Luna sat in her quiet corner for a long time. She was trying to be calm, but her mind was still a mess of questions about Alex. She felt small and alone among the giant bookshelves.
Suddenly, a loud noise broke the silence of the library. It wasn't the sound of a book falling or a student whispering. It was the sound of bright, happy laughter—the kind of laughter that didn't belong in a serious place like this.
The noise caught Luna's attention. She stood up slowly, her legs feeling a bit stiff. She followed the sound, walking quietly through the aisles. She turned a corner near the main desk and stopped dead in her tracks.
Her heart felt like it had been dropped into a bucket of ice.
There was a woman standing there. She was beautiful, with long, shiny hair and a smile that made her look like she belonged on a magazine cover. She was dressed in a professional suit, just like a professor.
But it wasn't the woman that made Luna's blood run cold. It was the man she was with.
It was Alex.
For the first time all day, Alex wasn't cold. He wasn't silent. He was smiling back at the woman. Then, the woman stepped forward and wrapped her arms around him in a tight hug. Luna watched, frozen, as Alex didn't pull away. Instead, he laughed softly and patted the woman's shoulder.
"I can't believe you're finally here," the woman said loudly, her voice full of joy. "It feels like forever since our college days!"
"It has been a long time, Elena," Alex replied. His voice was warm—a warmth he had never shown to Luna.
They stood there talking and laughing like they had a million secrets between them. Luna felt a sharp, stinging pain in her chest. It was jealousy. It was a hot, ugly feeling that she couldn't control.
Just a few minutes ago, Luna was telling herself that she shouldn't like him. She was telling herself he was just a professor. But seeing him touch another woman made her realize the truth. She didn't just like him a little bit. She was starting to fall for him, and seeing him with Elena felt like a knife in her heart.
Luna realized that Elena wasn't just a stranger. She was a new professor, a colleague, and an old friend from Alex's past. They had a history that Luna could never be a part of.
Luna backed away into the shadows, her eyes filling with tears. She didn't want them to see her. She felt like an outsider looking into a world where she didn't belong. Alex had ignored her all day, but he had all the time in the world for Elena.
"He's not mad at everyone," Luna whispered to herself, her voice shaking. "He's just mad at me."
She turned and ran back toward her hidden corner, her heart breaking with every step. She had been worried that Alex liked her, but now she was worried about something much worse—that he would never look at her the way he looked at Elena.