Chapter 1

The bus door folded open with a tired wheeze.

Alex stepped down onto the pavement and the first thing she noticed was how alive the city felt.

Not loud.

Alive.

A man played guitar on the corner beside an open case. Street dancers blasted music from a portable speaker while they moved with the beat. Car horns echoed through the street while smoke drifted through the warm air carrying the scent of nearby restaurants and another smell she couldn’t quite place.

Alex inhaled the moment.

Back home, people already knew who they could become.

You naturally stuck to the careers that actually had available jobs. Anything outside of that was a risk not everyone was willing to pursue.

The future there always felt pre-decided. Like a form someone else had already filled out for you.

But here, in the city...

People can reinvent themselves.

Alex exhaled.

Possibility.

Behind her, the bus groaned and pulled away from the curb.

The sound snapped her out of it.

She pulled out her phone, entered the campus address, and waited near the sidewalk for her cab while studying everything around her.

The cab finally pulled up.

“Alex?”

Alex nodded and climbed in.

As the cab moved through the city, she rolled the window down halfway. Wind rushed against her face while skyscrapers slipped past alongside crowded sidewalks, glowing storefronts, and people moving with purpose in every direction.

She watched all of it carefully.

Not because she was nervous.

Because she wanted to remember it exactly.

People fascinated her when they thought nobody was paying attention.

A woman smoking outside a bookstore while reading the last page of a novel.

A man in a wrinkled suit asleep against the bus window with his mouth slightly open.

Two girls arguing outside a cafe.

Alex stored moments the way other people collected photographs.

The cab slowly left downtown behind.

Buildings spread farther apart. Traffic softened. Tree-lined streets replaced crowded intersections.

Eventually the driver turned onto a long road lined with brick buildings and wide lawns.

“Tomson College,” he said.

Alex looked out the window.

she climbed out of the cab and grabbed her bag.

For a second she simply stood there watching everyone.

Students filled the campus sidewalks.

Parents unloaded boxes from trunks while suitcases rattled over pavement. Nervous laughter drifted across the quad.

Someone argued loudly about parking.

A girl carried her dog through the courtyard while an older gentleman probably her father followed behind holding three storage bins and looking physically defeated.

People shouting across the quad:

“Call when you get to the dorm!”

“Did you pack the fan?”

“Don’t forget your ID card!”

“Remember to call me every day!”

Families saying their goodbyes .

Friends gossiping.

Strangers standing beside piles of luggage.

A smile slowly spread across her face as a memory surfaced.

Earlier that morning. At the station.

Her mother standing in front of her trying very hard not to cry.

It had always just been the two of them.

And this was the first time they would truly live apart.

Her mother kept adjusting the strap of Alex’s backpack even after it was already straight.

“You have your charger?”

“Yes.”

“And your medication?”

“Mom.”

“I’m asking because you forget things when you’re stressed.”

Alex laughed quietly. “You’ve asked me 100 times.”

Her mother smiled for about two seconds before emotion cracked through it again.

Then she reached forward and pressed her hand lightly against Alex’s chest.

Right over her heart.

“Trust it,” she said softly. “I love you.”

Alex swallowed hard.

“I love you too.”

Now, standing in the middle of campus, Alex reached up and touched the fabric of her shirt where her mother’s hand had been.

“Trust it,” she whispered.

Across the quad, a banner stretched between two poles.

WELCOME TO TOMSON COLLEGE

The campus looked almost unreal in the afternoon sunlight.

Old brick buildings.

Tall windows.

Wide green lawns.

Students crossing pathways in every direction carrying backpacks, boxes, coffee cups, entire lives.

Alex thought about her mother working late hospital shifts for years.

About homework being done in the lobby.

About sketching in her notebook endlessly until she could draw anything from memory.

About the scholarship letter she had received and read ten times before believing it was real.

She hadn’t gotten here accidentally.

She had earned this.

“Okay,” she murmured quietly.

Near the center of the quad sat a low stone wall beside the fountain.

Alex walked over and dropped her duffel bag beside it before pulling her sketchbook from her backpack.

The last drawing inside was from the station that morning.

Her mother standing beside the bus terminal holding one hand up in a small wave.

Alex smiled softly then turned the page.

Alex sketched quickly.

Not complete drawings.

Fragments.

Motion.

A boy dragging an overstuffed suitcase with one broken wheel.

A girl wiping tears while hugging her mom.

Two freshmen arguing.

A father repeatedly checking his trunk so nobody would notice him crying.

The fountain in the center courtyard.

A taxi pulling away from the curb.

Her pencil moved instinctively, capturing moments before they vanished.

Then something near the edge of the quad caught her attention.

A girl stood beside a parked car wearing a faded denim jacket and tall black boots.

Messy hair.

Relaxed posture.

One hand shoved into her pocket.

Beside her stood a younger girl dressed almost exactly like her, clinging to her sleeve while talking rapidly about something.

Alex glanced down and started sketching them quickly.

The younger girl grabbed the front of the denim jacket suddenly and tugged hard enough to pull the

older girl toward her.

The older girl smiled immediately.

Like muscle memory, she leaned down and lifted the younger girl off the ground as she hugged her.

An oversized silver bracelet slid loosely down the younger girl’s wrist.

Just another ordinary moment among dozens unfolding across the quad.

Alex finished the sketch and leaned back slightly.

The page was crowded now.

The fountain.

Students moving between buildings.

Families saying goodbye.

Suitcases.

Cars.

Pieces of motion frozen for a second before life continues moving again.

Alex stared at the page for a moment longer before finally closing the sketchbook.

She picked up her bag, checked her phone, then headed toward admissions.

Admissions took far longer than she expected. She was already an hour late to meet her roommate at the apartment.

The worse part was that she had texted her twice already and no response.

Walk straight ahead for 10 minutes.

Turn right on Jackson.

3rd house on the left.

Simple.

Alex kept her head down while flickering between her messages and the navigation map on her phone, all while controlling the stack of papers under her arm from admissions, and wrestling with her duffel bag that all of a sudden felt heavier than usual.

A sudden screech interrupted her thoughts, and the loud horn startled her.

Alex backed up, then lost her footing on the edge of the sidewalk.

Thud.

Loose papers scattered around her.

The black sedan stopped inches away.

A woman shouted "stop sign" in frustration.

For Alex her world froze.

The driver exited her car.

A woman wearing dark sunglasses, blue jeans, and white sneakers walked toward her.

Alex heart raced.

“I’m fine,” she blurted immediately.

“Trying to kill yourself?”

Alex looked up at her unamused.

The woman held the gaze.

"Sam" A voice called out to her.

"You didn't hit her and we're late."

Alex quickly scrambled to gather her papers with nervous hands.

Schedules.

Campus forms.

Receipts.

Alex stuffed them against her chest, stood fast, and nearly lost her balance.

Sam reached out to automatically steady her, but Alex stepped away.

“Hey,” “Are you okay, seriously?”

“I’m sorry,” Alex muttered.

Then she walked briskly to Jackson Street.

“Hey! you forgot.

Alex was too far away to hear.

The woman stood beside her car holding the paper while Alex disappeared further.

At least I know your name.

Alex.