Chapter 19
Nate left before they talked.
That was the first thing Emilia saw when she woke up. Not a fight. Not a confession. A text that landed like a door shutting.
Nate:
Pack called me home. I have to go today.
We’re not done. I mean that.
I’ll call tonight.
No can we push this. No tell me now. Just gone.
She sat on the edge of her bed and read it twice. The library was still in her chest. *Dare update. He still doesn’t know.* His face when she snatched the phone. Then Vanessa smiling by the copier like she’d wound a clock.
And now he was off campus.
Emilia typed three different replies and sent the worst one because it was the only one that wouldn’t start a fight over text.
Emilia:
Okay. Be safe.
She hated how small it looked.
Nate felt her the whole drive.
That was
