Chapter 1

She turned the page of her book.

Her eyes wandered through the words and sentences.

She turned the page again.

Suddenly, an extremely unpleasant smell filled her nose, making her look up. There was a boy leaning on another tree in front of her, smoking and blowing large puffs towards her.

"Hey," she called. “Can you blow the smoke away from me, please?”

Their eyes locked, before he swiftly looked away.

She watched him exhale to the side, doing as she requested.

"Thanks," she said, then waited for a reply. He merely nodded without so much as a glance at her. She respected his silence, knowing that a man of few words had plenty in their minds.

Sighing, she returned her gaze to the book, but she had already lost interest due to the distraction.

I’ll continue tomorrow, she thought.

As she stood, she eyed the boy. He looked young, about her age or a year older. Even though she wouldn’t admit it, he was very handsome.

But in her opinion, smokers were less attractive. Nonetheless, he had been kind to her when she asked him to blow his smoke away from her, so she decided to be kind too.

“Thanks again. Have a good afternoon.”

She didn’t expect a reply this time. With a small smile, she walked away with her book in hand.