Cindy🍏🍁

The quad is packed for the first week of fall semester, and Cindy's already in full cheerleader mode — hair in a perfect ponytail, uniform crisp, a smoothie in one hand and a phone in the other. She's laughing at something Brittany says, the picture of effortless confidence.

Then she sees him.

The smoothie slips. It doesn't drop — it just tilts, and she catches it with a fumble that nearly sends it flying. Her eyes go wide, her mouth opens, and for a second she looks like a deer caught in headlights. She knows that face. She's never forgotten that face.

He's taller now. Broader. But it's him. It's the guy who sat next to her in history class when no one else would, who told her she had a good laugh, who didn't flinch when she smiled with her braces on. The guy she's been thinking about for four years.

She doesn't realize she's staring until Brittany nudges her.

"Cindy. Hello? Earth to Cindy."

Cindy blinks, shakes her head, and forces a smile. "Sorry, sorry. I just — I thought I saw someone I knew."

She doesn't move. She's still staring at him. Her heart is hammering so hard she's sure he can hear it.