LOGIN~SAFFRON~My mom picks me up twenty minutes after my last class. I had waited behind for Elixir, but he never showed up. The drive home is filled with her gentle questions.“How was your first day? Did you make any friends? How were the lectures?”I give her short, tired answers. By the time we pull up to the mansion, exhaustion has settled deep in my bones.The second I get inside, I head straight to my room, take a quick bath, eat something light from the kitchen, and collapse onto my bed in my shorts and top. The moment I turn on my data, my phone starts buzzing nonstop with WhatsApp texts from Erica.Erica: Girl, spill everything!!! How do you know Elixir Miller?? Erica: Are you two a thing?? Erica: Oh the way he looks at you. Erica: Saffron, where are you???I sigh and start a voice note, spilling what I can—the balcony conversation, meeting him at the gala. By the time I hit send on the last voice note, I feel lighter… and heavier with guilt.Because I haven’t properly che
Erica pauses mid-bite, her eyes narrowing as she studies my face. “Hey… something wrong?”I blink and force a quick smile. “No, nothing. I just… missed this speech at the gala. That’s all.” I hand her phone back.She doesn’t look fully convinced, but she shrugs. “Okay. If you say so.”We fall into easier conversation. Erica talks about how expensive campus life is, even for us from wealthy families. Then her eyes light up as she shifts to school activities.“You should check out the clubs and teams,” she says, popping a piece of lettuce into her mouth. “The hockey team is huge here. They’re basically celebrities. Your stepbrother Jason is their star captain, obviously. But there’s this other guy, Elixir Miller—the one from the speech. He’s really good too. There’s kind of a rivalry between them.”She barely pauses for breath. I fight back a smile. God, she talks a lot. But I’m not complaining. In this massive, intimidating new school, I’ll take all the friendly chatter I can get if it
~SAFFRON~My mom pulls the car up to the main entrance of Sterling Heights College at 8:15 a.m. sharp. The campus looks even more intimidating in daylight—towering brick buildings, wide green lawns dotted with students rushing between classes. My stomach is still churning from the hangover from the last few days, and the black coffee I forced down earlier isn’t helping.She turns to me, eyes soft but worried. “You sure you’re okay?”“I’m fine, mom.” I force a smile. “I’ll survive.”She sighs, reaching over to squeeze my hand. “Text me when you’re done with classes. And please, no more drinking.”I roll my eyes but nod. “I hear you.”She leans over and kisses my forehead. “I love you. Have a good first day.”I grab my tote bag, step out of the car, and watch her drive off. The car disappears around the curve.The first lecture I receive is intro to Painting. I slip into the back row, hoping to disappear. The professor is a tall woman with paint-splattered jeans and a voice that sounds
~SAFFRON~My head is a full-on war zone.The second my eyes flutter open, flashbacks slam into me: the hug with Elixir, screaming “he’s kidnapping me!” at the gala, calling Jason’s bruised face beautiful while grabbing his chin, and then… my lips brushing his cheek. Jesus Christ.The rest after that is a fever dream I can’t quite catch—something about leaning closer, his forehead resting on my shoulder. Probably just my brain making up nonsense. It has to be. It has to.But I still can’t remember how I ended up back in my room. I groan and shove my face into the pillow. It smells like him—I smell like him—and I have to muffle a scream into the pillow, covering my head with the blanket. Jason was here. In my room. It’s the only explanation.A knock on my door makes me yank the blanket off my head. The door clicks open.“Fairy godmother reporting for duty,” My mom says with a little hand wave as she approaches.She’s calling herself a fairy godmother now? I groan.“How’re you feeling?”
~SAFFRON~Everything keeps blurring—faces, lights, the floor itself. I’m wobbling, trying to plant my feet when Jason appears right in front of me after putting what looks like my phone in his pocket. I swear the corner of his mouth twitches, like he’s mocking me, but it’s gone so fast I might have imagined it.“You need me to carry you?” he says, the corner of his mouth twitching again, fighting a smirk.No,” I shove at his chest—it barely moves, and hear him chuckle under his breath. “I can’t believe you asked him to take me home,” I whine to my fairy godmother, snatching my heels back from her like they’re my last dignity. “I dooo not like him,” I tell her, dragging out the words while she stares at me like I’ve lost my mind. “At all. But since I love you soooo much…” I clutch her shoulders dramatically, “I’ll go with him.” I hiccup. She wrinkles her nose and waves a hand in front of her face. “Rude,” I mutter, sucking my teeth.“You’ll be safe with Jason,” she says, pressing a qu
~SAFFRON~Back inside after calling Kate to make sure she’s doing fine, the speeches are finally over. Guests mingle around the auction tables with champagne flutes in hand, bidding paddles waving like victory flags in a stadium. Elixir leads me to a quieter corner near one of the glass cases, his hand lightly on my elbow, that half-hearted smile still somehow charming. We’re laughing about his ridiculous underdog hockey stories—like the time he scored a goal with a broken stick. When I catch Jason across the room, his eyes are locked on us. He looks away fast before I can read his face. Elixir doesn’t notice, too busy snagging a drink from a passing tray.“Elixir, I’m nineteen,” I chuckle when he hands me the drink.“Come on, Saffron, it’s a drink to seal our new friendship. I’m twenty-one, legal and all, but I promise I won’t let you take more than a sip.” No pressure in his voice, just that easy coaxing tone.I hesitate, scanning for Mom and Fred. They’re nowhere. Jason too. Gone.







