By Friday, things felt a little lighter.
The weather was soft and breezy, the kind of day where the clouds looked painted on and time didn't feel so heavy. Classes were manageable, rehearsal wasn't brutal for once, and Elena even managed to snag her favorite iced chai from the campus café without waiting in line for twenty minutes.
Small victories.
She needed them.
After the week she'd had—starting with Elara's ambush, followed by crying on a porch, getting stranded on the side of the road, and then ending up in Alexander's car—she was more than ready for something normal.
Which is why, when her friend Camila texted her, "Chill dinner? Burgers or burritos? Your pick," she replied almost instantly:
"Burgers. Please."
Nothing fancy. Just comfort food, laughter, and noise she could actually enjoy for once.
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The little diner was tucked off-campus near a run-down gas station and a boarded-up record store. The sign above the door flickered between "EAT-IN" and "FAST" like it couldn't decide what it was trying to be. Inside, it was all cracked vinyl booths, neon signs, and an ancient jukebox in the corner that still worked when you kicked it hard enough.
Elena slid into the booth with Camila and two other friends from her arts elective. Their voices overlapped immediately—stories about professors, someone's terrible Tinder date, the bizarre number of pigeons on the Fine Arts roof.
Elena laughed easily. Genuinely.
She didn't feel like she was holding herself together anymore. Just… existing.
Her burger came in a red plastic basket, greasy and perfect. The fries were too salty, the root beer was flat, and somehow it all tasted amazing.
She didn't check her phone. Didn't think about anything deeper than the music humming from the speaker overhead.
Until she happened to glance up toward the front counter.
And saw him.
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Alexander.
Standing in line in a faded black tee and cargo joggers, one hand in his pocket, the other scrolling through his phone. He was with two guys—one she vaguely recognized from a mechanics class and another who looked like he hadn't smiled in ten years. All three were waiting for their orders.
And then, as if feeling her eyes on him, Alexander looked up.
Their gazes met.
No startle. No tension.
Just quiet recognition.
She hadn't expected to see him here—of all places, at this greasy little nothing-joint they both apparently liked. But the moment didn't feel awkward. It felt… oddly okay.
He gave her a barely-there nod.
She returned it with the faintest curve of a smile.
No words.
Just that same subtle gravity pulling again.
Camila nudged her. "Hey. Earth to Elena. You good?"
Elena blinked, then smiled like she'd just woken up from a nap. "Yeah. Just… spotted someone I know."
"Friend?"
"Sort of," she said. "Complicated."
Camila smirked. "Aren't they all?"
Elena shook her head with a soft laugh and looked down at her fries.
But she still felt his eyes on her.
Just for a second longer than necessary.
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Alexander didn't say anything to his friends.
Didn't point her out. Didn't act like anything was different.
But inside?
He felt that small shift again.
The one that kept happening.
The one that said something's coming—even if neither of them had the words for it yet.