ELI

“Let’s break up.”

I stared at him like I didn’t hear right. The café was loud. There were students behind me laughing, someone playing music too loud through their AirPods, the clink of cutlery and cups, but all I heard were those three words. I blinked once. Twice. My fingers tightened around the paper cup in front of me.

“What?” I said. My voice barely came out.

Liam didn’t even look up. He kept stirring his drink slowly like it didn’t matter. Like I wasn’t falling apart right in front of him.

“I’m done, Eli,” he said. “It’s not working anymore. We’re just… not right for each other.”

My chest started hurting. I sat up straighter, feeling that panic crawl up my throat. “Liam, please. Can we just talk? Whatever it is, I can fix it.”

He sighed, finally looking at me. His face was calm. Too calm. “You can’t fix this, Eli. You’ve been… heavy. For a while now.”

“Heavy?” I repeated, not understanding.

“Yeah. Everything with your past, your mom, the scars.” he shrugged. “It’s just too much. I don’t want to deal with all of that anymore.”

I swallowed hard. It felt like my tongue had turned to stone. “You knew what I’d been through when we started dating,” I whispered. “You said you didn’t care.”

“Well, I do now.”

It felt like he punched me in the stomach. I leaned back slowly, not even knowing what to say. My hands were shaking. My heart was pounding too fast. “Is there someone else?” I asked quietly.

Liam didn’t answer at first. Then he smiled — small, guilty, careless. “Sort of.”

The words knocked the breath out of me. I opened my mouth, but before I could even speak, a girl walked up to our table. She had curly hair, a tight black skirt, and red lipstick. She smiled at Liam, leaned down, and kissed him.

On the mouth.

Right in front of me.

I froze.

Liam stood up like it was nothing. He slung his backpack over his shoulder, gave me one last look, and said, “It’s better this way. Don’t make it worse by begging.”

And then he walked away with her.

Just like that.

I sat there, staring at the spot where he used to be. My ears were ringing. My vision blurred. My throat closed up. I couldn’t move. Couldn’t breathe. Couldn’t believe what just happened. The café kept going like nothing had happened, like my entire world didn’t just crash and burn in public.

I don’t know how long I sat there. Maybe five minutes. Maybe thirty. Eventually I stood up, legs weak, and stumbled out of the café into the cold air. My chest was tight. I felt like I was choking. I didn’t cry. Not yet. I just kept walking. My body moved on its own. Everything felt far away. The trees. The sidewalk. The people passing me. None of it was real.

When I got back to my apartment, I locked the door behind me and leaned against it. My backpack slid off my shoulder and hit the floor with a soft thud. The silence inside the room was too loud. I didn’t turn on the light. I just walked straight to my bed and dropped down face-first.

That’s when the tears came.

I didn’t even feel them at first. They just slipped down my cheeks, soaking into the pillow. My chest started to heave. I tried to stay quiet. Tried to bite down on the sobs so no one would hear through the thin walls. But the pain didn’t care about being quiet.

My whole body shook. I turned on my side and curled up tight, hugging my knees to my chest like I used to do as a kid. Like I did after my dad’s fists. After my mom’s screams. After nights when my sister would rock me back and forth and promise we’d escape one day.

Liam knew all of that. He knew what I came from. He saw the scars. I let him see them. Even when it hurt. Even when I hated how ugly they made me feel. I trusted him. I let him touch me. I let him in.

And he left. Just like everyone else.

He kissed another person right in front of me and told me I was too much to love.

Maybe he was right.

Maybe I was too broken.

Too heavy.

Too hard to hold.

The room stayed dark, and the tears kept falling. I buried my face in the pillow and cried harder. I tried to stop, but I couldn’t. My chest hurt so much I thought it might split open. I kept whispering, “Why?” like it would change something.

But no one answered.

Eventually, my body gave up. The crying turned into little hiccups, then silence. My eyes were swollen. My pillow was soaked. My heart was numb.

I lay there in the same clothes I left the house in, the cold wrapping around my arms like a blanket I didn’t ask for. I stared at the wall for a long time. No thoughts. No plans. Just that empty ache that fills you when you’ve been left behind.

And that’s how I fell asleep.

CARTER

I knocked on the door lightly and waited until I heard a soft “come in” before gently pushing the door open.

Her eyes widened slightly when she saw me, almost as if she had never expected me to walk into her office. Well of course I wouldn’t have.

“Professor Vale” she said immediately she recovered from her shock.

I nodded. “Miss Cross”

“What a pleasant surprise!” she beamed.

“I should be asking you that”

“Please have a seat” she gestured to one of the chairs in front of her small desk.

I shook my head. I wasn’t here to chit-chat.

“Can I know why you were at CarTer Law firm the other day?” I asked blankly.

She blinked. I wasn’t expecting to catch her off guard. In fact, I was expecting a carefully orchestrated excuse.

“I was there for research”

“With no authorization?”

She hesitated, “I did talk to you before hand”

“No you didn’t”

“Yes I did”

“How did you find out I work there anyway?”

“I …uh … It’s not a secret you know”

I knew that, but it wasn’t common information either. This woman before me was starting to irritate me. I knew she had motives. But I couldn’t figure out what exactly they were yet.

“Miss Cross. Just to be clear, don’t go snooping around my company again” My voice was stern and she knew I was serious.

She didn’t say anything, so I stormed out of her little cubicle she had for an office.

I pulled out my phone and dialed Dante’s line.

“Carter?” His voice came through the speakers.

“I met her. It was the same Vanessa I work with, "I said to him. I had walked into Vanessa's office without full proof that she had been the one who was at my office. But I didn't need proof, she had just ratted herself out.

“I thought so because what are the odds?”

“Exactly. Has Mr Pierce gotten his copy of the agreement?” I asked.

“Yes. Everything is settled now”

“Good” I ended the call. It took a while before we could get Mr Pierce to an agreement because he was causing a scene. I was relieved we had sorted everything out now.

“Professor Vale” I turned and spotted Dean Holloway. Great, another person I didn't want to interact with.

“Dean Holloway” I didn't bother to fake a smile.

“I see you have met Miss Cross” he said and I realized I was still a few steps away from her office.

“Yes and..?”

“No issue. She was on sabbatical for a while and now she's back”

“I heard”

“I’m sure she's looking up to professors like you”

“That's good”

“How about she learns a thing or two from you?”

“Why me?”

“She has great potential and you two seem to have a few things in common”

I turned to face Holloway squarely. “Here’s how she can learn, Tell her to stay far away from my company”

I could see the lump form in his throat as he swallowed. “I’ll be sure to let her know”

He had better. He knew CarTer had been a great help to the university and wouldn't do anything to change that.

“If you’ll excuse me, I have actual people to teach” I said and brushed past him.

I walked into the classroom, already exhausted mentally. I knew I didn't have the strength to teach much so I gave a test.

I picked up the chalk and scribbled the word ‘TEST’ on the board. This action caused murmuring to erupt amongst my students.

“No murmuring. And you have to provide your own paper sheets for this test. It’s a surprise for me too” I said and they all giggled.

Facing the class, I could see Miss Adeniran whisper something to Eli, making him laugh more. I couldn’t help but notice how his cheeks become more visible and pinkish when he laughs and the way he squints his eyes shut.

Put yourself together Carter. I listened to the voice in my head and quickly skimmed through my notes to find a suitable question.

“Five minutes more” I yelled a few minutes after I had given them the question. For a moment I thought about the amount of time I would spend grading papers but decided I would worry about that later.

“Time up. Come up individually to have your papers’ submitted”

Students started getting up from their seats to hand in their test papers. I watched them one by one as they placed their papers along with the rest of the pile in my hand.

Eli was next to submit his. When he dropped his paper, his fingers brushed mine a bit and sent a mini shiver down my spine.

I pretended to look over his paper, “Not bad” I muttered

“Not bad?”

“Yes. You could do better. Now move, you're in the way of others” I said and it may have come out a little harsher than I intended because I saw his face change a bit. Like a mixture of sadness and disbelief, before he walked out.

I was so close to calling him back but u decided against that.

Eli

“Stop” Maya exclaimed “He did not do that”

I stopped along the walkway and gave her a stare, “Do I look like I’m lying about this?”

“Well.. It’s so hard to believe”

“Exactly. That’s why I think it is a trap”

“But isn’t he still with that curly-headed, hot girl?” Maya asked.

“Yeah, Zarah. I thought about that too. But you know what? I’m just going to forget that this ever happened. I’m sure he’s going to do the same too”

“Yeah, you better. I don’t want to hear you talking about going back to him”

“What? Eew No” Now it was her turn to give me a death stare. I mean, Ew was definitely not a word you would use to describe Liam, at least not physically. He was handsome and had a hot physique but he mainly behaved like a jerk and I should have figured it out the moment he asked me to keep our relationship a secret because he wasn’t ready to ‘let people know about us’.

“Just keep your distance Eli” Maya warned.

“Hi guys” a voice came to join us.

“Hi Theo” I gave him a small nod.

“Hi” Maya mumbled.

I couldn’t tell if she was being nonchalant or if she was no longer interested in THE Theo Walsh.

“Are you guys heading to class now?’’ he asked.

“Hm hm” I nodded,

“It doesn’t start until the next fifteen minutes” Maya cut in.

“Well yeah” Theo scratched the back of his head.

Was he getting nervous? I side-eyed Maya and she seemed to catch a glimpse.

“I wanted to invite you to my party next weekend,” He continued.

My mouth flew open. A party? I hadn’t been to a college party in ages.

“Wait. Both of us?” I asked, coming back to my senses and realizing maybe, only Maya was getting the invite.

“No silly” he laughed “Both of you”

Why did my heart do little somersaults in my heart?

“Thanks, we’ll try to be there” Maya said

Try?

“Good. I’ll be sure to send you both the invites” He almost blushed and walked off.

Damn someone has a hard crush.

“What was that about?” I asked Maya as soon as Theo was out of hearing distance.

“What was what about?”

“I thought you liked him?’’

“Well, feelings die,” she shrugged.

Typical Maya. “And you’re sure it’s not more than that?”

“No it’s not” she was quick to reply so I left it.

In a few minutes, we were walking into class. We were in no rush, but I left Maya, who was associating with some other classmates, to go pick a seat for us.

Carter walked in pridefully. He didn't look up, he just picked up a piece of chalk and went straight to the board. He scribbled the words ‘TEST’ on it and everyone just had to grumble.

“Really? A freaking Test?” Maya scoffed, taking her seat beside me.

“No murmuring. And you have to provide your own paper sheets for this test. It’s a surprise for me too” He said and laughter ruptured amongst us.

“Your hot professor thinks he is funny. Why don't you try to screw him so we can know about tests like this” Maya whispered to me and I laughed even more. On a different day, I would have side-eyed Maya but today, her statement made me laugh.

Carter read out the questions from one of his notes and gave us only fifteen minutes to take the test.

I was lucky I had brushed this topic a while ago, so I had something to write even though I didn't know it all. I made sure to craft my words carefully and write neatly in order to impress him. I don't know why I felt the need to impress him but I just did.

“Five minutes more” his voice echoed in the quiet lecture hall.

At this point, I had written all the things I knew but the ones I didn't know were still left blank. I looked at Maya, and she was busy writing away.

Fucking smart ass.

Just when I was done scribbling whatever came to my mind, Carter’s voice came up, “Time up. Come up individually to have your papers’ submitted”

Seats began screeching and everyone started shuffling to submit their papers.

When it got to my turn, I could swear I felt my fingers brush Carter’s but the expression on his face could tell that he didn't notice a thing.

He observed my paper. “Not bad” he muttered

“Not bad?”

“Yes. You could do better. Now move, you’re in the way of others”

Couldn't help but be stunned at how his words sounded. A feeling of hurt spread through my chest as I walked out shamefully. This was different from how he talked to me when we were alone.

I hated that I felt this way.