The universe had timing. Very strange timing. When I looked over the message for what felt like the hundredth time I checked the date it was sent. It was sent six days ago, making today the last day for me to send a response. I checked my time and it’s 11:39pm. I had less than 30 minutes to make the greatest decision of my life. My fingers trembled as I sat inside my car, duffel bag beside me in the passenger seat. Something buzzed again and this time it wasn’t my laptop, it was my phone. Sam. I let it ring. It rang three times before it finally went off. I swallowed hard and pressed the block button. I needed time to myself, I needed

Aria’s pov I hate him. I hated his stupid face, his stupid, sharp jawline. His stupid broad shoulders. And God…his voice. That deep, arrogant, British-tilted tone that slid under my skin like a splinter. I hated the way his dirty brown hair fell messily but perfectly, as if the universe styled it out of spite just to annoy me. It all infuriated me. “Disrespectful prick.” I muttered under my breath as I walked into the evaluation chamber. “Rude piece of shit….Wasn’t he taught manners as a child?” “I mean, I’m five years older than him, yet he behaves like a fool!” He stood at the far end of the room, tablet in hand, eyes dragging over me with the same infuriating cold assessment. He didn’t even try to hide it. “Bold of you to assume you’ll pass this evaluation test.” He said voice clipped. “And you’re also late.” “I’m a minute early, for your information.” “And it’s bold of you to assume you’re important enough to decide I won’t.” I shot back. But that was a lie, because