By the second week at Campus 2, we stopped walking like visitors.
We still looked lost sometimes, sure.We still checked our schedules like they were treasure maps.
But we learned the rhythms of Utopia Tower the way you learn a person you can't avoid.
Which elevator always delayed on the third floor.Which hallway smelled like cheap perfume and instant ramen.Which classroom had a window that made the afternoon sun feel like it was accusing you.
Utopia Tower stood tall and shiny, pretending it was built for dreams.
But inside, everyone carried the same quiet fear.
What if staying at C-2 meant we were falling behind?
TR made jokes about it like he could bully the thought into disappearing.
"Bro," he said that morning, dragging his chair back with a loud screech, "I swear this building is judging me."
JP didn't even glance up. He was already on his phone, thumb moving like he was defusing a bomb.
"It's not the building," JP said."It's your face."
TR threw a crumpled piece of paper at him.
JP caught it without looking, like he'd practiced.
HS chuckled softly, shoulders bouncing once. He laughed in a quiet way, like he didn't want to disturb anyone's sadness.
NS sat by the window, eyes distant, like he was watching a different life beyond the glass.
PL slid into the classroom late, bag half-open, hair messy, breathing like he'd run the whole way.
"Don't look at me like that," PL said, pointing at us. "I came fast."
"You come late fast," TR replied instantly.
The whole row laughed.
Even NS's mouth twitched.
I liked moments like this.
Not because the joke was good, but because it proved we were still us.Like the friendship survived the graduation cut.
I opened my notebook and stared at the blank page, waiting for class to start.
My eyes drifted across the room without permission.
Kitty wasn't here yet.
TR noticed immediately.
He leaned in, whispering like a detective."Looking for someone?"
I pretended I didn't hear him.
JP turned around from two rows back and pointed his pen at me."You're doing it again."
"Doing what?" I asked, too fast.
HS smiled."Scanning."
NS added, dry as always,"Hunting."
PL nodded like he understood everything."He's a predator."
I kicked PL's chair lightly."Shut up."
TR grinned wide."So it is still Kitty."
I hated how the word still sounded.
Like feelings were something you were supposed to throw away after a deadline.
"It's not like that," I said.
JP raised an eyebrow."Then what is it?"
I opened my mouth.
Then closed it.
Because what was it?
It was the safe feeling of seeing someone familiar.The comfort of liking someone everyone knew you liked.
The way Kitty had always been… warm.Easy to smile at.
But under that, there was something else.
Something I hadn't named yet.Something that didn't feel safe.
The lecturer walked in, and I was saved by routine.
Attendance.Syllabus.Rules.Responsibilities.
The lecturer talked like we were already adults, like we had control over our futures.
I wrote down random words just to look busy.
Then Kitty arrived.
She slipped in quietly and sat across the aisle, hair tied loosely, a few strands brushing her cheek.
She leaned forward to whisper something to her friend.
Her friend laughed, covering her mouth.
Kitty's laugh was different from TR's.
TR laughed like the world belonged to him.Kitty laughed like she didn't want to take up space.
When she glanced my way, her eyes met mine for a second.
And she smiled.
Not big.Not dramatic.
Just a small, soft curve of her lips.
A hi without words.
My chest tightened in that stupid way it always did.
TR saw my face and mouthed, Aha.
I glared at him, but it was too late.
My reaction already betrayed me.
After class, the hallway filled instantly.
Students poured out like water released from a broken dam.The air buzzed with conversations, footsteps, and someone loudly complaining about the lecture.
We gathered near the vending machines, like we always did.
It was becoming a tradition.A checkpoint.
If you survived the class, you met here and proved you were still alive.
NS shoved coins into the machine and frowned.
"If it eats my money again," he said, "I'm transferring abroad."
HS leaned over."Where?"
NS didn't hesitate."Somewhere vending machines respect human rights."
JP snorted."Good luck. Even Europe has broken vending machines."
At the word Europe, someone behind us spoke.
"Europe is not a vending machine heaven."
We turned.
A girl stood there with a notebook pressed to her chest like armor.
Her posture was straight.Her expression sharp.Her eyes alert, like she was already grading us.
She looked like the kind of person who carried goals in her pockets.
She pushed her glasses up with one finger and glanced at the machine.
"You're hitting it like it's your enemy," she said to NS."That's not how machines work."
NS stared at her."And you are…?"
"ED," she said simply.
Just ED.
Like her name was an answer key.
TR blinked, amused."ED. Like… initials?"
"Like my name," ED replied."I don't waste time decorating it."
JP's eyes lit up."You're new?"
"Transferred for now," ED said, inserting coins with precise movements."But I'm leaving soon."
The coffee dropped perfectly into the tray.
TR's smile froze."Leaving where?"
ED took a sip. Her eyes brightened, like someone flipped a switch.
"International university. Europe."
She said it like she was stating today's weather.
Our group went quiet.
Not jealousy.Not exactly.
Just that strange feeling when someone says they're moving forward while you're still learning the building.
TR recovered first.
He always did.
"Europe," he said, nodding seriously."So you're gonna eat fancy bread and become a genius."
ED stared at him like he was a math problem with no solution.
"I'm already a genius," she said."Bread is optional."
HS coughed, hiding a laugh.
Even NS's mouth twitched.
Then a softer voice joined.
"ED… stop scaring them."
A guy stepped forward with a guitar case slung over his shoulder.
He held it carefully, like it was precious or fragile.
His hair was messy.His expression calm.
But his eyes looked like they were always listening to a song nobody else could hear.
"I'm SP," he said."I play music. I mean… I'm trying."
TR's eyes widened."Musician?"
SP scratched his neck."Wanna-be."
JP nodded."Honest. Respect."
ED sighed."He's good. He just refuses to admit it."
SP's ears turned red."ED…"
She ignored him.
"Anyway," she said to us, "Utopia Tower eats time if you blink. Don't let it."
Then she walked away, coffee in hand, chasing a deadline only she could see.
SP lingered.
"Sorry," he said with a small smile."She's like that."
TR pointed after her."She's intense."
"She's… fast," SP said."She hates wasting anything."
JP surprised me by saying quietly,"That includes feelings."
SP looked at him, then nodded like he understood something deeper.
Then he followed ED, the guitar case tapping softly against his leg.
When they were gone, TR exhaled dramatically.
"Okay," he announced."We just met Europe Hermione and Guitar Boy."
HS laughed."Be nice."
JP smirked."It's accurate."
NS stared toward the hallway."She said she's leaving soon."
PL shrugged."People leave."
TR clapped his hands."And we stay! Which means we need entertainment."
That night, our group chat exploded.
TR: KARAOKE THIS WEEKEND. NO EXCUSES.PL: I can't sing.TR: That's why it's happening.JP: If we go, we're not leaving until XH sings.Me: Why is my name involved.HS: Because quiet people must suffer.NS: I will attend but I will not participate.TR: That is illegal at karaoke.
I stared at my phone in my room.
The only light came from the screen and the streetlamp outside my window.
The air was cold.The city sounded far away, like it didn't care about us.
My thoughts were too loud.
Kitty's smile.ED's certainty when she said Europe.SP's quiet way of following her.
I realized something then.
We weren't just planning karaoke.
We were trying to prove we were still young.Trying to hold the moment still.Trying to distract ourselves from the future creeping in.
My phone buzzed again.
TR: Also invite Kitty.JP: You invite her. Not us. You.HS: Do it.NS: If you don't, I will. And I'll make it weird.PL: I'll invite her too. I'm charming.
My heart started beating faster.
I opened Kitty's chat.
My thumb hovered over the keyboard, trembling slightly.
And in that quiet moment, I realized something else.
The scariest part wasn't rejection.
The scariest part was being seen.
Because if Kitty said yes…
That meant my feelings were real.
And real feelings always demanded something from you.
I swallowed.
Then I typed two small words.
You free?
And I stared at the screen, waiting for my life to shift by half an inch.
Outside my window, the street was quiet.
But inside my chest, everything was loud.