By the third day of classes, Amara was already beginning to find a rhythm in the chaos of university life. Mornings were usually a rush of trying to grab the best seat in lectures, afternoons spent wandering the library or sharing quiet jokes with Emily, and evenings filled with Lara's endless chatter while Elena occasionally added her dry, witty remarks.
It was exciting, but also overwhelming. The university was bigger than she had imagined, filled with faces she didn't know and voices she couldn't place. Yet, even in the sea of strangers, her mind often drifted back to one face the boy from her Biology lecture.
She didn't even know his name. She only remembered the way he had walked in late, so effortlessly commanding attention without trying. Something about him had stood out: the quiet confidence, the way he seemed unfazed by the world around him. Against her better judgment, Amara found herself scanning lecture halls, half-hoping to spot him again.
That afternoon, after a grueling lab orientation, she and Emily decided to grab lunch at the main cafeteria. The place was buzzing with life, the scent of freshly baked pastries mixing with the sharper aroma of fried foods. Long tables were packed with students laughing, eating, or scrolling through their phones.
"Let's sit near the window," Emily suggested, already eyeing a corner with two empty seats.
Amara nodded, trailing behind as Emily balanced a tray of food. Just as Amara stepped aside to avoid bumping into someone carrying a pile of books, her shoulder collided with another figure moving in the opposite direction.
Her tray tilted dangerously, but she managed to steady it. The other person wasn't so lucky. A book slipped from his hand and landed on the floor with a soft thud. Something else fell too...small and shiny, sliding across the tiled floor until it stopped by her shoe.
"I'm so sorry," Amara said instinctively, bending down before the stranger could react. She picked up the book, then the object...an ID card.
Her fingers froze for a second as her eyes caught the name printed neatly across it:
Adrian Cole.
She blinked. The face on the card looked back at her, the same messy hair, sharp jawline, and steady eyes she had seen in the lecture hall. Her heart gave a sudden, unsteady thump.
When she looked up, he was already crouching to pick up the book, his gaze briefly meeting hers. For a moment, everything around her seemed to blur the cafeteria noise, the clatter of trays, even Emily's distant voice calling her name. It was just his face, closer than she had expected.
He wasn't classically handsome in the way magazines portrayed beauty. But there was something magnetic about him. The curve of his mouth, the depth in his eyes, the casual strength in his posture...it was enough to make Amara's throat go dry.
She quickly handed him the ID card. "You dropped this."
Adrian gave a small nod, almost distracted, as he slipped it back into his wallet. "Thanks." His voice was low, calm, and carried just enough weight to linger in her ears.
And just like that, he was gone. He picked up his tray, turned toward another table where two guys were waiting, and sat down without a second glance.
Amara stood there, still holding her tray, as if her feet had rooted to the floor.
Emily finally appeared at her side. "Amara? Are you okay? You look like you just saw a ghost."
Amara blinked quickly, snapping out of it. "I...I'm fine. Just… almost dropped my food." She forced a small laugh and followed Emily to the corner table.
But even as she sat down, her mind wasn't on her food. She replayed the brief encounter again and again, the way his ID had landed at her feet, the way his eyes had met hers, and how his name 'Adrian' now seemed to echo in her thoughts.
Adrian.
It suited him. Strong, steady, almost mysterious. She hadn't expected to feel this way this sudden rush of curiosity mixed with something warmer, sharper, almost like a spark catching flame.
She picked at her meal absentmindedly as Emily chatted about classes. Occasionally, her gaze drifted across the cafeteria to where Adrian sat, laughing softly at something one of his friends had said. He didn't look her way again, but she didn't mind.
It was enough that she now knew his name. Enough that she had seen him up close and realized he wasn't just another student at least, not to her.
That night, as she lay in bed while Lara scrolled on her phone and Elena read quietly by the window, Amara turned Adrian's name over in her mind. She told herself it was silly, just a crush. A harmless, passing attraction.
But deep down, she already knew it was more than that. Something had shifted inside her, something she couldn't quite explain.
And though she didn't yet know it, Adrian's name was going to mean far more to her than she could possibly imagine.