Emma:
By the time I reached campus, my coffee was gone and the morning had settled into something brittle.
The kind of cold that didn’t bite so much as linger, seeping into your sleeves, your breath visible but unimpressive. Everything looked normal. Students crossing the quad with backpacks slung low. Professors moving with purpose, scarves tucked high, heads down.
No one knew that my entire life felt newly rearranged.
I walked slower than usual, not because I was late, but because I was aware of everything. The sound of my boots on the pavement. The way my phone rested in my coat pocket, heavier than it should’ve been. The quiet hum of What if threading through my thoughts.
I didn’t expect to see him so soon.
Wright stood near the steps of the humanities building, talking with anot
