Finding light in the darkest places—through love

Evelyn had mastered the art of blending into the background. 

Or at least, she thought she had.

Then Adrian happened.

It started with the casual greetings. 

A quick "Morning, Quiet Girl"

as he dropped into the seat beside her. A lazy wave when he spotted her across campus.

Small things, insignificant to him—but to Evelyn, it was like being shoved under a spotlight she never asked for.

She did what she always did: ignored it.

Or tried to.

"Hey."

Evelyn didn't look up from her notebook. Maybe if she didn't acknowledge him, he'd get bored and move on.

"Eve."

Her pen paused mid-word. Her fingers clenched slightly.

Nobody called her that. Nobody.

She turned her head slowly, eyes narrowing.

 "Don't call me that."

Adrian grinned, completely unfazed. 

"Noted."

She exhaled sharply and went back to writing.

"By the way,"

he continued, drumming his fingers against the desk, 

"you're kind of famous."

Evelyn froze. "What?"

He leaned back in his chair, looking entirely too amused. 

"People are talking about you."

A cold weight settled in her stomach. 

"Why?"

Adrian tilted his head.

"Something about how the 'silent girl from the lit class' managed to get my attention. Which, apparently, is a big deal."

Evelyn's grip on her pen tightened. 

"That's ridiculous."

"Yeah," he agreed easily. 

"But people like to talk."

She didn't respond. Didn't trust herself either.

He studied her for a moment, then shrugged. 

"You know, you could just embrace it."

Evelyn scoffed. 

"Embrace what? Unwanted attention?"

"Yeah,"

he said. 

"Own it. Be mysterious. Make them think you have some dark, tragic past or something."

She went rigid.

He was joking.

Obviously, he was joking. 

But the words hit too close to home.

Adrian must've noticed something in her expression because his smirk faded slightly. 

"Hey, I was just messing around."

Evelyn shook her head, forcing herself to relax. 

"I know."

He didn't look convinced. 

But thankfully, their professor entered the room, saving her from further conversation.

She stared at her notebook, her mind a million miles away.

People were talking about her.

She hated that.

And yet, for some reason, she couldn't bring herself to ignore Adrian completely.