CHAPTER TWO
1288 Words
THE BOY WHO SAW THROUGH GLASS
Some people enter your life with fireworks.
Others arrive so quietly that, years later, you struggle to remember what life looked like before they appeared.
Daniel Mercer belonged to the second kind.
⸻
The university had already begun to feel less intimidating.
Not because Evelyn finally knew her way around campus.
She didn’t.
She still got lost almost every other day.
But she had learned to laugh at herself instead of panicking whenever another office sent her somewhere else.
The women in the Administrative Office had started recognizing her.
“So, you’re back again?” one of the ladies teased as Evelyn walked in.
“I don’t think I’m ever leaving.”
The woman laughed.
“At this rate, we’ll give you a desk.”
Evelyn smiled politely.
Humor made the waiting easier.
By the time she finished submitting another form, the afternoon sun hung lazily over the university.
She decided to stop at the small printing shop along the University Road before heading home.
It wasn’t much of a shop.
Half of the space was occupied by aging desktop computers.
The other half held photocopiers, laminating machines, and a printer that sounded as though it complained every time it was switched on.
It was mostly crowded every day.
A whole lot of paper work daily.
It smelled faintly of paper, ink, and dust.
Evelyn handed over her flash drive.
“Can you print these, please?”
The young attendant nodded.
“It’ll take a few minutes.”
She stepped aside to wait.
Outside the open doorway, was a scenery of students,lecturers going about their usual day.
Life carried on with its usual rhythm.
Then she saw him.
Daniel.
He was walking with the same friend who had been beside him the day they met.
The two of them were talking about something that made the other young man laugh loudly.
Evelyn froze.
For reasons she couldn’t explain, she instinctively stepped behind one of the computer desks.
What are you doing?
She didn’t know.
She simply wasn’t ready to have another conversation.
Not because she disliked him.
Quite the opposite.
There had been something unexpectedly comforting about those few minutes beneath the university gate.
Comforting enough that she’d caught herself thinking about him twice afterward.
Which felt ridiculous.
She barely knew his name.
She certainly didn’t need him noticing her again.
So she pretended to study a faded poster that had probably been hanging there for years.
If she stayed still…
Perhaps he’d walk past.
Perhaps he wouldn’t even look inside.
She waited.
One second.
Two.
Three.
Then a familiar voice drifted through the doorway.
“I knew that was you.”
She closed her eyes for the briefest moment.
Of course.
Slowly, she turned.
Daniel stood just outside the entrance, smiling.
Not smugly.
Not mockingly.
Simply amused.
“I wasn’t hiding,” she said before he could speak.
One eyebrow lifted.
“You weren’t?”
“No.”
“So this old dusty poster suddenly became fascinating?”
She glanced at the old notice she had been pretending to read.
She laughed despite herself.
“Fine.”
“I knew it.”
“I wasn’t hiding.”
“You absolutely were.”
“I was…”
She searched desperately for an excuse.
“…thinking.”
“In the corner?”
“Yes.”
Daniel folded his arms, trying—and failing—not to smile.
“I’ll let you keep that explanation.”
She rolled her eyes.
“You seem very determined to embarrass me.”
“Not at all.”
He paused.
“I just thought it was funny.”
His friend looked between them.
“I’ll wait outside.”
Without another word, he stepped back onto the street, leaving them alone.
Daniel looked around the tiny print shop.
“So…”
“How has the enrollment verification been ?”
Evelyn groaned dramatically.
“If one more person tells me to come back tomorrow, I might actually cry.”
He laughed.
“I told you.”
“You did.”
“It gets better.”
“I hope you’re right.”
“I am.”
There was something strangely calming about talking to him.
No awkward pauses.
No pressure.
No need to impress one another.
The conversation simply flowed.
“What course are you here for again?” he asked.
“History and International Relations.”
He nodded thoughtfully.
“I’ve always liked history.”
“You say that now.”
“Why Shouldn’t I?”
“Wait until you’re reading fifty pages for a lecture.”
“I think I’ll pass.”
She smiled.
“You don’t have a choice.”
The attendant interrupted them.
“Your documents are ready.”
Evelyn reached into her bag.
Before she could pay, Daniel gently stopped her.
“I’ve got it.”
“No.”
“It’s just a little paper work- I can handle it.”
“I know you can.”
He smiled.
“I still want to.”
She hesitated.
It wasn’t about the money.
It was the gesture.
Small.
Unexpected.
Thoughtful.
“Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.”
She collected the papers carefully and slid them into her bag.
For a brief moment, neither of them spoke.
The silence wasn’t uncomfortable.
It simply felt unfinished.
Daniel broke it first.
“I actually hoped I’d run into you again.”
Evelyn looked up.
“You did?”
“I figured the chances were pretty low.”
She laughed softly.
“Apparently not.”
“I guess not.”
Another silence.
This one different.
More uncertain.
Daniel rubbed the back of his neck.
“So…”
“Can I ask you something?”
“Okay.”
“Would it be strange if I asked for your number?”
Evelyn felt her heartbeat quicken.
Not because no one had asked before.
Because something about the way he asked made it feel less like a line and more like a genuine question.
“If you’d rather not, that’s completely fine,” he added quickly.
“I just think you’re interesting.”
Interesting.
No one had called her that before.
Most compliments were about appearance.
Pretty.
Sexy.
Cute.
Interesting felt…
different.
She smiled.
“I don’t think it’d be strange.”
Relief flickered across his face.
She took his phone and typed in her number.
Then handed it back.
“There.”
He looked at the screen as though making sure it was real.
“I’ll text you.”
“So I know it’s actually you.”
“Exactly.”
Outside, the afternoon sun had softened into a warm golden glow.
They walked toward the road together.
At the end,where their paths separated, Daniel stopped.
“It was really nice seeing you again.”
“You too.”
“I’ll text you later.”
“I’ll be waiting.”
The words escaped before she had time to think about them.
Heat rushed to her cheeks.
Daniel noticed.
His smile widened just enough to tell her he had heard exactly what she’d meant.
“I’ll make sure you don’t wait too long.”
She watched him walk away before turning toward home.
Halfway there, her phone vibrated.
An unknown number.
She already knew who it was.
Daniel: I said I’d text you.
She smiled so suddenly that an elderly woman walking past smiled back, assuming she’d received wonderful news.
Maybe she had.
She typed her reply.
Evelyn: You kept your promise.
She didn’t know then that years later, promises would become the very thing she trusted least.
But on that afternoon, standing beneath a sky painted gold by the setting sun, promises still felt simple.
And she believed every one of them.
- Writer
