Chapter 1 Alan let out an exasperated sigh as Sean pointed his fork at him, that smug grin plastered on his face. The two of them were hunched over a cluttered table of cafeteria trays in the campus dining hall, packed to the brim with students grabbing lunch between classes. Sunlight slipped through the […]
Chapter 2 The street running alongside Dylan’s house was a cheerful kind of chaos, a living serpent of cars parked half on the sidewalks and half in puddles that mirrored the neon glow of string lights wrapped around the trees. The autumn night had turned into a warm cocoon, thick with the smell of damp […]
Chapter 3 The shrill driiing of the doorbell sliced straight through the cottony fog of Alan’s apartment. He groaned, eyelids heavy with sleep and regret, his body rebelling against the dull grey light leaking through the half-drawn curtains. His skull pounded like a construction site in full chaos—thank you, Dylan’s party, with its lukewarm beers […]
Chapter 4 Alan’s phone buzzed again on the dashboard, cutting through the steady hum of the road as they headed back toward campus. He slid a groggy glance at the screen—his eyelids still heavy after the weekend at their parents’ place—then read aloud, his voice neutral but edged with hesitation: “She wants us to meet […]
Chapter 5 Rebecah couldn’t tear her eyes away from the scene, staring as if she were drinking in every tiny shift, every twitch. Madison still had her fingers resting at the base of Alan’s neck when she leaned in a little closer, and their lips finally met—a soft, warm, hesitant brush at first, barely a […]
Chapter 6 Alan dropped heavily onto the worn-out couch beside Madison, the frayed fabric scratching faintly against his pants. The apartment was drowning in a thick, muffled silence, broken only by the distant tick of a wall clock and the low hum of the fridge in the kitchenette. He turned toward her, his face […]
Chapter 7 They had already been wandering the mall for over an hour, drifting from one store to the next without time ever seeming to drag. And strangely enough, everything was going well—too well, almost, to the point where it felt unsettling. Rebecah, with her infectious smile and casual remarks, had turned into the […]
Chapter 8 Alan and Madison froze on the bench, eyes wide, as if Rebecah’s words had just slapped them across the face. The splash of the fountain suddenly felt deafening—an absurd soundtrack for a suggestion that had tipped straight into the surreal. Alan was the first to snap out of it, his voice cracking […]
Chapter 9 The next morning, the dull gray light of a low, heavy sky seeped through the thin curtains of Madison’s apartment, casting soft shadows over the stacks of open economics textbooks scattered across her coffee table. She sat cross-legged on the worn couch, a highlighter in hand, a mug of cold coffee abandoned […]
Chapter 10 Alan pulled the car into the hotel parking lot, the engine coughing one last time before dying into a heavy silence. The smoked-glass facade reflected the streetlights, and the place reeked of understated luxury—valets in uniform circling the few parked cars like efficient shadows. Madison got out first, slamming the door a […]