Episode 3
716 Words
Clairo spent the next three days pretending she hadn't been hoping to run into Toni Corvin again.
It was embarrassing, really.
Evergreen University's campus wasn't small. Thousands of students crossed its pathways every day, each moving with somewhere to be. The chances of accidentally seeing the captain of the women's basketball team twice in one week were slim.
That didn't stop Clairo from choosing the route that passed the gym on her way to class.
Not because she was hoping.
She simply preferred the scenery.
At least, that was the lie she repeated every morning.
"You're smiling at your phone."
Clairo looked up from her laptop to find Maya sliding into the chair opposite her in the campus café.
"I am not."
"You've been staring at the same page for five minutes."
"I've been reading."
"You've been rereading the same sentence."
Maya reached across the table and spun Clairo's phone toward herself before Clairo could stop her.
The screen was empty.
No messages.
No notifications.
Maya raised an eyebrow.
"So... who are we waiting for?"
"No one."
"Liar."
"I'm serious."
"Then why do you keep checking your phone?"
Clairo sighed and wrapped both hands around her coffee cup.
"I met someone."
Maya's eyes widened instantly.
"Someone?"
"It wasn't like that."
"Then tell me why you're blushing."
"I'm not blushing."
"You absolutely are."
Clairo dropped her forehead onto the table with a groan.
"It was just a conversation."
Maya leaned forward.
"Start talking."
Practice had run longer than expected.
Toni tossed a towel over her shoulder as she stepped out of the locker room, exhausted in the satisfying way only a good game could leave someone.
"You look happy."
She glanced sideways.
Kai, one of her teammates, smirked knowingly.
"I always look happy."
"No."
Kai shook her head.
"You look distracted."
"I'm tired."
"Mhm."
Kai didn't buy it.
"You've smiled at your phone four times today."
"I have not."
"You literally smiled while replying to a campus bookstore post."
Toni frowned.
"I was not smiling."
"You were."
Toni rolled her eyes.
"You need a hobby."
"I have one."
"What?"
"Watching you lie."
Friday afternoon found Clairo back in the library.
She wasn't looking for Toni.
She genuinely needed a book for her developmental psychology assignment.
She had just reached for the last available copy when another hand landed on the spine at the exact same moment.
Both froze.
"I think," a familiar voice said, "this is becoming a habit."
Clairo looked up.
Toni.
Again.
"This one really is mine," Clairo said.
"So was the last one."
"I got there first."
"Barely."
Their fingers were still resting on the same book.
Neither of them moved.
"You can have it," Toni said eventually.
Clairo blinked.
"Really?"
"I've already read it."
"You've read developmental psychology?"
Toni shrugged.
"My little sister wants to study psychology next year."
That caught Clairo by surprise.
She had assumed Toni only read novels.
"You don't seem shocked that I read."
"I wasn't going to say that."
"You were thinking it."
"A little."
Toni laughed.
"I'll forgive you."
She pulled another book from the shelf instead.
"So..."
"So?"
"You still haven't told me your name."
Clairo folded her arms.
"I thought you were making me wait."
"I was."
"And?"
"And now I'm asking."
Clairo pretended to think about it.
"Hmm."
Toni sighed dramatically.
"You are unbelievably difficult."
"I've been told."
"Fine."
Toni started walking away.
"I'll just keep calling you Psychology Major."
"You wouldn't."
"I absolutely would."
Clairo laughed before she could stop herself.
"It's Clairo."
Toni stopped.
Turned.
Repeated it quietly, as though testing how it sounded.
"Clairo."
She smiled.
"It's nice to finally meet you properly."
For reasons she couldn't explain, hearing her own name in Toni's voice felt strangely important.
"Your turn," Clairo said.
"Toni."
"I already knew that."
"Oh?"
"The whole university knows who you are."
"I'll pretend that's flattering."
"It wasn't meant to be."
"Liar."
They stood there smiling at one another, neither making any effort to leave.
Somewhere in the distance, the library clock chimed the hour.
Neither of them noticed.
Neither of them knew that, months later, Clairo would remember this exact moment—not because anything extraordinary had happened, but because it was the first time Toni Corvin had said her name like it was something worth remembering.
- Writer
