“Who the hell is Sophia? I’m not doing this assignment alone!”

David groaned, flipping a page of his novel with dramatic flair.

The three of us were sitting in the library since our morning class had been canceled. I was trying to focus on researching the topic assigned for our assignment. Technically, I was supposed to work on this with Rowan… but I still hadn’t gathered the courage to talk to him. So, I decided to just do it myself.

Nora, sitting beside me, was doing the same. She wanted nothing to do with Jake, her partner, and was clearly avoiding any involvement with him.

“Aria Collins?”

A voice came from behind me.

Nora and I immediately turned around, while David closed his book and looked up as well.

It was Rowan.

He was standing right behind my seat. My eyes widened.

Was he really calling me? Or was I just imagining it?

Was he really there… or was I hallucinating?

He was with his friends, and I was too busy staring at him to notice anything else. Jake, of course, smiled playfully and waved at Nora, who rolled her eyes.

Rowan waved his hand in front of my face, snapping me back to reality. He always had that serious expression, as if he were in the military or something. I’d never seen him smile. Ever.

“Yeah… I’m Aria,” I said quickly, breaking out of my daydream.

“Actually… about the assignment,” he started.

But I cut him off, way too excited and nervous.

“You don’t have to worry about it! I’ll do it myself. Seriously, just chill!”

He raised an eyebrow. “Why would you do that?” he asked, still with that same serious tone.

I blinked, speechless. I was a fool.

Why did I say that?

“I-I mean… if you’re busy or something, I can handle it alone,” I stammered, trying to save myself.

“I am a student here, and we’re a team. We’ll do it together,” he said, tone unwavering.

When was the last time this guy smiled? Did he even know how?

“Sure,” I replied with a tiny, awkward smile. I felt insulted and flustered at the same time.

“Okay, then I will look forward to it.”

Wait… did that mean we’d be spending time together while working on the assignment?

Oh my God.

Why didn’t I think about that before?

“Yeah, so… you’ll have to work too,” I said, trying to make my voice sound more confident than I felt.

“Let’s meet in the library after class every day,” he said.

I simply nodded, still adoring him.

“Where should we meet for our work?” Jake asked, placing his hand on the table where the three of us, Nora, David, and I, were sitting. Then he leaned forward, directly in front of Nora.

“In hell,” she replied without missing a beat.

“Sure, I will see you there.”

Jake chuckled, clearly unfazed by her rudeness. He seemed to enjoy provoking her.

Rowan’s other friend, who was on a call nearby, waved at them to come. “Let’s go,” he said, and soon all of them were walking out of the library.

I couldn’t help but keep my eyes on Rowan as he walked away.

“Wow,” David said, smirking as he leaned back in his chair. “You two just had your first group meeting, and here I am, my partner’s still missing in action.”

“Hell with the group meeting,” Nora muttered while typing into the Google search bar. “Why do I have to be paired with him, of all people?”

I glanced at David, who had already opened his novel again and was flipping through the pages.

“What are you reading?” I asked.

“Enemy-to-lover story,” he replied, shooting a smirk in Nora’s direction.

But she didn’t even bother to look at him.

David leaned back in his chair, clearly amused with himself. “Fiction is wild, isn’t it? Two people hating each other one second and falling in love the next…”

“Try that in real life and you’ll end up in the ER,” Nora shot back without looking up.

David laughed. “Wanna try?”

She finally looked at him with an expression that said Don’t push it.

My comfort note

Dear comfort note,

Life feels like fiction these days. But somehow, I feel like I’m just a side character in my own story.

And yes, I’m talking about Rowan.

He’s… different. I’ve never seen him smile. Never heard him laugh or joke around like the others. He doesn’t fool around with friends or even seem interested in anything outside that laptop or phone. His face is always serious, unreadable, like he’s carrying the weight of something heavy that no one else can see.

Sometimes, I wonder if he’s hiding a pain too big to name. Or maybe… maybe he’s running from something.

Whatever it is, I can’t stop thinking about it. About him.