COLEEN

The days started blurring together. Classes, assignments, shifts at the athletic complex. It was all one long cycle of exhaustion. But somewhere in the middle of all that chaos, there was Hayden. And the moments with him, no matter how small, always managed to anchor me.

It wasn’t glamorous. Between his practices and my part-time job, neither of us had the luxury of hours to waste. Still, the scraps of time we carved out, ten minutes between classes, an hour before bed, fifteen ...