The night it began

Not sure but....

Malina was heavier than either of them expected. Between the groans, the mumbled curses and the occasional stumble, it was a miracle they got her up the stairwell at all. By the time they shoved the dorm room door open, Maya’s arms ached from carrying her weight.

“Bed,” Sofia ordered.

Maya and Sofia dropped her unceremoniously onto Maya’s mattress, where Malina collapsed with a dramatic sigh. Her hair fanned messily across the pillow, one arm flopped over her face.

Sofia rolled her eyes and filled a glass with water, pressing it against Malina’s lips. “Drink this before you regret everything in the morning.”

Malina muttered something incoherent but sipped a little anyway.

“Good enough,” Maya sighed.

With her out cold, both girls retreated to the showers one after the other, washing off the smell of food and alcohol. When they came back, the room felt quieter, heavier. Malina was already snoring faintly in Maya’s bed. So Maya slipped into Sofia’s.

The two of them lay side by side, staring up at the ceiling in the stillness. The night hummed with the muffled sounds of dorm life beyond their door, but in the room it felt like they’d built a pocket of their own.

It was Sofia who broke the silence. “You feel something with him, don’t you? That guy.”

Maya blinked, caught off guard. She hesitated, chewing the inside of her cheek. Finally, she whispered, “I don’t know. I like him… the way he was talking, how he replied to me. But—” She paused. “I’m not sure.”

Sofia turned her head just enough to glance at her, though her expression stayed neutral. “If you say so.”

But in her mind, she knew better. She’d seen the way Maya lit up at dinner, how her tone shifted when Matthew’s name slipped into conversation. Maya could deny it all she wanted, her eyes had already given her away.

The night stretched into stillness. One by one, their breaths evened, the questions of the day dissolving into sleep.

By morning, sunlight slanted through the curtains. Maya and Sofia were already awake, quietly pulling clothes for class and straightening their bags. Malina, however, was still sprawled across Maya’s bed, her hair tangled, one leg hanging off the side.

She stirred only when the smell of coffee drifted into the air. With a groggy groan, she dragged herself up, downed half a cup, then stumbled into the bathroom. When she emerged, fresh-faced but still sluggish, her bag already slung over her shoulder, she made straight for the door.

As Malina was bout to open the door, sofia narrowed her eyes and said

“Wow… rolling out without a word? Not even a ‘thank you’? Guess manners aren’t your thing.”

Malina froze mid-step. Slowly, she turned her head back, eyes narrowing. Then she pivoted fully, walking toward Sofia with measured, deliberate steps.

For a moment, she didn’t look like the girl who’d been sick on pasta and alcohol just hours before. She looked like someone entirely different, someone whose presence was enough to make the hair on your arms stand up.

Sofia’s chest tightened....

As Malina stopped in front of Sofia, close enough that the air between them went tight. Her dark eyes flicked over Sofia’s face, sharp and unblinking.

“You want a thank you, princess?” she asked, voice low, mocking, like a challenge.

Sofia stiffened, her chin lifting automatically, though her pulse quickened.

Malina smirked. “Fine.” She leaned in just enough for her whisper to brush the air between them. “Thanks.”

The word dripped with sarcasm… yet something in her eyes softened for a fleeting second, so quick it was almost missed. A c***k in the armor.

Then she pulled back, straightened her jacket, and walked out as if nothing had happened, leaving a trail of tension behind her.

Sofia let out a slow breath she hadn’t realized she was holding.

And in the meantime Maya walks in, senses the leftover tension, and gives Sofia the “what the hell?” look. Sofia shakes her head quickly, don’t ask. The silence feels thick, but Maya cracks a sarcastic little joke, something like, “Okay… do I need to call security, or can we pretend this is a normal morning?”

Both the girls went to their classes and after the classes Maya hadn’t really planned for the day to go anywhere beyond coffee and maybe dragging Sofia through a row of shops. But as they stepped into the small café on the corner, sunlight spilling in through the glass windows, there he was.

Matthew.

He was standing at the counter, scrolling his phone with the ease of someone who had all the time in the world. The moment his eyes lifted and landed on Maya, there it was again that slow grin, the one that seemed like it had been waiting for her.

“Didn’t think I’d see you again this soon,” he said, voice low, teasing. “What, following me around now?”

Maya rolled her eyes, but the warmth spreading over her cheeks betrayed her. “Right. Because I have nothing better to do than stalk random guys at cafés.”

Sofia, catching on instantly, smirked. “Uh-huh. Random guys. Sure. Anyway…” She nudged Maya lightly, then looked at Matthew. “You know what, I suddenly feel like browsing the bookstore across the street. You two… order me something sweet, yeah?”

And just like that, she was gone vanishing in the way only Sofia could when she smelled the chance for mischief.

Maya sighed, turning back to Matthew. “She’s ridiculous.”

“Smart, though,” he said with a grin, motioning toward a booth. “Now I get you all to myself.”

They sat, coffee steaming between them, and the conversation slipped into a rhythm far too easy for two people who’d only officially met once. He cracked little jokes mock serious questions about whether she was the type to judge someone’s coffee order, teasing her about the way she furrowed her brows when thinking.

At one point, she laughed so hard she nearly spilled her drink. He reached out quickly, steadying her cup with a hand that lingered just long enough to make her heart kick.

“You really are something,” he said softly.

Maya froze for half a second, then looked away, suddenly very interested in the foam on her latte. “Don’t say things like that.”

“Why not? It’s true.” His tone was gentle, but the way he watched her made her pulse race.

She tried to deflect with humor, tossing back, “You barely know me.”

“Sometimes you don’t need years to know something feels right.”

That left her with nothing but heat in her cheeks and butterflies in her stomach.

The conversation drifted back into safer waters—books, music, the weird habit Sofia had of humming songs under her breath. And then, just as Maya thought the moment might slip away, Matthew leaned back casually and asked,

“So, do I get your number, or should I just start camping outside random cafés hoping to bump into you again?”

Maya gave him a look, biting back a smile. “Wow. Smooth.”

“Effective, though?” He raised a brow.

She shook her head, laughing despite herself, and slid her phone across the table. “Don’t make me regret this.”

His grin softened into something more real as he typed his number in. Then he sent himself a quick text and set her phone back in front of her. “Now you can’t get rid of me even if you try.”

By the time Sofia returned, pretending she hadn’t been timing it perfectly, Maya’s cheeks still held a faint pink glow. She ignored Sofia’s knowing smirk and the unspoken “I told you so” in her friend’s eyes.

As they stepped back out into the late afternoon sun, Maya realized something she hadn’t in a long time. For all the complications, all the unknowns swirling around these new people in her life, Matthew had just made her world feel unexpectedly lighter to her.