The Light in her night

nt

trying too hard to keep everyone awake. My desk was still cluttered from the morning rush

ront of me, but my pen hovered over the p

ym

d double-checked everything I wore this morning, straightened my hair twice

ton paused near my desk, her

I said, stacking p

every thought on my forehead. "Don't

ll

Cynthia. Don't be that girl who can't

ge from last night, and my lips

ld talk again.

I'd lik

today,

rday. E

rfe

r, I caught myself smiling

-

slept, but my brain still woke up early,

orite mug, legs swinging like a kid's. She na

piciously hap

e and leaned on t

ne you get when you're about to do some

just c

he myst

d," I said before I

, name drop. And you said it w

hip. "You'r

r mug to mine.

heart did that unsteady thing a

-

y fingers gripped my bag strap so tightly it ache

n he wa

ym

dark hair brushed back,

ike he wasn't sur

mile felt s

reached for the door, holding it open like

ned us. People laughed softly over laptops, a barista call

he world outside blurr

then at me. "You drink

s fine,"

sn't sure if I was about to ord

e, nervous but real. "Yo

out getting them rig

nd I looked away quickl

s work - "freelance logistics," vague enough to mean anything - and I talked about my lab, care

d quietly, "You're n

"What does

stronger. Most people I meet are eithe

throat tighten.

." His eye

t it wasn't uncomfortable. It felt like wait

cup down and said, "

art hammerin

n a long time, I did

-

orning had shifted into something new. I caught my reflection in t

t coffee. Maybe it

wasn't afrai