The coffee shop was small and smelled like cinnamon and roasted beans. It was the first place in this massive city where Lili felt like she could finally breathe. She and Luca found a corner table, away from the windows and the rushing crowds.
They spent hours talking. Lili told him about her quiet hometown, her nervous habit of overpacking her bag, and how lonely she had felt until he spoke to up. Luca listened, really listened. He told her he lived just a few blocks away and had been at Evergreen State College for a year. He knew all the shortcuts and which professors to avoid.
"Those guys in Sociology," Luca said, his voice dropping to a serious tone. "They pick on people they think are weak. If they see you're alone, they'll never stop."
Lili looked at her hands. "I don't want to be their target."
Luca leaned in, a mischievous glint in his eyes. "Then we give them a show. Tomorrow, we don't just walk in. We walk in together. We'll act like we've been friends for years. If they think you have someone backing you up, someone who knows the school as well as I do, they'll back off. They're cowards at heart."
They spent the rest of the afternoon whispering and making a plan. They decided exactly where to meet and how to ignore the group's taunts. For the first time that day, Lili actually laughed.Then they both go back to their house. Lili took her bus and seat in while thinking about her first day , but there is a relief that she made a good friend.
When Lili finally reached her apartment that night, the silence didn't feel as heavy as before. She dropped her keys on the counter and grabbed her phone. It was vibrating—a call from "Mom."
Lili took a deep breath, forcing her voice to sound bright and cheerful before she pressed answer.
"Hi, Mom!" she said, leaning against the window and looking out at the city lights.
"Lili! Oh, I've been waiting all day," her mother's voice crackled with worry. "How was it? How was the first day? Did you make friends? Did anyone treat you poorly?"
Lili felt a lump in her throat as she remembered the flick to the back of her head and the cruel laughter in the lecture hall. She wanted to cry, to tell her mom that she wanted to come home. But then she thought of Luca and their plan for tomorrow.
"It was great, Mom," Lili lied, her voice steady. "The campus is beautiful. I met a really nice guy named Luca, and we spent the afternoon at a coffee shop. Everyone is so busy with their own lives, it's actually quite peaceful."
"Are you sure, honey? You sound a little tired."
"Just a long day of learning, that's all," Lili assured her. "I'm okay, Mom. Everything is well. Really. I think I'm going to love it here."
After they hung up, Lili sat in the dark for a moment. She felt a little guilty for not telling the truth, but she didn't want her mother to worry from hundreds of miles away. She went to bed feeling a strange mix of fear and excitement. She was still the "New Girl," but tomorrow, she wouldn't be facing the giants alone.After hanging up the phone, the silence of the apartment felt a little less heavy, but the sting of the day still lingered in the back of her mind. Lili looked at her reflection in the darkened window.
She needed to do something just for herself.
"Food," she whispered. "Good food always helps."
She pulled up a delivery app on her phone. In this big city, there were a thousand options, but she went straight for her absolute favorite—a large order of spicy chicken pasta and a side of garlic bread, exactly how she used to have it back home on Friday nights.
When the delivery driver finally knocked, the aroma filled her small kitchen, instantly making the place feel more like a home. Lili didn't sit at the table. She sat on her rug, leaned against the sofa, and put on a mindless show on her laptop.
The stress of the move, the fear of the first day, and the excitement of meeting Luca had finally caught up. She crawled into her bed, the sheets feeling soft and cool against her skin.
Before she could even finish a final thought about their plan for tomorrow, her eyes drifted shut. Lili fell into a deep, peaceful sleep, finally feeling like she might just belong in this city after all.
While Lili was drifting into a peaceful, food-induced sleep, the atmosphere at Luca's house was much louder. Luca unlocked his front door, still thinking about the plan he had made with Lili. He felt good about helping her, but as soon as he stepped into the living room, he froze.
Standing by the window, silhouetted against the city lights, was a tall figure.
"You're late, little brother," a deep, smooth voice echoed through the room.
Luca's eyes widened in sheer shock. "Leo? What are you doing here? You weren't supposed to be back for months!"
His older brother, Leo, turned around with a slow, confident smirk. It had been a long time since they had seen each other, and Leo looked different. He was strikingly handsome—with sharp features, dark eyes that seemed to hold a thousand secrets, and an effortless style that made him look like he belonged on a movie set. There was something magnetic about him, a silent intensity that made the room feel smaller.