Moving to a new city always felt like stepping into a completely blank page one I could fill with whatever I wanted, leaving the past behind. I had convinced myself this time it would be different. No mistakes. No regrets. Just… a fresh start at Crestfield University.
I thought I could blend in, keep my head down, and walk through my first days unnoticed. I was wrong.
The first day hit like a storm. Hallways buzzing with students, lockers slamming, laughter bouncing off the walls. Every turn seemed to bring a new crowd, a new unfamiliar face. I kept my gaze low, concentrating on directions to my first class, trying not to get lost in the chaos.
And then I saw him.
He wasn't just standing there. He commanded the space around him without effort. Tall, broad-shouldered, with a presence that made everything else in the corridor fade away. But it wasn't just that. His eyes… they were sharp, dark, penetrating, as if he could see through me, through every thought I was trying so desperately to hide.
My stomach tightened. I couldn't look away. There was something magnetic about him, something dangerous and unspoken that drew me in despite every warning bell in my mind.
He moved toward me slowly, deliberately, like he had all the time in the world. And I froze. Every rational thought evaporated under the weight of his gaze.
"Hi," he said, his voice low, smooth, and just edged with an intensity I couldn't place.
"I'm Aria," I managed, my voice barely audible, shaky even to me.
"Kade," he replied, a subtle, unreadable smile flickering across his lips.
And that smile… it wasn't warm. It wasn't inviting. It was like a shadow brushing against something deep inside me, something I didn't yet understand.
The rest of the morning passed in a blur. Every time I turned a corner, every time I walked into a classroom, I felt it.. his presence lingering. Watching. Waiting. Not following too closely, but enough that I was painfully aware of him.
By lunch, I had convinced myself I was imagining it. Surely, a stranger couldn't be this focused, this… persistent.
And yet, when I stepped into the cafeteria, there he was again. Leaning casually against the edge of a table, dark eyes scanning the room until they found me. My pulse thudded painfully against my ribs.
I tried to act natural. Walked with steady steps, pretending not to notice. But my body betrayed me..every nerve ending alive, every breath shallow. There was a magnetic pull I couldn't explain.
Then, as I passed him, our shoulders brushed. A fleeting contact accidental, I told myself yet it sent a shiver crawling down my spine. My heart raced faster than I could manage. I wanted to pull away. I wanted to run.
But a part of me wanted to lean into it. Wanted to feel the heat of him again, even for a second.
For a moment, his eyes softened almost tenderly but then they darkened again, stormy and unreadable. The intensity in them made my pulse pound, my mind spin.
I wanted to know him, though I told myself I shouldn't. I wanted to understand the mystery that radiated from him, yet every instinct warned me he was dangerous.
Even as I took a seat across the cafeteria, I felt it…the weight of him, the shadow of his presence lingering just beyond my peripheral vision. And I realized something terrifying: I didn't want him to leave. I didn't want the space between us to grow.
The thought both thrilled and terrified me.
Because Kade wasn't just another student. Not just another fleeting distraction.
He was a storm, dark and consuming, waiting to sweep me into a world I wasn't ready for. A world where nothing would ever feel ordinary again.
And whether I wanted it or not, he had already begun to claim a piece of me quietly, silently, undeniably.