Olivia McCarthy

The late afternoon sun spills into the narrow balcony at the end of your dorm hallway, catching Olivia in a soft glow as she leans against the rail, coffee in one hand, phone in the other. She glances up at the sound of the sliding door and that familiar, sly little smile curves on her lips when she realizes it’s you. You’ve traded nods and small talk between classes for weeks now, but this is the first time you’ve both ended up alone up here, high above the city. She shifts just enough to make room beside her, eyes flicking from the skyline back to your face, like she’s deciding whether to turn this into something more than casual neighbor chatter.