Ayla

“We’re heading out now, Nate.”

I shut the car door and asked Nate-my driver to drive at a normal pace. As we cruised along, I stared out the window, taking in the scenery and trying to get my head right. It was the first day of a new semester—and for some reason, I just couldn’t feel excited like I usually did.

I hated today. Normally, I treated first days like sacred resets. New outfits, new energy, new faces to meet. But this time? It all just felt... dull. Like a party with no music.

When the car pulled into the student parking lot at Da Vinci College, I stepped out without even a hint of pride. Unlike the other students rocking sunglasses and leather jackets like they were walking a red carpet, I kept my head down.

The fall air was colder than I expected. This campus—this gray concrete box with giant windows and an industrial vibe—used to be my escape during the holidays. Now, it just felt like a cage.

Maybe it was because of my cousins.

Or maybe it was the dream.

The same one again. I woke up gasping, my neck damp with cold sweat. Someone was in that dream. Their face always blurry. I reached out to them, but I could never catch them. Not once. Every single night, the same.

And somehow, Rhett knew. Even though our rooms were far apart at home, he heard me. Since this morning, he’d been extra protective. I had a full security detail tailing me. Pepper spray in my bag. Five warning texts from him: Don’t forget to eat. Don’t talk to strangers. Share your location if anything’s weird.

Funny. How am I supposed to know what’s suspicious when I’m not even sure who I am yet?

I walked into Advanced Architecture class. Yeah, I’m a Business major, but I needed an elective. Somewhere quiet. Somewhere my cousins wouldn't be. Somewhere I could breathe.

I took a seat by the window, pulled out two books, and stacked them to prop up my arm. Sometimes I’d just hide behind them and scroll on my phone underneath. Total avoidance move.

“Is this seat taken?”

I looked up.

Dark brown hair. Warm tan skin. And eyes... gray? Like the sky before a storm. He had a big sketchbook tucked under his arm. Calm—but the kind of calm that messes with your head.

I nodded. He sat down without saying much. But as the TA came in and we opened our laptops...

“You still draw flowers with the stems curving to the right?”

My head snapped toward him. My heart dropped.

“Do I... know you?” I asked softly.

He looked at me for a long second. Like he was trying to remember something. Or maybe hold something back. Then he just shrugged, giving me a small smile.

“Just a guess. Thought it’d get you talking.”

“Well, it worked. Now you’re stuck talking to me.”

I tried to calm down, even though my heart was doing the cha-cha.

“River. And you are?”

“Ayla.”

His handshake was warm. Like something passed between us. But I shook the feeling off. First impressions—nothing more. Don’t overthink it.

Then the professor walked in. Dr. Wyatt. Middle-aged, silver-haired, and his voice? Soft but commanding. The kind of voice that made everyone actually pay attention. He pulled up a slide on Organic Architecture and started talking about Frank Lloyd Wright—how architecture should flow ture.

I tuned in at first, but my mind wandered. Back to the river behind campus. Back to the faceless figure from my dream. So when Dr. Wyatt called on me, I was completely caught off guard.

“Miss Monroe, what do you think of Wright’s approach to blending interior and exterior spaces in the design of Fallingwater?”

I froze. My brain short-circuited. “Uh… maybe… he used a lot of windows?”

Silence. All eyes on me.

“Interesting,” Dr. Wyatt said politely. “Though it could’ve gone a little deeper.”

River turned to me. “If I may, Professor... Wright believed buildings shouldn’t interrupt nature, but merge with it. At Fallingwater, he used local stone and concrete, and designed layered balconies that mimic the rock formations of the river below. That created a natural flow between the building and its surroundings.”

Dr. Wyatt smiled. “Excellent point, Mr.…?”

“River Callahan, sir.”

“Thank you, Mr. Callahan. Well said.”

I let out a quiet sigh. After class, I turned to River.

“Thanks for saving me back there. I totally blanked.”

“No worries. It happens. I was nervous too, you know.”

“You didn’t look it.”

He laughed. “Maybe I’m just good at faking it.”

After class, we walked out together and found a spot under a maple tree, not far from the campus lake. The leaves were just starting to turn gold.

“I didn’t expect you not to be an architecture major,” he said.

“I didn’t expect you to talk like a TED Talk speaker,” I shot back with a grin.

He smiled. “I like space. Shapes. Structure. The world’s chaotic enough—it’s nice when something makes sense with clean lines and solid forms.”

“So it gives you peace?”

He nodded. “What about you?”

“I like the peace too. But more than that, architecture taught me that you can redesign things. And I want to redesign my life.”

He didn’t say anything, but his gaze said he got it.

Then I heard footsteps.

“Ayla.”

I turned. Rhett. Black leather jacket. That sharp, intense look in his eyes as he stared down River.

“What do you want with my cousin?” he asked.

River stood slowly, calm as ever.

“We were just talking.”

Rhett narrowed his eyes. “What major are you in?”

“Architecture.”

“Ayla doesn’t need random guys trying to get close to her just because she’s alone.”

“Rhett!” I snapped. “That’s too much.”

“I’m just making sure you’re safe,” he said coldly.

River didn’t flinch. “I’m not here to hurt anyone.”

“I don’t care about your intentions. I care about the consequences.”

I stepped between them.

“Stop it! This isn’t an interrogation. River hasn’t done anything wrong.”

“Ayla, you don’t know who he is—”

“And I don’t even know who I am yet, Rhett! So let me figure it out without you constantly breathing down my neck!”

He fell silent.

I took a sharp breath, grabbed my bag, and walked away. I needed air.

And I needed to be alone.