When April rolled around, every cherry blossom tree on campus burst into full bloom. Pale pink and white petals drifted everywhere, carpeting the paths in a soft, thin layer, so walking felt like treading on a light dusting of snow.
By then, the news that Alexander and I were dating was out in the open, with no room for doubt. It had become such a regular routine by then: after his training sessions every day, he'd walk half the length of the campus just to see me back to my dorm. Whenever we passed Cherry Blossom Avenue, he'd deliberately slow his steps, waiting for a gust of wind to send a flurry of petals swirling down around me before whipping out his phone to snap photos. His camera roll already had hundreds of shots of me: mid-bite at the cafeteria, nose buried in a book, mid-yawn b
