Chapter 1: The Proposal

The August sun hung low over Savannah, Georgia, casting a warm golden glow across the campus of Magnolia State University. Students hurried between buildings with coffee cups in hand, backpacks slung over their shoulders, and dreams too big to fit inside lecture halls.

Pedro Salvador barely noticed any of it.

His eyes were fixed on the email glowing on his laptop screen inside the campus library.

Final Notice

Outstanding tuition balance: $8,460.

Payment required within fourteen days to avoid withdrawal from the semester.

He rubbed both hands across his face.

“Fourteen days,” he whispered.

Fourteen days to find more money than he’d ever had at one time.

He worked evenings at a neighborhood grocery store, spent weekends delivering food, and tutored first-year students whenever he could. Every dollar went toward tuition, rent, groceries, and helping his younger sister, Sofia, who lived with their aunt in Atlanta.

Still, it wasn’t enough.

Pedro closed the laptop before anyone could see the disappointment on his face.

He wasn’t ready to give up.

Not after everything he’d sacrificed to get this far.

⸻

Across campus, Liyanna Anthony sat on the stone steps outside the journalism building with her best friend, Maya.

“You’ve barely touched your sandwich,” Maya said.

“I’m not hungry.”

“You’ve said that three days in a row.”

Liyanna forced a smile.

“I’m fine.”

She wasn’t.

That morning, she’d received an email informing her that her scholarship would not be renewed unless she paid the remaining balance herself.

Her mother’s bakery back home had closed after severe storm damage, and there simply wasn’t enough money.

If she left school now, years of hard work would disappear overnight.

She looked across campus at students laughing without a care in the world.

“What am I going to do?” she murmured.

⸻

Two days later, Pedro spotted a bright poster outside the Student Affairs office.

Married Student Housing & Financial Assistance Program

Eligible married students could qualify for subsidized campus housing and additional financial support if they met the program requirements.

Pedro almost laughed.

“If only getting married were that easy.”

As he turned away, he heard someone behind him mutter the exact same words.

He looked back.

A young woman with dark curls pulled into a loose ponytail was staring at the same poster.

She caught his eye.

“For the record,” she said with a small grin, “I wasn’t talking to you.”

“I figured.”

“But I did say it out loud.”

“You did.”

They shared a brief laugh before the silence returned.

Neither of them moved away from the poster.

Finally, Liyanna asked, “You need the aid too?”

Pedro hesitated before answering.

“Yeah.”

“Me too.”

Neither of them spoke for several moments.

Then an outrageous idea appeared almost simultaneously in both their minds.

Pedro looked at her.

She looked at him.

“No.”

“No?”

“You were thinking the same thing.”

“I wasn’t.”

“You definitely were.”

He sighed.

“Maybe.”

Liyanna folded her arms.

“This is completely ridiculous.”

“It is.”

“It could ruin our lives.”

“It could.”

Another long silence.

Then she smiled.

“But…”

Pedro couldn’t help smiling too.

“But… maybe we should at least hear how the program works.”

Neither of them knew that one impulsive conversation outside Student Affairs was about to change the course of both their lives forever.