Just as Leon was about to leave, something caught his eye—Stel’s notebook, left behind in her rush to get to css. He picked it up and slipped it into his bag before checking his watch. His eyes widened slightly—he was te, too. Letting out a small sigh, he grabbed his headphones, gave the table one st gnce to ensure he wasn’t forgetting anything, and then hurried out of the cafeteria toward his next css.

  After csses, Leon found himself hanging around campus, his eyes subtly scanning the crowd in search of Stel. He figured she’d be easy to spot—tall, blonde, and hard to miss—but his shortsightedness turned his efforts into a frustrating game of guesswork. Every blonde head he spotted made him squint, only for him to realize it was the wrong person.

  Half an hour passed. Then an hour.

  He sighed, raking a hand through his dark brown hair.

  “Forget it,” he mumbled, adjusting the straps of his bag. If he didn’t find her today, he’d just return the notebook ter.

  With that decision made, he headed home.

  Back in his room, he dropped his bag onto the floor and pulled out the notebook, pcing it on his desk. He sat on the edge of his bed, pulling out his phone and opening WhatsApp.

  His fingers hovered over the keyboard.

  “Okay... so how do I start?” he muttered to himself.

  Typing out a message was easy. Pressing send? Not so much. His mind raced through possible responses, over analyzing every word choice. Would she think he was weird for keeping her notebook overnight? Would she be annoyed that he hadn’t found her sooner? Would she even remember him?

  Two and a half hours passed. The notebook sat untouched on the desk, mocking his indecisiveness.

  Finally, he swallowed his hesitation and typed:

  “Hey Stel, it’s me, Leon, the guy you met at the cafeteria.”

  He stared at the screen. Then, with a deep breath, he pressed send.

  The gray ticks appeared almost immediately.

  Then they turned blue.

  His heart thumped a little faster.

  Below her name, the words “typing…” popped up.

  “Hey, Leon, what’s up?”

  Leon exhaled, rexing slightly.

  “I’m fine. When you left for your next css, you forgot your geography notebook. I picked it up for you and waited at the school entrance, but I couldn’t find you, so I took it home.”

  There was a short pause before her reply came through.

  “Oh, wow, thank you! I didn’t even notice it was gone. I’ll get it from you tomorrow.”

  Leon bit his lip before replying.

  “I don’t think I’ll be able to tomorrow. I don’t have any csses, so I was pnning to just stay home and rest.”

  “Okay, when’s your next css?”

  “Friday, three days from now.”

  A few seconds passed.

  “Fuck.”

  Leon blinked at the unexpected response. “What’s the problem?” he asked.

  “I have geography on Thursday. Can you meet me at Wellspring Park on Wednesday?”

  Leon frowned slightly. He hadn’t pnned on going anywhere until Friday, hoping to use the extra time to rex and py his games. But as he thought about it, he realized she would need the notebook for her css. If he waited until Friday, it would be useless to her by then.

  He let out a small sigh. “I don’t know where that is.”

  “It’s not too far from the school. I can send you the location.”

  A notification popped up almost immediately—a location pin. Leon tapped on it, analyzing the map. It wasn’t far.

  “It’s close. I can meet you there.”

  “Okay, thanks!”

  WEDNESDAY

  Leon got ready and headed to Wellspring Park. The cool morning breeze brushed against his face as he made his way to the entrance. As he drew closer, he instinctively squinted, scanning the crowd for Stel.

  No luck.

  After a few minutes of aimless searching, he sighed and sat on a bench near the entrance, deciding to wait.

  Unbeknownst to him, Stel had spotted him first. She chuckled at the sight of him looking around in vain before finally giving up. Shaking her head, she walked toward him.

  As soon as Leon noticed her approaching, he stood up.

  “Hey, Stel.”

  “Hey, I saw you struggling to find me. Your vision’s really bad, huh?”

  He shrugged. “Yeah, kinda. I’m short-sighted.”

  “Oh, I see.”

  Leon reached into his bag and handed her the notebook. “Here’s your book.”

  “Thanks.” She tucked it under her arm.

  Leon turned to leave. “Bye, Stel.”

  “Wait, Leon.”

  He stopped and turned back. “Yeah?”

  “Do you wanna get some ice cream with me?”

  His mind went into overdrive. Ice cream? Why? I mean, it’s not like I don’t want to… but I’d rather just go home and py video games. But if I say no, I might sound rude… What should I do? What should I—

  “Leon?” Stel’s voice snapped him back to reality. “Do you want ice cream or not?”

  Leon finally opened his mouth and said—