The first day of Law and Policy was always a little chaotic. The lecture hall buzzed with the kind of nervous excitement that came with fresh notebooks, overly ambitious syllabi, and iced coffees gripped like lifelines. A junior political science major, I sat near the edge of the second row—close enough to look engaged, far enough to not be noticed.

That was the goal. Always the goal.

I clutched my pen too tightly, scribbling the date into my notebook just to keep my hands busy. My heart jumped when the professor—Dr. Calloway, sharp-voiced and blazer-clad—announced we'd be starting the semester with a partner exercise. A get-to-know-you thing.

My stomach twisted. Please not a stranger. Please not someone who'll ask too many questions.

"And Wren Ellowen..." Dr. Calloway scanned the roster. "You'll be with—" a pause, a smirk, "our quiet one over here." Her eyes met mine for a fraction too long.

Oh no.

Of course it was her.

Wren Ellowen. Vice president of the student body. Sunshine personified. Best friends with Sable Salazar, who knew everyone and made you feel like he saw right through you. And of course I'd heard of her. Everyone had. But I really knew who Wren was—because two semesters ago, she'd briefly dated Noah Kim, the campus newspaper's golden boy. It hadn't lasted long, but long enough for me to notice the way Wren lit up rooms without trying. Long enough for me to feel something I wasn't supposed to.

Now Wren was standing and turning toward me, curls bouncing with each easy step, her smile bright and practiced.

"Hi!" she said, settling into the seat beside me. "I'm Wren. But you probably already knew that. Sorry. That sounded gross. I just mean... people talk."

I blinked. My mouth opened. Then closed. I nodded.

Wren laughed gently. "You okay?"

We were supposed to ask each other simple questions—majors, interests, goals—but Wren's voice was soft in a way that made it hard to focus. Her attention was disarming, like sunlight through a stained-glass window: warm, gentle, but impossible to ignore.

We sat like that, an unlikely pair, as the noise of other students faded into a soft hum around us. For the first time in a long time, I didn't feel entirely invisible.

And Wren? She kept glancing sideways at the quiet girl in the oversized hoodie with the cautious eyes—wondering why someone so fascinating worked so hard to disappear.