Natalie had a problem.Unfortunately, the problem was sitting three rows ahead of her, completely unaware that she had spent the last fifteen minutes paying more attention to her than to the conversation happening around the table. The hotel cafeteria buzzed with activity as players, coaches, staff members, and spectators filled nearly every seat. Usually, Natalie would have been in the middle of it all, laughing at jokes, making sarcastic comments, and finding ways to entertain herself. Instead, she found her eyes drifting toward Becky over and over again."What are you staring at?" Jessica asked suddenly.Natalie's head snapped around so quickly she nearly knocked over her drink. "Nothing."Jessica raised an eyebrow. "You were staring at Becky.""No, I wasn't.""You absolutely were."Natalie scoffed and leaned back in her chair, hoping confidence would hide how flustered she felt. "You're imagining things."The grin spreading across Jessica's face immediately told her that strategy

Natalie had never intended to talk about it out loud.That was the problem with Jessica. She had a way of sitting next to someone like she belonged there, like silence itself eventually got tired of being ignored and decided to speak through her instead.They were seated on a low concrete bench behind one of the lecture halls. The campus had begun to quiet down for the afternoon, students drifting between classes with coffee cups and half-finished conversations. Natalie kept her eyes forward, focused on nothing in particular, while Jessica sat beside her with one leg crossed over the other, casually scrolling through her phone as if the conversation wasn’t about to become complicated.“So,” Jessica said at last, not looking up, “you’ve been weird lately.”Natalie exhaled slowly through her nose. “I’m not weird.”“That’s exactly what weird people say.”“I’m not—” Natalie stopped herself, catching the familiar trap, then leaned back against the bench with a frustrated sigh. “What do you

Natalie knew she was in a bad mood.The problem was that she couldn't decide who deserved the blame. Becky was certainly a candidate. Jared wasn't far behind. Then there was herself, which was perhaps the most frustrating option because it was also the most accurate.She was stretched across one end of the couch in the apartment living room with a textbook open in her lap. The television murmured quietly in the background, filling the apartment with enough noise to keep the silence from becoming oppressive. Unfortunately, it wasn't enough to distract her from replaying the afternoon over and over again.She had finally worked up the courage to tell Becky how she felt.Then Jared had texted.That was it.One message.One perfectly timed interruption.And suddenly the entire moment had disappeared before it could become real.Natalie dropped her head against the couch cushions and stared at the ceiling.This was ridiculous.The sound of the apartment door opening pulled her from her tho

The silent treatment was far worse than Natalie had expected.She had always imagined that if she and Becky ever had a serious fight, there would be shouting involved. Maybe tears. Maybe a dramatic argument that left both of them angry for a few hours before eventually making up.This was different.This was quiet.And somehow that made it hurt more.By lunchtime, Natalie had already checked her phone more times than she cared to admit. Becky hadn't texted her once. There were no memes, no complaints about professors, no random thoughts sent in the middle of class. Nothing.Across from her in the student center, Jessica picked apart a sandwich while watching Natalie repeatedly glance at her screen."You know," Jessica said, pointing at her with half a sandwich, "if you keep staring at your phone like that, it might get scared and text Becky for you."Natalie looked up with a frown. "I'm not doing that.""You checked your messages three times while I was saying that sentence."Natalie

Natalie had never understood how a hallway could feel so loud when nothing was actually happening.Every passing second outside Becky’s apartment door felt stretched, exaggerated, like the building itself was holding its breath with her. She had been standing there long enough for her thoughts to stop sounding like thoughts and start sounding like accusations.You messed it up. You said too much. You said it too late.Her hand hovered near the door again, then dropped uselessly to her side.She had already knocked twice.No answer.That silence had been worse than anything Becky could have said.Natalie swallowed hard, forcing herself to stay in place even though every instinct told her to leave before she made things worse. Her voice came out quieter than she intended when she finally spoke again, almost breaking under its own weight.“Becky… please.”Nothing.The hallway stayed unchanged, the apartment door still closed, still refusing her.Natalie stepped closer, pressing her foreh