ログインAriana POVCampus looked painfully normal the next morning. Students crossed the lawn carrying coffee cups and backpacks like my entire life had not turned upside down in less than twenty four hours. A group of girls stood near the fountain laughing loudly while some football players argued beside the parking lot. Everything looked the same.But I didn’t feel the same. Not even close. Nick walked beside me quietly, one hand in the pocket of his hoodie while the other brushed against mine every few seconds. He looked exhausted. His jaw was tight, his eyes shadowed from lack of sleep, and yet he still stayed close like he thought I would disappear if he gave me too much space.Maybe part of him believed that. "You’ve been quiet since we left," he said.I adjusted the strap of my bag. "I’m thinking.""Dangerous."I glanced at him. "You used to like that about me.""I still do," he replied immediately.The answer came too fast. Too naturally. And somehow that made it worse. Because this w
Ariana POVNobody spoke for several seconds after the man disappeared. The hallway felt colder now, emptier somehow, like his words were still hanging in the air long after he left. I could still hear them clearly in my head. You’re still becoming it. I hated how much those words stayed with me.Nick turned toward me fully the moment the silence broke. His attention stayed fixed on my face, searching carefully like he was trying to figure out if something had changed while none of them noticed. "Talk to me," he said quietly."I don’t even know what to say," I admitted.Mark rubbed a hand over his face before looking down the hallway again. "We need to move before someone else decides to show up with cryptic warnings," he muttered.Laura nodded once. "Agreed. Standing here won’t help her."Her, not Ariana. That tiny change made my chest tighten more than I expected. Sean finally stepped closer, his voice calmer now than before. "Can you still feel it?" he asked.I knew exactly what he
Ariana POVThe words did not make sense at first. "Into you."They stayed in the air between us, heavy and sharp, like they carried more meaning than I could process all at once. My chest tightened instantly, not from fear alone, but from something deeper, something that felt like a quiet truth trying to surface. "That’s not possible," Nick said.His voice was firm, almost angry, like rejecting the idea could make it untrue. The man did not argue. He just watched me. "It already happened," he said calmly.I shook my head. "I pushed it out," I said. "I felt it leave.""You felt what it wanted you to feel," he replied.That answer hit harder than I expected. Nick stepped slightly in front of me again, his body tense now. "You don’t get to say things like that and walk away," he said.The man’s gaze shifted to him for a brief second, then back to me. "I’m not here for you," he said."I don’t care," Nick replied.But I did. Because something about what the man said was not just meant to s
Ariana POVThe silence that followed was not peaceful. It was wrong. The moment the structure powered down, everything stopped at once. The light disappeared, the hum died, and even the pressure in my chest faded like it had never been there. For a second, it felt like none of it had happened. But I knew better. Something had changed. "Ariana."Nick’s voice was right next to me now, clearer than before. His hands were on my shoulders, steady but careful, like he was making sure I was still fully there. "Look at me," he said.I did. His eyes searched mine like he was expecting to see something different. Something broken. Something not me. When he didn’t find it, his shoulders dropped just a little. "I’m okay," I said."Are you sure?" he asked."I pushed it out," I replied. "I felt it leave."Sean let out a quiet breath behind us. "Then we got lucky," he said. "No," Laura said immedately. "We didn’t."We all turned to her. She wasn’t looking at me. She was looking at the structure. "T
Ariana POVThe moment the voice whispered inside me, everything changed.It was not like hearing something out loud. It was deeper than that, like the sound came from a place I could not block or ignore. My body went still instantly, my breath catching as a sharp pressure spread through my chest."I found you."The words echoed again, softer this time, but stronger in meaning. "Ariana?"Nick’s voice sounded distant for a second. Too distant. "I’m here," I tried to say, but my voice came out uneven.The room around me blurred slightly. The light from the system was still there, still pulsing, but it felt like it was moving through me instead of around me. My hand tightened around the device without me thinking about it, like it was the only thing keeping me grounded."Something’s wrong," Mark said.Nick’s hand was on my arm now, steady and warm, but I could feel the tension in him. "Look at me," he said. "Stay with me."I tried. I really did. But the voice inside me spoke again. "You o
Ariana POVIt moved too fast. One second it was inside the opening, shifting and forming like something unsure of itself. The next second it was already halfway out, closing the distance between us in a way that made my heart slam hard against my chest."Back!" Mark shouted.Nick didn’t wait. His arm pulled me sharply to the side, his body turning with mine so he stayed between me and whatever was coming at us. The movement was quick, but not quick enough to stop the feeling that followed.The air dropped. Cold. Heavy. The shape didn’t hit us. It stopped. Right in front of where I had been standing. For a second, everything froze again. The light from the system flickered across it, trying to settle on something solid, but it kept shifting. It wasn’t fully one form. It wasn’t clear or stable. It looked like something caught between becoming and breaking at the same time."What is that?" Laura said.Her voice was low, but there was something close to unease in it now. Sean didn’t answe
Sofia and I decided to have a sleepover at her house since we haven't had one of those in a while and it was also the only way of getting Nick out of my head. We decided to watch a marathon of sisters because it's the only show we could agree on watching. Sofia popped down next to me on her comf
"She's gay." He blurted out.I narrowed my eyes. "Gay?""Yes, she's involved with some girl, okay! We're just pretending to be a thing because her parents doesn't approve her sexual choices, and I need her father's influence in growing my career."I swallowed. "But that only complicates this... wha
The words hung in the air, surprising me as much as him. There were bigger issues to address, but that question tumbled out first. And suddenly, I needed to hear his answer.He fell silent, thoughtful, as though weighing the question before answering. "Once," he said after a pause. "In my sophomore
"Why did you stop?" He grumbled, brows furrowing as hands immediately began clutching at my side to bring me back to him, but I refused to give in."I won't have sex with you Nick," I said, without any conviction in my voice. "That's the genesis of all our problems." "I didn't want to fuck you." M







