Chapter Two:The Boy Behind The Fire Alarm
1037 Words
Cressmont had a way of pulling you in — and spitting you back out.
For Zane Rivers, his third attempt to sleep through Orientation Day ended with a fire alarm blaring through the west dorm.
The screaming siren jolted him upright. He blinked against the harsh red lights flashing across the walls and cursed under his breath. His hoodie was twisted around his chest, and his phone had slipped somewhere under his mattress. The place smelled like cheap detergent and boy sweat — college in a nutshell.
Outside his door, people shouted.
“Who the hell pulled it again?”
“Zane! It was Zane, wasn’t it?”
“I swear that guy’s gonna get kicked out before midterms.”
Zane smirked. He didn’t deny it. He never did.
Dragging himself up, he shoved on his sneakers and unzipped the front pocket of his hoodie. A tiny silver object clinked in his hand — the coin he'd wedged into the alarm system last night. Technically, it wasn’t pulling the fire alarm if it went off by itself. Right?
As students piled into the courtyard, half-awake and annoyed, Zane found his spot — back against a tree, hood up, expression unreadable.
He scanned the crowd with lazy eyes, expecting chaos, irritation, laughter. What he didn’t expect was her.
There, across the courtyard — the girl from earlier. The one with eyes like stormlight and a spine too straight for this broken world.
She wasn’t panicked. She wasn’t laughing. She was just standing there with her arms crossed, her hair pulled into a high, perfect ponytail, eyes scanning the chaos like she didn’t belong to it.
And then she saw him.
Their eyes locked again. Second time that day.
And just like before, she didn’t look away.
---
✦
Aria didn’t like people who didn’t follow rules.
That was why she didn’t like Zane Rivers.
From the moment her roommate Bella told her who he was — “Oh my God, that’s Zane, the guy who almost got expelled for lighting a cigarette in the lab!” — she decided to avoid him.
Yet somehow, her gaze found him too easily. The dark hoodie. The careless posture. That smirk like he already knew what you were going to say — and had decided not to care.
He annoyed her.
He intrigued her.
Which made it worse.
“Ugh, what a loser,” Bella whispered beside her. “He’s hot, sure, but like... toxic-hot, you know?”
“Yeah,” Aria murmured, eyes still on him. “Toxic.”
She didn’t mention the way her heart had skipped when he looked at her.
---
✦
Later that afternoon, Aria headed to the student library for the psychology class briefing. She was early — always was. It helped her feel in control, and with her father breathing down her neck, control was survival.
The classroom was already buzzing with a few students. She chose a seat by the window and opened her laptop.
Professor Taylor walked in precisely five minutes early, glasses perched on his nose, papers in hand. “Afternoon, class. Let’s not waste time.”
He tapped the whiteboard and pulled up the screen behind him.
“You’ve been randomly paired for your semester project,” he announced. “No switching. This project counts for thirty percent of your final grade.”
Aria’s fingers froze above her keyboard. Group projects. Her least favorite thing.
Names began appearing on the screen in paired sets. She scanned the list quickly, praying for Bella or one of the studious girls from her Ethics class.
Then she saw it.
Aria Monroe — Zane Rivers
Her blood ran cold.
She blinked.
No. It had to be a mistake.
Before she could raise her hand, the door slammed open — and in walked Zane, unapologetically late. Hoodie, again. Backpack half-zipped.
“Mr. Rivers,” Professor Taylor sighed. “I assume you know how clocks work?”
Zane gave a lazy nod and dropped into the only seat left.
Directly beside Aria.
She didn’t look at him. She didn’t breathe.
“This is a psychological behavior analysis project,” the professor continued. “You will observe, record, and interpret a specific behavioral pattern of your choice over eight weeks. Each pair will submit a written thesis and presentation.”
Zane leaned closer, voice low. “This should be fun.”
Aria didn’t answer. But her spine stiffened, and he noticed.
---
✦
After class, she was already packing her bag when his voice caught her again.
“Monroe, right?” he said, lazily slinging his backpack over his shoulder.
“Yes.”
“Dean Monroe’s daughter?”
She glanced at him sharply. “Is that a problem?”
He raised his hands, mock-innocent. “Nope. Just curious how someone so... perfectly polished got paired with me.”
She zipped her bag too hard. “Believe me, it wasn’t a choice.”
Zane’s lips curled into a slow smirk. “Good. I’m allergic to choices.”
She turned to leave.
“Wait,” he said, less cocky now. “I’m free Tuesday nights. We could start then. I know a place off-campus — quiet, no distractions.”
She raised an eyebrow. “I don’t go off-campus with people I don’t know.”
He stepped back, giving her space. “Fair. Then your call. Library. Coffee shop. Hell, meet in a Google Doc if you want.”
She almost smiled — almost. “Library. Tomorrow. 7 p.m. Don’t be late.”
He watched her go, and for the first time all day, his smile faded into something real.
---
✦
That night, Aria lay in bed staring at the ceiling.
Bella was already asleep, earphones in, humming to some lo-fi beat.
But Aria’s mind was loud.
Why did he have to be him? Why did he have to look at her like he saw the cracks behind her mirror-glass smile? And why, deep in some traitorous corner of her chest, did she not hate it?
She rolled over and shut her eyes.
She needed to sleep.
Because tomorrow at 7 p.m., she was meeting the boy behind the fire alarm.
And she didn’t trust herself to stay untouched.
- Writer
