Mira liked places where time slowed down. The library was one of them. It smelled of old paper and quiet thoughts, a place where no one demanded explanations. She spent most evenings there, pretending to study while secretly writing fragments of stories in the margins of her notebook.
That was where she first noticed Elias.
He sat by the window, rain tapping softly against the glass behind him. He wasn't loud or restless like the others. He read carefully, as if each word mattered. When their eyes met for the briefest moment, he smiled—not the kind meant to impress, but the kind meant to acknowledge.
Mira felt something shift, small but undeniable.