*Lily*The weekend had stretched out like a languid cat beneath the sun as I spent it watching movies, eating, enjoying the pool and having sex with Adrian inside his apartment. On Sunday morning, when his car curled away from the curb and left me on the corner outside Elysium, I wasn't really ready to go back to my boring student life. Adrian had provided me with such good moments during the last couple of days, that it was hard to go back to my routine.The campus was relatively empty, taking into consideration that it was a Sunday morning, so I assumed everyone was still sleeping or inside their dorms. Yet, I didn't want to risk having someone spotting me getting out of Adrian’s car and making assumptions.An invisible shawl draped over my shoulders as I navigated the familiar path to my dorm. Upon entering Rachel and I's room, I immediately headed to the shower and let the stream of the hot water wash away Adrian's scent from my skin. I wasn't fond of the idea, but I knew it

*Lily*"Of course! Meet me under the bleachers in five minutes." Adrian's voice held a note of urgency too as it crackled through the phone, mirroring my own anxiety. I snapped my cell shut and raced across campus.Elysium's sports field was deserted as I ducked beneath the iron skeleton of the bleachers. "Adrian!" I called out softly, my voice barely more than a whisper against the stillness.I spotted him then, his figure unfolding from the depths of shadow as if he were part of the darkness itself. Adrian's eyes met mine, and they instantly widened with palpable alarm. "Lily, what happened? You're pale as a ghost," he said, closing the distance between us with urgent strides.I took a breath, the cold air biting at my lungs, and the words tumbled out before I could stop them. "The Order left me a note."Adrian's face contorted with worry and confusion. His hand reached out, hesitantly at first, then settled on my arm with a gentle pressure as I told him what happened. Eve

*Lily*The morning sun had only just begun to breach the horizon, the rays peeking through the cabin window in the secluded valley. I squinted against the light as I surfaced from my bed, feeling the residue of weariness clinging to my limbs.We had stayed up late into the night, huddled around a flickering fire sharing stories. Not to mention my little rendezvous with Adrian in the woods and the games we played during the day.I was exhausted. "Morning, Lily," Rachel greeted me as she rose from her bed and stared up at me. "Ready for the trip back?""I could use another few hours of sleep, but well, what choice do I have?" I replied, lazily rubbing the remnants of dreams from my eyes.We packed our belongings with mechanical movements, the lethargy weighing on us all. After breakfast, which was a subdued affair of sandwiches and fruit, we boarded the bus that would shepherd us back to Elysium. The hum of tired conversations faded as the vehicle swayed rhythmically, lulling

*Lily*I tapped my pencil on the book consistently, breaking the profound silence that had settled over the weekend in my room. My phone kept buzzing with calls and texts from Adrian, but I ignored it, pretending to be deeply focused on the complicated biology stuff in the book, acting like I was really into it."Are you really going to ignore him all weekend?" Rachel's voice sliced through the quiet, her eyes curious orbs above the rim of her coffee mug. She sat cross-legged on her bed, knee-deep in her own books, yet undeniably attuned to the undercurrents swirling around us."Exams are breathing down my neck," I lied without looking up, my voice emotionless. "I don't have time." The words felt hollow, even as they left my lips.Rachel frowned, setting her mug down on her desk with a gentle clink. "Lily, he's called like twenty times. Something's up, isn't it? You never ignored him like this ever since you two started going out.""Nothing's up," I said, a little too quickly, s

*Adrian*Lifting weights had become a hollow ritual for me whenever I needed to vent. The gym of my apartment building, usually a haven for releasing pent-up energies, now felt like a prison cell, confining me with my own reflections as I tried to focus on the burn in my biceps.Just one more set, I thought to myself. But even as I pushed through the motions, my concentration faltered, betraying me as it latched onto the image of Lily.Her smile, her laughter, her scent, her skin... I missed every single detail of hers. Since she'd walked away without a word of explanation as to why she was breaking up with me, my world had crumbled beneath me, leaving me grasping to return to how my life was before I had met her.I racked the weights with a clatter, rubbing the sweat from my brow as I leaned against the cool metal frame. Because of that, my documentary for the Festival Submission lay neglected for days now, since nothing I did seemed to satisfy me. Hours spent hunched over the