Noon sunlight poured over the entrance to the main dining hall at Loane University, where clusters of students had gathered. Several student council volunteers bustled about, collecting submitted letters and handing out the ones that had been received. The whole area hummed with lively energy.
The so-called Letter to a Stranger activity was mostly an excuse for people to vent their troubles and socialize in a roundabout way.
Noah Miller had little interest in making new friends. His circle was already more than full, and his sister had specifically told him to avoid unnecessary interactions.
So the letter he turned in contained no contact information. His goal had been to unload every recent worry and problem in one go, plus pick up a few extracurricular points.
"Thanks for participating. Here's yours." Lila Vale looked up at the boy in front of her. Her eyes brightened with clear delight and a sweet smile curved her lips. "It's you."
Noah paused, then remembered Lila was part of the student council too. He returned a gentle smile. "Yeah, just joining in the fun."
He reached for the envelope she held out, but she suddenly pulled it back and swapped it for another one. "Here, take this instead."
"What's wrong? Is there a problem with that one?"
"No, nothing." The envelope she withdrew—she vaguely recalled it had come from a pretty girl.
She explained, "This one's from a guy. You two should have more in common."
Noah didn't care about the writer's gender. He wasn't looking for any kind of connection anyway. Since she wanted to swap, he saw no reason to argue. He accepted the new envelope.
"I'll head out then… Need any help?"
Lila clutched the envelope Noah had just submitted, pressing her pale pink lips together. After a moment she shook her head. "No need. We can manage."
"All right. See you."
"Bye."
She set the envelope on the table closer to her side and continued handling the stream of letters. Only after Noah's back had vanished completely from sight did she carefully slip his envelope into her pocket.
When the activity ended, she could only apologize to the last student who hadn't received anything, claiming one or two letters might have gone missing.
"Finally done. I'm beat." The girl beside her patted Lila's shoulder. "Want to grab lunch together, Lila? I'm starving."
"I already ate before I came. You guys go ahead." She gave an apologetic smile.
"Okay, we're heading out."
The letter in her pocket felt like some forbidden, sealed secret. Yet an inner voice kept urging her to open it. Lila hurried away from the area and slipped into the quiet woods behind the dining hall where almost no one passed.
After all, these were the boy's private thoughts. She really shouldn't read them casually. But if they were only going to end up with some random stranger anyway, what harm was there in her seeing them? At least she would genuinely try to help him.
Bright noon light filtered through the thick evergreen leaves and fell across the clean white sheet of paper.
Excessive possessiveness and control from family. Restricting contact with the opposite sex. Coercion. Interference… The words stood out sharply on the page, as if they had been bolded and underlined, painfully glaring.
She read every line carefully to the end. By then the paper was crumpled into a dense mass of wrinkles in her grip. Lila folded it, tore it into shreds, and dropped the pieces into a nearby trash bin.
…
Noah packed his laptop, textbooks, and charger into his bag. He double-checked that he hadn't forgotten anything, slipped the key into his pocket, and prepared to leave.
Miles, who had just returned to the residence hall, spotted him and eyed the bag. "Noah, you're heading to Ms. Miller's again?"
"Yeah. No classes this afternoon anyway."
"You've been running over to the faculty housing every free moment lately, even sleeping there every night. Isn't this supposed to be your dorm?"
"Exactly." Ryan poked his head down from the top bunk, still playing on his phone. "You skipped basketball last time too. I think Noah's lost in Ms. Miller's sweet embrace and doesn't need us three anymore."
"What are you talking about? My sister told me to come over."
"My mom didn't even supervise me this closely in elementary school. You're way too obedient."
"I… I don't have much choice." Noah sounded helpless. "She's my sister. She raised me by herself. My tuition and living expenses all come from her."
"You could at least argue with her sometimes."
"I'll see. I'm heading out."
Noah waved goodbye to them, grabbed his bag, and left the residence hall. When he reached the faculty housing, he knocked on the door to Evelyn's room.
"Come in."
He pushed the door open. Evelyn sat at the desk with her legs crossed, reading a book. Warm afternoon light bathed her flawless, breathtaking face. Her silver-rimmed glasses caught the glow, and her slender feet, wrapped in cozy black stockings, dangled from her cotton slippers, swinging gently… back and forth…
"Why so late? If you'd come earlier you could have had lunch with your sister."
"I was chatting with my roommates for a bit."
Evelyn had already cleared her own laptop from the desk to leave space for him. Noah plugged in the power cord and was about to start on his major course's programming assignment when the envelope in his pocket slipped out and fell.
"What's this?" Evelyn picked up the envelope and examined it.
"It's from a student council activity—Letter to a Stranger. This is the one I received."
"This looks like it's from a guy. What did you write in yours, Nate?"
"Just random stuff. Whatever's been bothering me lately. Mostly to pick up some activity points."
"You have things bothering you, Nate? Why didn't you tell your sister? Your sister is a psychological counselor, after all." Evelyn closed her book and looked at him with keen interest.
"It's nothing serious, really. Just…" Noah thought for a moment and offered a safe excuse. "Schoolwork's been too heavy. Major courses, the Spanish proficiency exam, computer science certifications, and… you keeping such a close eye on me, sis."
"Your sister isn't that strict." She moved behind him, wrapped her arms around his neck, and asked softly, "Do you know what's been troubling your sister lately?"
"Probably work."
"It's this."
Noah glanced down at the notebook Evelyn placed in front of him. It was the homework he had left with her last time for grading. His solutions were covered in dense red marks highlighting countless mistakes. The corrections stood out harshly.
"Have you been slacking off again? How can you get so many things wrong on just a few problems? Aren't you worried about failing the final?"
"I was really focusing. The series problems were just too difficult."
"Too difficult? Then your sister will give you extra lessons. Listen carefully."
"Can I finish my Python assignment first?" Noah pointed at the compiler software he had just opened on the laptop.
"Sure, sure. Your sister's lesson isn't important. We can save Calculus for last."
"That's not what I meant…"
"Then what did you mean, Nate?" Evelyn's hands quietly slipped beneath the hem of his shirt, pressing against his stomach for warmth.
"Sis, your hands are so cold."
She smiled, leaning close until her cheek nearly brushed his, her lips hovering near the corner of his mouth. "That's why I need to borrow Nate's warmth. Also, where are those bags of potato chips your sister bought the other day? Have you seen them?"
"I don't know."