The Long-Lost Reunion

Chapter 2: The Ghost in the Room

The Golden Boy and the Shadow

Military training week at Nordvik University was a fever dream of sweat and sun, but for the student body, it was a beauty pageant. One name dominated the forums, whispered in every corner of the dorms: Liam. He was the "Campus Crush," a god in tactical gear. Everyone was obsessed with his pedigree, his ice-blue gaze, and most of all—his love life.

I shared a dorm with three girls who lived for the gossip. They were vibrant, loud, and effortlessly alive. I played along, of course. I wore my cheerful personality like a designer mask, expensive and flawless. It protected me. It hid the fact that inside, I was a hollowed-out shell.

My mother’s death had been the first crack in my world. My father and I had fled to a coastal city, trying to outrun the grief, but you can’t run from a ghost. I became a creature of nerves, sensitive to every shift in the wind, a girl who fought bloody wars in the silence of her own mind.

The mask was my only defense. Especially now that the girls were obsessed with Sophia’s "perfect" boyfriend.

I tried to tune them out, but their voices drifted over the dorm partitions like smoke.

Liam is a Finance major...

They went to high school together...

Liam was the one who asked her out...

Every detail was a jagged stone in my throat. He was the boy I had loved in secret for five agonizing years. And he had chosen her.

The Taste of Nordic Glow

Despite a week under the brutal sun, my skin remained stubbornly pale, retaining a porcelain glow that seemed to irritate the universe.

"Aivira," Sophia chirped, sidling up to me as we headed to class. She smelled like expensive florals—a calming scent that made me feel even more like a fraud. "What sunscreen are you using? Your skin is still so white. Seriously, give me the brand!"

I froze. I didn't use sunscreen. My paleness was just a trait of my blood, a genetic leftover. But in the world of girls like Sophia, "I was born this way" sounds like a boast.

"Oh, it's just... the one everyone is talking about online," I mumbled, desperately trying to look distracted.

Sophia’s eyes lit up. "You mean 'Nordic Glow'? The one with the pearl extract?"

I didn't have a clue what she was talking about. I just gave a noncommittal hum.

"Ohhh, I knew it~" Sophia started, her voice trailing off into a squeal as a baseball cap was suddenly shoved onto her head, pulling it over her eyes.

The Invisible Girl

She adjusted the cap, her feigned annoyance melting into a look of pure, sickening adoration. "Liam!"

My heart didn't just stop; it withered.

I couldn't help it. I turned. Liam was standing there, his jawline so sharp it looked like it was carved from the very ice of his Nordic ancestors. The sun hit his face, making him look radiant, almost celestial.

I had seen him a dozen times this week, each sighting a fresh wound I let fester.

As we walked together, a grotesque trio, the air between us felt heavy. Liam was looking down, his eyes fixed solely on Sophia. I was standing right there—inches away from his right arm—but to him, I was air. I was a ghost. I didn't even exist in his peripheral vision.

I looked down at the pavement, the weight of five years of unrequited longing crashing down on me. It was wrong to feel this way. He had a girlfriend. He had my friend.

But the heart is a stubborn, stupid thing.

"Why do I have to wear a hat? It's so hot!" Sophia whined, tugging at the brim.

"I don't want a girlfriend who gets roasted like a little pig in the sun," Liam’s voice was low, a playful rumble that I felt in my own marrow.

"Hey! Did you just call me a pig?" Sophia puffed out her cheeks, hitting his arm playfully.

Liam laughed. It was a light, genuine sound—a sound he had never made for me. I listened to their flirtatious banter, each word acting like a micro-tear in my soul.

They were the sun. I was the dark side of the moon. And the worst part? He didn't even know I was there to be eclipsed.