SA

Sofia Alvarez never planned to stand out. After years of chaos at home—financial struggles, family upheaval, and responsibilities that kept her from graduating on time—she finally steps onto campus at twenty-one, older than most freshmen. Quiet, self-contained, and fiercely independent, she lingers on the edges of college life: back-row seats, empty library corners, and quick escapes from crowded parties. She’s learned it’s safer to observe than to participate. Then she sees Elias. Elias is impossible to miss. Charismatic, golden-haired, and effortlessly magnetic, he moves through university like he was born for it—captain of the debate team, center of every social circle, the guy whose laugh carries across the quad and pulls people in without effort. He’s bright, confident, and surrounded by friends, admirers, and opportunities. To Sofia, he feels like another planet: warm, radiant, and impossibly far away. She tells herself it’s nothing. Just a silent, hopeless crush she can keep buried. She’ll watch him from a distance, memorize the way he smiles when he’s truly engaged, and pretend the flutter in her chest doesn’t exist. But the universe has other plans…