登入The color drained from my face so fast I felt lightheaded My mind went blank for a moment and my grip on my phone tightened until my knuckles ached. I had only found out about Noah a few weeks ago and had never for once mentioned him to anyone, even Kai. I hadn’t told anyone at school about him — not a single soul. So how the hell did Riley know his name? My stomach twisted into a tight, sick knot. Before I could even form a response, her expression changed. Her face lit up with something that made my skin crawl. It was an overly excited, almost manic glint mixed with something even darker. Her eyes were wide, sparkling with a strange kind of hunger, and her lips curved into a bright smile. She leaned in closer, so close I could smell the faint scent of her perfume. “You’ve heard from him recently, right?” she asked, her voice low and oddly eager. “Tell me you have.” A shiver ran straight down my spine and I instinctively leaned back a little, my heart hammering so hard I cou
“Okay,” I said quietly, and then I stayed silent for the rest of the ride.Mr. James didn’t push the conversation either. He just kept driving, eyes fixed on the road, hands steady on the wheel.I turned back to the window, watching the city blur past. By the time we pulled up to the university gates, the usual morning buzz of students felt distant. I thanked Mr. James with a small nod and stepped out of the car, adjusting my bag on my shoulder as I walked toward the main buildings.The campus looked normal enough at least. I was thankful for that.I headed straight to my first class, found a seat near the middle of the lecture hall, and settled in. The professor hadn’t arrived yet, so I pulled out my notebook and tried to organize my thoughts. A few minutes later, a girl slid into the seat beside me. She had curly hair pulled back into a loose bun, and wore a bright yellow sweater that stood out against the sea of neutral campus outfits. She glanced over with a friendly smile.“Hey
The silence stretched again, and I could feel him watching me, could feel the shift in the air between us. Whatever wall he’d briefly let down was back up, reinforced.I finished taping the last bandage and sat back on my heels, wiping my hands on a clean cloth. My eyes drifted up to his face again. He was still staring at me, that guarded look firmly in place.“There,” I let out as I closed the first aid kit and stood up, gathering the used supplies. “Try not to reopen anything tonight.”Noah didn’t thank me and only nodded once.I turned to leave, but something made me pause at the edge of the room. I glanced back over my shoulder.He was still watching me.I gave a small nod—more to myself than to him—and turned away, forcing my feet to carry me out of the room and up the stairs.My room felt colder than usual when I slipped inside and shut the door behind me. I leaned against it for a moment, letting out a long breath I hadn’t realized I’d been holding. I peeled off my clothes an
“I’ll go get the first aid kit,” I informed him. “Don’t move. You’re making a mess on the floor.” His jaw tightened, but he didn’t stop me this time. Maybe it was the shock, or maybe he was in more pain than he wanted to admit. Either way, I turned on my heel and headed for the stairs before he could change his mind. My bare feet padded quickly up the steps, heart still racing from the confrontation but when I got there, the first aid kit was exactly where I remembered it—top shelf of the tall cabinet behind the towels, still neatly stocked from the last time I’d patched him up. I grabbed it, along with a clean towel and some antiseptic wipes. Then I took a deep breath, squared my shoulders, and headed back downstairs. He was still in the same spot near the study, leaning heavily against the doorframe now like standing was costing him. The blood on his lip had smeared, and the bruise on his cheek looked even worse under the dull lights. He watched me approach without a word, eye
The thought felt ridiculous the second it crossed my mind. He was clearly bleeding and had probably been in some kind of fight or accident, and he was just… walking away like it was nothing. Like I was supposed to pretend I hadn’t seen any of it.“Noah,” I called after him, my voice shaky but way louder than before.But he didn’t stop for a second, didn’t even bother to slow down.I hesitated for half a second, heart hammering against my ribs, before my feet started moving on their own. I followed him deeper into the house, the cold floor stinging my bare feet as I hurried after the trail of blood.“You can’t just… Noah, stop!” I yelled, my voice cracking. “You’re hurt so let me at least get the first aid kit or something. You can’t just walk around like this.”He finally paused near the entrance to the study, one hand braced against the doorframe. His back was to me, shoulders tense, the blood still slowly dripping from his split lip onto the collar of his shirt.“I said go upstai
Around 8pm, just as I was curled up on my bed in an oversized shirt, scrolling through nothing in particular on my phone, it lit up with an incoming video call.Mom & DadI stared at the screen for a second, a weird mix of warmth and dread settling in my chest. I wanted to talk to them because of how much I already missed them. But after everything Kai had told me today, I also wasn’t sure I was ready to look them in the eyes and pretend everything was normal.But I answered anyway.The screen filled with both their faces, with Mom in a cozy sweater, and Dad leaning in from beside her with that familiar half-smile. The background looked like our living room back home, and for a moment it made my throat tight.“Saraphina!” Mom’s face brightened the second she saw me. “There she is! We’ve been waiting all day to hear from you.”“Hey,” Dad added, his voice warm. “How was your first full week of classes? You settling in okay?”I forced a smile, adjusting the phone so they could see me bett
“So you’re in a relationship with Caleb,” he murmured, voice so low it almost disappeared into the wind. I opened my mouth to explain—to spill the whole ridiculous, humiliating truth—but he cut me off before the first syllable could escape. “Did you know?” I blinked. “No… No! I swear I didn’t kn
Every muscle in my body locked at once, breath snagging in my throat so hard it hurt. I knew that voice. I knew it all too well.How could I possibly not recognize the voice when I’d spent months listening to it ask gentle questions, hold space for my silences, murmur “take your time” when I coul
MIA❁✿❀I was sitting at the bar on the second of January, already four whiskeys in, and I still couldn’t shake the image of that empty fucking apartment from my skull. She didn’t even leave a note.Not a text.Not a “fuck you, I’m out.”Just… nothing.And yeah, I knew she might have been pissed.
°❀⋆.ೃ࿔*:・ The drive home was quiet, but not the awkward kind. Gage’s hand stayed on my thigh the entire time, thumb tracing slow, absent patterns through my jeans. Every once in a while he’d squeeze lightly, a silent reminder that he was thinking about me. I stared out the window, watching the







