Avianna's Point of View
The place was filled with laughter and chatter. We were at a cozy Korean restaurant for an early dinner, since all of us had finished our classes earlier than usual, even if we were all taking different courses.
"I think this upcoming final exam is going to be the death of me. I can already feel it," Julian Smith, better known to us as Jules, my gay best friend,dramatically declared.
"Don't you dare die yet. You haven't even had an official boyfriend," I shot back, which made everyone burst out laughing.
It was true. Every guy Jules ever met never went past a casual date or a one-night stand.
"You'll die a sad, lonely death at this rate," Sophie chimed in teasingly. She was the girlfriend of our friend Jared.
"Good thing I can die happily, because I'll be dying with you," Jared answered smoothly, kissing Sophie's hand with exaggerated sweetness.
"Get a room, you two," Caius groaned.
"You're all so annoying. And you, Avianna, just because you know you're going to pass doesn't mean you get to tease me like that!" Jules complained.
"Excuse me? I'm actually this close to crying from stress!" I protested, waving my chopsticks for emphasis.
"But you know what? Time really does fly so fast, doesn't it?" Sophie said suddenly, her tone turning thoughtful. "It feels like just yesterday we were still freshmen when we all met, because Avi somehow managed to drag us into joining that org. Adopt A Future."
"Yeah," I agreed softly, my chest tightening a little. "It feels like everything happened just yesterday."
"It changed a lot of things for me," Caius added quietly. "Meeting all of you… meeting you…"
But I didn't catch the last part. His voice had dropped into a murmur, and before I could ask, he quickly shifted the topic to something else.
---
After our early dinner, I went home right away. My friends all had their own plans for the evening, but I didn't. Caius insisted on walking me back home, but I refused. My apartment was only a short walk from the campus, and I didn't want to trouble him.
I unlocked my apartment door and pushed it open. Silence rushed out to greet me, wrapping around me the moment I stepped inside. It was a silence I had grown used to, but never truly liked. I slipped off my shoes, letting them fall carelessly by the door, and dropped my bag onto the couch with a soft thud.
Just hours ago, I was surrounded by laughter of my friends teasing Jules, Sophie and Jared being disgustingly sweet, Caius smiling in that quiet way of his. The warmth of that moment still clung to me, but here, in this apartment, it dissolved too quickly, leaving me with nothing but the hum of the refrigerator and the faint buzz of the street outside.
This was the part I hated most. Coming home to no one.
I walked over to the small window and sat on the ledge, hugging my knees to my chest. The night sky looked heavy, and the streetlights cast long shadows against the floor. Slowly, my thoughts began to creep in.
What happens after this? Graduation was coming closer each day. Everyone else had families waiting for them, ready to celebrate their achievements, ready to guide them to whatever came next. But me? I've always had no one. Just me.
The memories rose again, uninvited but relentless. I had grown up in an adoption center. My mother died when I was still a baby. They told me she had been like me, alone, with no family. She became pregnant after a rape, and after giving birth to me, she fell into a deep postpartum depression. She died three months later.
The nuns at the church she used to visit took me in, placing me in the adoption center. I stayed there until I turned eighteen. No one ever adopted me. Not once did anyone choose me. I left only after the nun who had raised me passed away. From then on, I had to fend for myself, working at a coffee shop, taking whatever side jobs I could just to survive.
I stared at my reflection in the dark window glass. No one ever chose me. And now… I don't even know what future I'm supposed to choose for myself.
A lump formed in my throat, but I shook my head, forcing the tears back. "No, Avianna. You can do this," I whispered to myself, my voice trembling but firm.
I couldn't sit here drowning in my own thoughts. I needed to breathe, to move, to feel something other than this suffocating loneliness. So I decided. I would go to the gym near my apartment. Better to tire myself out there than to let my own mind swallow me whole.
---
I walked into the small gym near my apartment, greeted instantly by the familiar scent of sweat and iron. Machines clanked rhythmically, the air filled with the grunts and heavy breaths of people pushing their limits.
Pulling my hair into a ponytail, I tried to shake off the heaviness that still clung to me. My chest felt tight, my mind still too loud, but I whispered under my breath, "Just focus. Just move. Forget everything else."
I made my way to the treadmills, but as I passed the weight section, my eyes caught on someone. A man, tall, dark-haired, effortlessly commanding attention without even trying. His presence was different from everyone else's. While most people seemed focused on appearances or chatting between sets, he radiated a quiet intensity. Each movement was deliberate, controlled, as if nothing in the room existed except the weights in his hands.
Other gym-goers stole glances at him, some even whispering to each other, but he didn't react. He didn't need to. His silence alone carried weight.
I forced my gaze away and walked past him, reminding myself that I was here for me, not to get distracted by some stranger who probably didn't even notice I was alive.
But fate seemed intent on embarrassing me.
I moved to try a machine I had never used before. My fingers fumbled with the adjustments, and when I pulled on the handle, it jerked unexpectedly. My balance wavered, and for a split second I nearly slipped.
"Careful," a low voice drawled beside me, edged with amusement. "That thing weighs more than you do."
My head snapped up, and it was him—the same man. He was closer now, standing tall and unbothered, his sharp gaze fixed on me.
A nervous laugh escaped my lips. "Maybe I should stick to the treadmill then."
He smirked, just the faintest curve of his mouth, before his eyes lingered on me a moment longer than necessary. Then, without a word, he turned back to his own workout, lifting the weights with ease as if I hadn't just made a fool of myself.
I tried to refocus, to drown in the rhythm of my steps and the pounding of my heartbeat, but every so often my eyes betrayed me, sliding toward him, watching the way his muscles flexed with each rep, the unshakable calm in his expression.
When my energy finally drained, I grabbed my things and decided to head home. My body was exhausted, my legs heavy, but strangely, my chest felt lighter than when I'd arrived.
As I walked past the exit, I noticed him again. He wasn't working out this time, he was watching me. His gaze caught mine for a brief, fleeting second, and suddenly my pulse kicked up, hard and fast. I swallowed quickly and looked away, telling myself it was nothing. Just fatigue. Just my imagination.
Still, as I stepped out into the cool night and began to walk back to my apartment, I couldn't stop the question circling in my mind.
Who was he?