Chapter 1: The Swipe
752 Words
15th May 2024 – Paris, 2 o ‘clock at night
Gia had never believed in dating apps. They felt… impersonal. Artificial. Like love with a filter. But that night, boredom and insomnia teamed up against her better judgment. She downloaded the app on a whim—just to “look around,” she told herself.
Swipe left. Swipe left. Ugh, why do all bios sound the same?
And then—Noah, 22, NYU. Currently in Paris. “Brains, books, and sarcasm. Swipe right if you can keep up.”
He had tousled hair, a smirk that said I know I’m attractive, and eyes that didn’t smile, but watched. Like they were calculating something.
She hesitated. Something about his profile felt… arrogant. But intriguing.
Swipe right.
A second later—“It’s a match.”
Gia’s heart did a strange little skip. Okay, that was fast.
She didn’t message first. She wouldn’t.
2:17 a.m.
Noah: So, shy or just overthinking your opening line?
Gia blinked at the screen. Cocky much?
Gia: Maybe just regretting my decision 😅
Noah: Ouch. You sure? Or just trying to play hard to get?
She rolled her eyes and smiled, her fingers tapping quickly.
Gia: I don’t “play” anything.
Noah: That sounds like something a heartbreaker would say.
Gia paused. Her cheeks warmed. Was he flirting… or mocking?
Gia: Maybe I am.
Noah: Hmm. You don’t look like one. You look… quiet. The kind who overthinks every little thing.
He wasn’t wrong. And that made her uncomfortable.
Gia: And you look like the type who thinks he knows everything.
Noah: Finally. She speaks her mind. I like that.
She smiled despite herself. He was annoyingly charming. There was something about his confidence that made her want to argue with him—and something in his words that made her want to know more.
Gia: So… NYU? What’s a New Yorker doing back in Paris?
Noah: I could ask you the same.
Gia: I never left.
Noah: Then maybe I came back for you.
She stared at that last message. Bold. Unexpected. Her stomach fluttered.
Gia: You don’t even know me.
Noah: Not yet.
Another buzz.
Noah: I know how you like to be watched.
Her heart stuttered.
Was this a game? A fantasy she hadn’t agreed to?
Yet something in her refused to pull away.
Gia: You think you’ve figured me out?
Noah: I think you’re tired of pretending you don’t want more.
She swallowed hard.
He wasn’t wrong.
And that scared her.
But what scared her more was how badly she wanted to reply.
How badly she wanted him to be real.
Another message slid in.
Noah: Don’t be scared, Gia. I only come when I’m wanted.
She stared at the words, breath shaky, pulse alive in places she didn’t want to admit.
At 6:00 in the morning-
Gia: Still alive or did my humor kill you?
He smiled despite himself.
Noah: Barely. You’re a danger to my peace of mind.
Gia: That’s the nicest thing anyone’s said to me today.
Noah: You’re up early.
Gia: I game in my sleep. Don’t be jealous.
He chuckled and typed something but didn’t hit send.
His mind was already racing ahead. He needed answers—but he couldn’t spook her. Not yet.
Noah closed the file and shut his laptop.
For the first time in a long time… she didn’t feel lonely. She felt seen.
And just like that, the conversation spiraled into the kind of night she’d always secretly hoped for. Late-night confessions. Teasing that felt too real. A strange sense of being seen by someone she’d never met.
There was a spark between them—not the usual fire that burns fast and fades. This felt like something simmering slowly… pulling them toward each other with every word.
And neither of them could stop.
Not yet.
The match was supposed to be harmless.
Just a way to pass the time.
But last night’s conversation had stayed with him longer than he expected. Her voice—though only imagined—had echoed in his mind as he tried to sleep. That messy, chaotic energy. That shameless laughter. She was different. Real. Unfiltered.
Too real, maybe.
But as the sky outside her window turned from ink to lavender, something in Gia whispered: This boy… Noah… he’s not just a flirt. There’s more behind that smirk. And I need to know what he’s hiding.
She didn’t know it yet—but that single swipe would change everything.
- Writer
