There are some things that simply cannot be kept hidden forever. Word eventually reached the dormitory supervisor that Clara had been keeping an animal in her room.
The supervisor issued an ultimatum — the animal had to go, and a formal warning was placed on Clara's record. Clara was beside herself. She had no job lined up, nowhere else to live, and absolutely no idea what to do with Naber.
"It's just a dog," her roommates said, one after another. "Let it go."
"Let it go where?" Clara pressed, her brow furrowed with worry. "It's barely two weeks old. Without someone to care for it, it won't survive."
"You've already done more than enough for it. The rules are the rules."
"But I—" Clara bowed her head, pulling Naber a little closer. "I brought it all the way back here. Was it really just to abandon it?" It wasn't some stray object she could simply discard. It was a wolf. And more than that — it was her competition subject. Letting it go was out of the question.
"Clara, you've only had it a few days," Bess reasoned. "Don't feel so guilty about it. The situation isn't allowing you to keep it — that's not your fault. There was a post online not long ago about a girl who raised a pet dog for three years all through university, and she ended up leaving it behind when she graduated. These things happen."
At a complete loss, Clara found herself sitting on the riverbank later that afternoon, watching Thomas beside her trying — and failing — to suppress a grin.
"Is this really worth all this drama?" he asked, genuinely baffled. "You picked it up on a whim, kept it for a few days — fine. But were you actually planning to keep it forever?" He shook his head. "I finally get you out on a date, and you show up with a dog. Should I be flattered or insulted?"
"The dorm won't let me keep it inside," Clara said. "I had to bring it with me. If I'd waited any longer, they would have thrown me out along with it."
"It's a dog, not a person," Thomas said. "Why are you so determined to hold onto it?"
"I've told you. It did something for me. I'm not the kind of person who forgets that."
He stared at her for a moment, then rubbed the back of his neck with a sheepish laugh. "You really are something else, you know that?" He paused. "Alright. You won't throw it out, and I can't exactly watch you get evicted. So — move in with me. I've asked you before and you always said no. I'm giving you one more chance. It's a limited-time offer."
He wasn't exaggerating about the asking. Co-habiting was commonplace among university couples, and he had extended the invitation no fewer than ten times over the course of their four years together. She had refused every time. Despite the hand-holding and the occasional kiss, she had held firm at every other boundary, quietly turning him into something of a joke among their classmates — three years of effort, and she hadn't budged an inch.
"Move in… with you?" Clara hesitated.
"You'll have to eventually, unless you're planning to call off the whole thing entirely. Might as well be now."
Clara shifted awkwardly. "I suppose it's not… completely out of the question. But we'd need to set some ground rules. The way I've always said — certain things wait until after marriage." He had hinted, nudged, and suggested more times than she could count. It was precisely why she had avoided this arrangement for three years.
Thomas looked at her flustered expression and laughed. "Relax. I'm not going to do anything you don't want me to."
"Right. Yes. Of course." Clara's smile came out slightly crooked. "Then let's call it a shared rental. I'll pay you my portion."
Thomas burst out laughing. "You're joking." He shook his head fondly. "What kind of man charges his own girlfriend rent? You've got one more year before you graduate. Find a job, and then maybe we can start thinking about something more… permanent."
Clara blinked. "That's— isn't that a bit soon?"
"I'm kidding." He laughed again.
Clara exhaled slowly, one hand pressed to her chest.
That had nearly given her a heart attack.