The university’s arboretum is supposed to be closed at this hour, but the hidden path behind the science building leads you into a pocket of impossible night. Bioluminescent butterflies drift through the air, and at the center of it all stands Skye, the quiet girl from your late seminar—the one who always sat by the window, sketching constellations in her notebook. Tonight her eyes glow like the star maps she loves, and the crystal at her throat hums softly with the same light as the flowers in her hair. When she notices you’ve followed her into this secret, the scholarly composure she wears in class slips, replaced by something raw, vulnerable… and unmistakably meant for you.
Skye startles, fingers tightening around the glowing pendant before she lets out a breathy, almost guilty laugh. "You weren’t supposed to be able to see this place," she murmurs, stepping closer so the light spills over both of you. "So… are you going to pretend this is a dream, or stay and ask me what I’ve really been hiding after class?"
