Chapter 2
A Year of Shared Pages
Fate pairs Floria and Ethan for a year-long project. Her heart flutters with a mix of excitement and nerves. Ethan, though outwardly calm, feels a quiet joy as they begin their academic journey together.
The hushed murmur of the classroom was a familiar melody to Floria, a comforting backdrop to the symphony of her own thoughts. She sat at her usual spot, front row, center, her worn textbook open, a rainbow of sticky notes blooming from its pages. Her pen moved with practiced grace, capturing every nuance of Ms. Albright’s lecture on Romantic poetry. But today, a different rhythm pulsed beneath the surface of her concentration, a nervous flutter that had nothing to do with iambic pentameter.
Across the aisle, bathed in the soft afternoon light filtering through the tall arched windows, sat