Ariana rushed through the bustling hallway of Silvercrest University, clutching a stack of heavy books against her chest. Students hurried past her, voices echoing off the tall stone arches that lined the corridor. She was already five minutes late for her business lecture in the Eldern Building, and her nerves buzzed like electricity.
"Please don't fall… please don't fall…" she whispered to her books.
The books fell.
She didn't slip, and no one pushed her. She just ran right into someone—a wall of a person, honestly.
The whole stack of books hit the ground with a heavy thud.
"I'm so sor—" she started, but stopped cold.
It was him.
The boy from the bus that morning. The one who'd handed back her notebook, barely saying a word and watching everything.
He blinked, caught off guard, but he didn't lose his cool. He knelt down and started gathering her books.
"We meet again," he said, like this kind of thing happened every day.
Ariana felt her cheeks heat up. "I… I didn't see you there."
He passed her the top book. "You're with the Business Faculty, right?"
"Yeah," she said, tucking her hair behind her ear. "The North Wing library was empty, so I grabbed my books there instead."
He nodded, catching on right away. He always got what she meant, even when she barely said anything.
"I'm Kian," he told her.
The name flickered in Ariana's mind, bright and quick. "I'm Ariana."
His eyes softened just a bit. "Nice name."
She opened her mouth, but the hallway bell boomed, echoing everywhere. No way anyone could ignore it.
"Lecture?" he asked.
She bobbed her head. "Yeah. I'm seriously late."
He didn't say anything;just grabbed half her stack.
"Come on. I'll carry these. Otherwise you'll drop them all over again."
Ariana gave him a look. "I will not!"
He smiled, barely;just a hint, really. Still, it warmed her more than any sunlight sneaking in through the windows.
They walked together through the polished stone hallway, the sounds of students fading around them. Ariana tried to focus on her footsteps, but her heart thumped loudly in her ears.
When they reached the wooden door of her lecture hall, he gently placed the books back into her hands.
"See you around, Ariana," he said quietly.
She nodded, trying to keep her voice steady. "Thank you… Kian."
He turned and walked off into the crowd;calm, certain, lost in his own silent world.
But Ariana?
Ariana stood there watching him until the very last moment he disappeared around a corner.
And suddenly, being late didn't feel so stressful anymore.
She entered her lecture with a smile she hadn't expected to wear today. 😉