Maya walked back to her dorm, campus buzzing around her like a beehive.
A girl from Bio did a double take, leaned into her friend and whispered. A guy in a Thunderhawks hoodie slowed, stared, then looked away too quickly when Maya caught his eye.
Sixteen thousand people had watched Jake Thompson bare his soul, and now everyone on campus knew.
Maya kept her eyes forward, her face burning.
Her phone buzzed. She ignored it. Then again.
Mom: Mija. Call me when you can.
Her mother had watched it too.
Maya reached Spruce Hall, pushed through the door and found Chloe and Elena.
Elena was on her bed, a textbook open but clearly unread. Chloe stood by the window, still in her coat, arms folded tight.
"He was so reckless ," Maya said dropping her bag. " I can't believe he did that knowing what this would do to me."
"Maya I'm so sorry" Elena said.
"In front of those cameras."
Maya looked at her phone. "I've spent weeks trying to put everything behind."
"I know," Chloe said.
"And now he's gone and done — that."
Neither of them said anything.
Chloe reached over, took Maya's phone, turned it face down on the desk. "Breathe."
"God I'm trying." She exhaled.
"I think...i want to hear him out, I've decided to go to the library."
Elena checked the time. "That's in—what—forty-nine minutes."
"Yes."
Maya walked to her closet.
Stopped.
"I'm not forgiving him tonight," she said, staring into it. "One speech doesn't undo weeks of… this."
"Absolutely not," Chloe said immediately.
Maya pulled out a blue sweater and held it in her hands.
"What if I believe him," she said quietly, "and it still isn't enough?"
"Then it isn't," Elena said, stepping beside her. "But at least you'll know. You've been stuck in the what if for weeks."
Maya swallowed.
She was tired of not knowing.
At 7:43 PM, Maya stepped out into the cold.
The Oregon air bit through the sweater, her breath fogging in front of her as she walked.
The third floor of the library was quiet, just the hum of ventilation, the occasional turn of a page.
Maya took the stairs. She needed the extra time to decide if she actually meant to go through with this.
She smelled him before she saw him.
That familiar cedar note.
Her stomach dropped, and for a second, instinct told her to turn around.
But she was tired of leaving.
So she kept walking.
Jake sat at their table, hands flat against the surface, eyes locked on the doorway like he'd been staring at it for a long time.
He startled when he saw her.
He stood up. "Maya—"
"Sit the fuck down."
The words came out harsher, laced with anger. A girl three tables over looked up but Maya didn't care.
"Don't stand up for me now," she said, voice sharp, shaking underneath. "Don't do that like I matter when you only ever do it when there's no one watching."
He sat.
Slowly.
Maya stayed standing, her bag still on her shoulder, the table between them like a barrier.
"You had no right," she said. Her voice trembled and she hated it. "No right to do that. You stood in front of cameras and turned me into your—your redemption speech without even asking me."
"Maya, I tried to reach you—"
"You went around me." A broken laugh escaped her. "You put me in front of thousands of strangers with opinions about my body, my background, everything. Do you understand that? Do you actually understand what you did?"
She started pacing.
She couldn't stand still.
"You want to know how I felt watching that?" she said. "I felt stupid. Because for a second—a second—I thought you meant it. I thought maybe you'd finally grown a spine."
She turned away from him, pressing her hands against the cold window.
"And you know what's worse?" she said, quieter now. "I defended you. To them." A small, humorless laugh. "They told me who you were. And I said no. I said you were different."
She shook her head.
"I made you into someone worth believing in. And you made me look like an idiot."
She turned, tears streaming down her face.
"That night at the Halloween party, I didn't even expect anything big. Just… basic decency. If it were me, I would've stood up for you. No hesitation. Because that's who I am."
Her voice broke.
"And you walked away."
"Maya—"
"At homecoming?" she cut in, stepping closer to the table. "You let her talk down to you and said nothing. You couldn't even defend yourself. So why did I think you'd ever defend me?"
She wiped at her face angrily.
"But the worst part?" she said, her voice dropping. "The worst part was hearing you call me a nobody."
Jake flinched.
"After everything," she said. "After all of it."
She grabbed her bag tighter, like she needed something solid to hold onto.
"This is what you do," she said. "You hurt me. Then you come back with explanations. 'I panicked.' 'I didn't know what to do.'"Her voice sharpened. "You knew. Every time, you knew. You just chose yourself anyway."
Silence.
"And the gala?" she said. "I wasn't even surprised. That's the worst part. I stood there and thought, of course. Of course he's doing it again."
She stepped back.
"You don't respect me, Jake. Not when it matters."
She turned toward the door.
"I'm sorry, Maya."
She stopped.
Didn't turn around.
"I know sorry doesn't fix anything," he said, voice rough. "But it's all I have right now."
A breath.
"I keep waiting for a moment where it's safe to choose you," he said. "And it never comes. So I don't."
Her hand tightened on the door handle.
"That's not fear," he said. "That's cowardice."
Silence stretched between them.
"I knew what I was doing," he said. "And I did it anyway."
She turned slowly.
He was standing now, hands open, nothing defensive left in him.
"You're always sorry," she said quietly. "And I'm always the one who has to decide if that's enough."
She pulled the door open.
"I'm not forgiving you."
A beat.
"But since I came all the way here," she added, "you can walk me to my dorm."
She stepped out into the hallway.
"Don't talk," she said. "I can't hear your voice right now."
She heard him grab his coat, follow at a distance. She didn't look back.
They walked side by side, not touching. The campus was dead quiet, the path lights cutting through the dark in yellow pools.
Their breath came out in clouds.
"Maya, Please—"
"I said don't. Not one fucking word."
He tried again anyway. "Maya, I need you to know—"
"No." She walked faster. "You don't get to fix this just because you feel bad now."
He reached for her wrist.
She tried to jerk away, but his fingers wrapped around her arm firm, grounding her. She spun around, eyes blazing, ready to scream.
"Let go," she said, her voice shaking. "Let go of me right now or I swear—"
They were at Spruce Hall.
She hadn't even noticed.
"I don't know when it started."
She froze.
"What?"
"I don't know when I fell in love with you."
Everything stilled.
"I just know I did," he said, his voice quieter now. "And I know I've been a coward."
His thumb brushed her cheek.
"I chose myself every time. Every time it mattered."
Her chest tightened.
"I don't expect you to forgive me," he said. "I don't expect you to believe me. But I'm done being that person."
A breath.
"I love you and I'm going to keep showing you I do until you tell me to stop."
The wind blew between them.
She looked at his hand on her jaw.
Then she stepped back.
"I'll text you," she said.
She turned and pushed through the door into Spruce Hall.
The door clicked shut behind her, leaving Jake standing alone in the yellow pool of light, his hands hanging empty at his sides, staring at the space where she'd been.
Elena and Chloe were waiting when she got back.
"How was it?" Elena asked.
Maya dropped her bag.
"He said he loves me."
Elena sat up. "What did you say?"
Maya opened her mouth.
Nothing came out.
Then her legs gave out.
She sank onto the floor, her back against the bed, and broke.
"I don't know what to do," she choked. "I don't know if I believe him or if I just want to."
Elena was on the floor beside her immediately, pulling her close.
"You don't have to decide tonight," she said softly.
"The worst part," Maya whispered, "is that I love him too."
Silence.
"What do I do?" she asked.
Elena held her tighter. "Nothing. Not right now."
They held her until the crying stopped.
"Get in bed," Chloe said softly.
Maya let them help her up. She lay down, stared at the ceiling.
Elena turned off the light.
Later, in the dark, Maya reached for her phone.
She didn't think.
Maya: Goodnight, Jake.
She stared at the screen, her heart hammering, terrified she'd made a mistake.
He replied within seconds.
Jake: Goodnight, Maya. Thank you for coming.
She put the phone face down.
Closed her eyes.