The sunlight spilled through the balcony doors, brushing my white sheets with soft gold. I stretched and felt every muscle sigh with the memory of last night. Not in a heavy way, but in the lingering, humming way my body remembered being alert around him. Karros. His name felt like something warm sliding through my mind, leaving softness and tension at the same time.
I sat up slowly, pulling the duvet around my shoulders. Mochi jumped down from the pillow she had claimed, circling my legs with sleepy purrs before padding toward the balcony. She rose on her hind legs, placing her front paws on the railing as if trying to see something below.
Her sudden stillness made the hair on my arms prickle. Her ears were alert, angled forward. I frowned and walked to her.
"What are you looking at?" I whispered.
Nothing answered me except the quiet hum of the morning breeze. It pushed the curtains gently and carried the faintest trace of incense and and musk. A scent I was all too familiar with the whole night. My eyes drifted to a faint scrape along the railing. Just a thin, shallow mark. Light caught on it.
I inhaled slowly, then shook my head and laughed. I was probably still high. Last night's weed had been gentle at first, but the moment Karros touched my hand, as me if I felt it too. I wonder what he meant by that. The room had tilted sweetly. Maybe I imagined everything afterward. Maybe.
The door suddenly opened behind me.
Zeta walked in wearing gym shorts and a bright tank top, her braids tied loosely. She kicked the door shut behind her with her heel and tossed her bag on her bed.
"You are finally awake," she said, stretching with a groan. "I left you for two minutes and you slept like someone who fought a war."
I gave a sleepy grin and tugged Mochi into my arms. "It felt like a long night."
Zeta's eyes brightened instantly. She sat on her bed and leaned forward. "Good long or bad long?"
"Good," I said, and I could not stop the softness in my voice.
Zeta smirked. "Zuri, you sound like you tasted something sweet. Tell me everything. That entire hangout was the funniest nonsense I have seen in months."
I laughed as Mochi burrowed into my neck.
"We all just chilled. Bron's place feels so warm. I did not expect that."
"No one expects that," Zeta said. She straightened her posture like someone preparing a speech. "Those boys look like they live in nightclubs and fight rings. Then you enter their apartment and it smells like lavender and mint cleaning spray. I felt like I was hallucinating."
Her dramatic face made me laugh harder.
"Speaking of hallucinating," I said, covering my mouth as I began giggling again. "Do you remember when Bron lightly knocked Sully on the head and called him empty barrel?"
Zeta froze, then burst out laughing so hard she fell sideways on the bed. "Zuri, the sound. The sound. It was actually hollow!"
I slid down the duvet because I was laughing too hard to sit upright. "It echoed. I swear it echoed in that room."
Zeta wiped her eyes. "Sully looked betrayed. Like he wanted to argue but he also knew Bron was right."
We were both gasping by then, trying to breathe between violent giggles. Mochi meowed angrily at all the noise.
When the laughter finally calmed, Zeta sighed dramatically. "Bron is so ridiculous. And fine. I could look at him all day."
I gave her a sharp look. "Hold on. You have a crush on Bron?"
Zeta pressed a hand to her chest like she was offended I did not know. "Babe, I have been suffering."
"describe suffering," I said, amused.
"I mean," she began, sitting up straighter as if preparing to deliver a poem, "he is almost as tall as Karros, but his shoulders are not as broad. He is light skinned and he has this short curly hair that sits perfectly even when he does not try. His eyes are light brown. Very intense. Like he sees everything before you even decide to think it. And his lips." She placed her palm over her own mouth. "Soft pink. Beautiful."
I stared at her and began laughing again. "So why have you not made your move?"
Zeta's eyes widened as if I had said something completely outrageous. "Are you mad? I would die if he rejects me. Do you think my spirit can survive that? Please. I will keep my secret crush where it belongs. To myself."
"You are dramatic."
"I am realistic," she corrected. "A man like that? No. I will admire from afar. Please. I like breathing."
I shook my head, still smiling, and walked to the small kitchenette to grab a bottle of water. The room felt light this morning. Soft. Safe. Like last night had wrapped itself around me and refused to let go.
Zeta joined me, opening the fridge and pulling out leftover pineapple pieces. "So. Tell me the part you are avoiding. You have been dodging around it."
I bit my lip, cheeks warming. "Nothing happened."
"Zuri."
"Fine," I whispered, feeling heat crawl up my neck. "It was just him guiding my hand when he passed me the joint. It was small. But…"
Zeta leaned forward eagerly. "But what?"
"But when his fingers brushed mine, it felt like something lit under my skin."
Zeta paused mid-chew. "Hmm."
I played with the bottle cap. "And then he held my hand. Not long. But enough that I felt like my whole body was humming."
Zeta raised a brow. "So you like him."
"I do not know what I feel but it's overwhelming," I said honestly. "I am just… curious."
"You were floating around that apartment," Zeta teased. "Even Bron looked at you like he knew something was going on."
I groaned and covered my face. "Do not say that. Please."
Zeta laughed and patted my shoulder. "Relax. They were all too busy arguing about who left the kettle on to focus on you two."
I smiled and turned away, trying to hide the blush that refused to leave my face.
As I bent to pick up Mochi, I caught myself glancing toward the balcony again. The scrape on the railing glimmered faintly in the sunlight. Not threatening. Not strange. Just present. Like a reminder of something I could not name yet.
"You are doing it again," Zeta said. "Thinking too hard."
"Maybe I am," I answered quietly.
She tossed a pillow at me. "Do not let last night melt your brain. We have class."
"I know. Let me get dressed."
Zeta hummed in agreement. "And Zuri?"
"Yes?"
She gave me a knowing smile. "Curiosity is allowed. Just do not let it distract you too much."
I smiled back and tightened my hair tie. "It will not. I promise."
But even as I packed my bag and walked toward the balcony again, I knew the truth.
Curiosity was already turning into something else.
Something warm.
Something dangerous.
Something I could not pretend I did not feel.
Karros' name whispered through my mind again, soft and thick, like smoke curling through the air.
And I knew I would see him again.