Grace arrived early for her morning lecture.
She picked up a magazine from the shelf near the window, flipping through pages without really reading anything. The warm sunlight on her skin felt comforting — but a sharp breeze kept sweeping her loose hair across her face, reminding her she had left it untied today.
It rested freely on her shoulders.
And strangely… that made her feel different — softer, lighter.
Just as she turned another page, Hannah walked in — humming a tune, then singing dramatically once she spotted Grace:
"🎵 Silly little heart… falling before it knows how to land… 🎵"
Grace tried to hide her smile, but it burst through anyway.
Hannah always found a way to uncover whatever Grace tried to keep inside.
"Do you need a coffee, Your Majesty?" Hannah teased with a playful bow.
"Yes, please," Grace responded, laughter still hugging her voice.
The coffee was perfect — warm, rich, comforting.
She glanced back at the sky outside… clouds gathering, heavy and familiar.
Let it rain, she wished.
Not just a drizzle — a long, uninterrupted rain.
Because rain meant him.
The first time she saw Eli… soaked through from the storm — raindrops clinging to his skin, his lashes, his soft hair.
The memory struck her like a quiet spark.
She told herself she simply liked rainy days.
But deep down she knew —
she longed for the atmosphere that brought Eli into her life.
When she looked away from the clouds, Hannah was already staring — peeking over her glasses with the seriousness of a detective.
She hung up her call and sighed dramatically.
Even after only a year of friendship, Hannah didn't need words to read her.
"Where were you just now?" Hannah asked, eyebrows raised. "Floating around up there?"
"I was just looking at the sky," Grace replied.
Their voices overlapped — perfectly timed.
Grace burst into laughter, wiping tears from the corners of her eyes. With Hannah, she always laughed until she cried.
But Hannah didn't join the laughter this time.
She leaned in, studying Grace more closely — as if something had slipped from Grace's expression she wasn't meant to see.
"You're thinking about someone…"
Her voice dropped, soft but certain.
Grace blinked, caught, but before she could answer—
BEEP… BEEP…
Her phone alarm cut through the moment.
"Oh—lecture!" she blurted, fumbling to gather her notes and coffee cup.
Hannah raised a brow, lips curling into a teasing smirk.
"You'll tell me later," she said — not a question, but a promise.
Grace tried to appear composed, but the rush of nerves and excitement betrayed her.
She gave a tiny, guilty smile before turning away.
As she hurried down the hallway, she could feel Hannah's amused gaze behind her…
Grace wasn't in the sky —
she was somewhere much more dangerous.
Although Grace became vulnerable when emotions were involved, she was good at planning.
And after the night she spent tangled in her thoughts of Eli, she made a decision she was almost too afraid to admit.
She wanted him to fall for her.
Not as a boy admiring a teacher
—but as someone who could someday choose her.
Tutoring him suddenly felt too small for the feelings that kept growing inside her.
She craved a place in his heart — a space no one else could claim.
His innocence disarmed her.
His beauty unsettled her.
Every small gesture from him felt like temptation wrapped in purity.
She wasn't proud of how much she wanted to be near him.
How she longed for moments she had no right to imagine.
So she promised herself one thing —
She would wait.
Until the world allowed him to choose.
But desire has a way of slipping through even the strongest promises.
And the more she tried to control it…
…the less control she actually had.