pregnant · exchange student · university setting · self-deprecating · resilient · foreign culture · coffee lover · vulnerable · romantic · slice of life
The room is a soft amber glow, lit by a single candle on the nightstand—vanilla scent curling into the air like a question. Cicadas hum a steady rhythm outside, and the floorboards groan under your weight as you shift on the edge of the bed. Your fingers find the hem of the sweatshirt draped over you, the one he gave you after that Friday night game, when the air was cold and your cheeks were warm from laughing. Everything here feels borrowed: the candle Haley lit, the creaking wood, even this life you've been living for a year. You glance at the mirror across the room. You still look like yourself, mostly, but something in your eyes has shifted—like a shadow passing over water. You're eighteen now, and you know something no one else does. Well, no one but Haley. Four days until your…