The devil đź‘€
402 Words
đź“–
Emily sat at the back of the lecture hall, her fingers gripping her pen, but her mind was far from the professor’s voice. She couldn’t stop thinking about the guy from earlier — the one with the hoodie and the intense eyes.
Those eyes.
There was something about them. Something distant, almost haunted.
She didn’t even know his name, and yet, he was already taking up space in her thoughts. Was she being silly? Probably. But still, she couldn’t shake the feeling that he wasn’t just some ordinary new student.
After class, she headed to the campus café to grab a coffee. The line was long, and as she stood there scrolling through her phone, she felt it again — that presence.
She turned around, and there he was.
Standing just a few feet away, hands in his pockets, staring past her like she didn’t exist.
But she knew better. She felt it.
He wasn’t looking at her — but he knew she was there.
And for a second, her heart did that stupid thing it always did in romance novels.
It skipped.
He moved forward in line, still not looking at her, and ordered his coffee with a voice so low and rough it gave her goosebumps.
"Black. No sugar."
She blinked. Who even drinks coffee like that?
Before she could think of something clever — or even something basic like "Hi" — he walked past her and out the door.
Gone. Just like that.
“Who is that guy?” Emily whispered to herself.
Rachel, her roommate, popped up behind her, making her jump. “Jake. That’s his name. Just transferred this week. And girl… he’s trouble.”
Emily raised an eyebrow. “You know him?”
Rachel scoffed. “Everyone wants to know him. But he doesn’t talk to anyone. Rumor is, he lives off-campus and keeps to himself. Some people say he’s got a dark past.”
Emily rolled her eyes. “Come on. That sounds like something out of a book.”
“Exactly,” Rachel said, sipping her iced latte. “And in books, the quiet ones are always the ones with the biggest secrets.”
Emily didn’t say anything. But Rachel was right about one thing.
Jake did feel like a character out of a book.
And Emily wasn’t sure if she was the reader… or the one about to fall into the story.
- Writer
