Episode 4
1280 Words
The following Monday felt different.
Not because anything had changed.
But because both of them were suddenly aware of how fragile peace could be.
Haliyah sat in the front row during her morning Physics lecture, her notebook open but untouched. The lecturer’s voice echoed through the hall, explaining electromagnetic induction, yet every sentence drifted past her without leaving a mark.
Her mind kept returning to Samuel’s words.
“I’m scared that one day someone better will come along.”
She had spent so much of her life worrying that people would leave her.
She had never imagined the person she loved carried the same fear.
When the lecture ended, students poured into the hallway, laughing and complaining about assignments. Haliyah stepped outside, blinking against the afternoon sun.
Samuel was waiting.
He leaned against the corridor wall, a small paper bag in one hand.
“You look like you’ve been thinking too hard,” he teased.
“I probably have.”
He held out the bag.
She looked inside.
Her favorite cookies.
“You remembered these too?”
“You bought them once after a difficult test.”
She smiled.
“I said they tasted like childhood.”
“And I remembered.”
She laughed softly.
“You really do remember everything.”
“Only the important things.”
⸻
That evening, they walked to the sports complex instead of the library.
The football field was almost empty, with only a few students practicing under the fading sunlight.
“I’ve been thinking,” Samuel said.
“Dangerous.”
He nudged her shoulder.
“I’m serious.”
“So am I.”
He smiled before becoming thoughtful again.
“I don’t want us to become the kind of couple that hides things because we’re afraid of how the other person will react.”
She nodded.
“I don’t want that either.”
“So…”
He took a deep breath.
“…can we make a promise?”
“What kind of promise?”
“If something is bothering us…”
He looked directly into her eyes.
“…we tell each other.”
“No guessing.”
“No silent treatment.”
“No pretending everything is okay.”
She didn’t answer immediately.
Instead, she extended her little finger.
He looked at it, confused.
“A pinky promise?”
“My mum always said they’re impossible to break.”
Samuel chuckled before hooking his finger around hers.
“Deal.”
She smiled.
“Deal.”
⸻
For the next two weeks, life settled into something beautifully ordinary.
They revised together.
Cooked instant noodles in the hostel common room after late-night study sessions.
Competed to see who could memorize chemistry equations faster.
Samuel lost every single time.
“I’m beginning to think you’re cheating.”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“You definitely have hidden superpowers.”
“My superpower is studying while you spend twenty minutes choosing a playlist.”
“I need the right atmosphere.”
“You need fewer love songs.”
He placed a dramatic hand over his chest.
“How dare you attack my playlist?”
She laughed so loudly that students nearby turned to stare.
It didn’t matter.
For the first time in a very long time…
She felt light.
⸻
Friday afternoon brought unexpected news.
“Haliyah!”
She turned as her roommate ran into the hostel room, almost out of breath.
“You won’t believe it.”
“What happened?”
“The Students’ Union is organizing a formal dinner next month.”
“So?”
“So couples can attend together.”
Haliyah blinked.
“A real dinner?”
“With dresses.”
“Music.”
“Pictures.”
“And dancing.”
She stared for a moment before laughing.
“Samuel doesn’t dance.”
“How do you know?”
“I asked.”
“And?”
“He said he dances like a confused giraffe.”
Her roommate burst into laughter.
“You have to go.”
“I don’t know…”
“You absolutely have to.”
That evening, while they were walking back from the library, she casually mentioned it.
“So…”
“Hmm?”
“There’s something I wanted to ask.”
Samuel looked at her.
“Should I be nervous?”
“Maybe.”
“Oh dear.”
She laughed.
“The Students’ Union is hosting a formal dinner.”
“I heard.”
“I was wondering…”
She hesitated.
“…if you’d like to go with me.”
Samuel stopped walking.
For a second, she worried she’d made things awkward.
Then he smiled.
“I thought you’d never ask.”
“You’ll come?”
“Of course.”
She grinned.
“But…”
He scratched the back of his neck.
“…you do remember I can’t dance, right?”
“We’ll survive.”
“We?”
“If you’re embarrassing yourself…”
She slipped her hand into his.
“…I’m embarrassing myself with you.”
He laughed.
“I like that plan.”
⸻
Three weeks passed quickly.
Assignments piled up.
Tests came and went.
The formal dinner finally arrived.
The campus auditorium had been transformed.
Warm fairy lights hung from the ceiling.
Round tables were covered in white cloth.
Soft music floated through the hall as students arrived in elegant dresses and neatly pressed suits.
Samuel stood outside the entrance, nervously adjusting his tie.
When he looked up…
He forgot how to breathe.
Haliyah walked toward him in a deep emerald-green gown that shimmered beneath the lights.
She looked elegant.
Confident.
Beautiful.
For several seconds…
He simply stared.
“You okay?” she asked, smiling.
“I…”
He cleared his throat.
“…I think you just stole every word I know.”
She laughed.
“You don’t look so bad yourself.”
“So… I don’t resemble a confused giraffe?”
“You still might.”
He grinned.
“But at least I’m a well-dressed one.”
Inside, they spent the evening talking, laughing, and taking photographs with friends.
Eventually, the music slowed.
Couples drifted toward the dance floor.
Samuel looked horrified.
“It’s time.”
“No.”
“It’s absolutely time.”
“I refuse.”
She held out her hand.
“You promised we’d embarrass ourselves together.”
He sighed dramatically.
“I walked right into that.”
They stepped onto the dance floor.
Neither of them knew what they were doing.
They stepped on each other’s shoes.
Missed the rhythm.
Laughed more than they danced.
But neither of them cared.
Around them, the room blurred into soft lights and distant music.
For that moment…
It felt like they were the only two people in the world.
As the song ended, Samuel rested his forehead gently against hers.
“I’ve been meaning to tell you something.”
“What is it?”
“I think…”
He smiled softly.
“…I’m falling in love with you.”
The world seemed to pause.
Haliyah’s eyes filled with tears—not from sadness, but from the overwhelming realization that this love had never asked her to become someone else.
She smiled through those tears.
“I think…”
She squeezed his hand.
“…I’ve already fallen.”
Neither of them noticed the camera flash from across the room.
Someone had taken a photograph.
A photograph that, by morning, would begin spreading across social media—and unexpectedly reach someone who still believed Haliyah belonged in their future.
Some stories are tested by distance.
Others are tested by the people who refuse to let go of the past.
For Haliyah and Samuel…
The hardest chapter was only just beginning.
- Writer
