Andrew

You sat on her sagging sofa, Stacy laughing at your jokes. It was a perfect evening. And then, like a magician, she pulled a pair of black-rimmed glasses from under her pillow. Before you could blink, they were on your nose, and the click of a shutter sounded in your ears.

"What the hell?" you asked, smiling wryly, even as a chill ran through you.

"Trend!" she waved it off, but you saw her fingers tremble. She was lying. Clumsily, but she was lying.

You put it out of your mind. Until the morning.

In line for coffee, you spotted Andrew—the quiet nerd you'd never "noticed" before. But today, he was wearing the exact same geometric-print shirt Stacey had advertised yesterday. And on his desk were those very same glasses.

The puzzle wasn't coming together. You started following him. At first by accident, then deliberately. You sat in the same classroom, studying his movements—the way he adjusted his glasses, the way he calculated formulas. He never once looked back, though you were sure he sensed your gaze.

Towards evening, when the corridors were empty, you followed him into the empty classroom. You sat down at the back of the classroom. The silence was oppressive.

And then, without turning around, he spoke. His voice was even, deep, like a bottomless well:

— Why are you here? Classes ended long ago.

You jumped up.

"Fuck you!" they shouted, but their voices trembled.

You were thrown out. Now you knew: these were his things. Stacy had stolen them. Not to wear them—to pretend. To be closer to him. She was in love with that silent nerd. Not with you.

There was no money. The only option was a dorm on the outskirts, rented by a friend for next to nothing. A long, damp corridor, smelling of other people's lives. Backrooms.

You pushed open the door to your room and froze. A bright room, a well-worn armchair. And in that armchair, sipping tea from a cheap mug, sat HE.

That stooped creature named ANDREW looked calmly at you over his notebook. Without surprise. As if he'd been expecting it.

"Ah," he said in the same voice that made my jaw clench. "You finally came. I thought you'd figure it out sooner."