The cammpus café buzzed with quiet conversations and the soft clatter of mugs. Jayden watched Elena through the corner of his eye, pretending to scroll through his laptop. Her pen moved quickly across her notebook, but her shoulders were tense—every muscle wound tight.
He leaned forward, nudging her untouched coffee toward her. "You know, if you keep ignoring that, it'll get cold. Just like your attitude."
Elena glanced up, unimpressed. "Do you always talk this much when you're avoiding real work?"
Jayden smirked, but it didn't reach his eyes. "I'm multitasking. Annoying you and wondering what you're hiding behind those essays."
She narrowed her gaze. "What makes you think I'm hiding anything?"
He shrugged. "Everyone is. Some just do it better than others."
Elena stared at him. For a moment, she saw something in his eyes—sadness maybe, or recognition. Then her phone buzzed.
"Call me. It's about your sister."
From: Aunt Mae
Her heart dropped.
"I need to go," she said, voice flat but tight.
Jayden stood instinctively. "Elena, wait—"
But she was already halfway to the door.
Outside, the wind cut through her jacket like it had claws. She found a quiet bench near the arts building and dialed her aunt.
"Mae?"
"Elena, I didn't want to worry you, but… she's back in town."
Elena's fingers clenched around the phone. "Are you sure?"
"She came by the shop. Said she's clean. Wants to see you."
Elena swallowed hard. "I'll call you back."
She hung up, staring at the trees swaying above her. Her sister—gone for two years without a word. And now she returns?
Her thoughts raced. The memories she tried to bury clawed back: the lies, the drugs, the night everything fell apart.
Behind her, footsteps approached. She didn't need to turn.
"I figured I'd find you here," Jayden said softly.
"Are you following me now?"
He sat beside her without answering. The silence between them wasn't cold—it was heavy. And oddly safe.
"Family stuff?" he asked.
She nodded.
"You don't have to tell me," he added quickly.
"I wasn't going to."
Jayden chuckled under his breath. "Right."
A breeze passed between them.
"You ever wish you could just start over?" she asked quietly. "Like really… wipe the past clean."
Jayden looked up at the sky. "Every day."
They sat there, two strangers bound by things neither of them said.
Later that night, in her dorm room, Elena stared at the half-written essay. Her laptop screen glowed, but her thoughts were elsewhere. Her sister. Jayden's strange quiet. The way he looked at her—not with pity, but as if he understood.
She opened a new document.
Shadows speak, even when we pretend they don't.
Maybe this project wasn't just about grades anymore. Maybe it was about stories. Truths. Healing.
And maybe, just maybe… the shadows between her and Jayden were starting to shift.
Elena paced her room long after the call. The same question spun in her mind: Why now? Why would her sister reappear just as she was finally settling into a new life? She didn't need old wounds reopening.
Her phone buzzed again.
Unknown number:"El… I just want to talk. Please."
Her breath caught. It was her. No name needed. Just that single message peeled back the layers she'd worked so hard to bury.
A knock at the door startled her.
She opened it to find Jayden standing there, hoodie on, hair slightly damp from the night air.
"I brought coffee," he said, holding up a cup. "Didn't think you'd sleep."
She hesitated, then stepped aside. "I didn't ask you to come."
"I know," he said, walking in. "But I figured you'd be up, spiraling or something."
She raised an eyebrow. "Do I look like someone who spirals?"
He gave a lopsided smile. "Only when you're trying not to."
They sat in silence for a minute, the hum of the dorm fridge the only sound.
Finally, Elena spoke. "It's my sister. She left home two years ago… drugs, bad choices. She just showed up again today."
Jayden nodded, no judgment in his expression. "That's tough."
Elena looked at him. "You ever lost someone you were supposed to love?"
Jayden's smile faded. "Yeah. My mom. She left when I was twelve."
A beat passed between them, heavier than words.
"I'm not good at this," Elena admitted. "Letting people in."
Jayden looked at her then, really looked. "Me either."
She stared at the coffee in her hands. "So why are you here?"
Jayden leaned forward. "Because sometimes… the shadows we're scared of only disappear when someone else sees them too."
Elena didn't answer. But she didn't ask him to leave either.
That night, as he sat quietly on her floor and she finally slept—restless but not alone—neither realized that something had shifted. The silence between them no longer echoed emptiness.
It carried the start of something fragile and real.