Chapter 24
Tell Me Why He's Across the Freaking Hall.
University.
The dream.
The escape.
Far from Dhaka.
Far from everything - the school, the streets, the memories, and him.
I had finally made it.
Me and Fatima, accepted into our top choice.
New city.
New bedsheets.
New mascara.
New me.
We stepped off that van with two suitcases, three pillows, and one very serious agreement:
"No more boys from the past."
I was ready to bury everything.
Until fate spat in my face.
The dorm was nicer than expected.
Cozy. Airy. Smelled like new paint and old secrets.
Fatima took the bed by the window, I took the one by the bookshelf.
And then we heard a door creak open.
From across the hall.
Laughter.
A voice I hadn't heard in years.
A voice I had memorized so well I could pick it out in a crowd of thousands.
Yuri.
"No way," Fatima said, freezing at the door like she'd just seen a ghost.
"Don't say it."
"Jay-"
"DO NOT say it."
We both peeked into the hallway.
And there he was.
Tall.
Tanned.
Messy hair.
A little more grown.
Still had that look like he was plotting something stupid and beautiful.
Keifer. Freaking. Watson.
Holding a box of snacks like he owned the place.
I forgot how to breathe.
He saw me.
Our eyes locked.
Again.
Just like before.
But this time... he smiled.
Not the fake one.
Not the polite one.
The one that used to make me believe I was special.
My heart skipped.
Then plummeted.
I slammed the door shut.
Fatima stared at me. "College life just got interesting."
"I hate you."
"No you don't."
I groaned into my blanket.
New city.
New chapter.
New life.
And Keifer Watson?
Was just across the freaking hall.
End of Chapter 24