Chapter 1 – The Mirror’s Truth
Delz stared at the mirror as if it were her worst enemy. The pale morning light filtered through the half-closed curtains, illuminating every imperfection she tried so hard to hide. The dark circles under her eyes. The curve of her body she never thought was good enough. The way her hair refused to fall the way she wanted it to.
She sighed and looked away. Why can’t I ever look like her? she thought, imagining her best friend Maya, who could walk into any room and command it with nothing but a smile. Maya always told her she was beautiful in her own way, but Delz had never believed it. Beauty wasn’t something she associated with herself.
The clock ticked loudly on the wall. She was late again.
Throwing on a soft blue cardigan and a pair of worn jeans, she grabbed her tote bag and rushed out of the apartment. Her classes at the university were the only thing that gave structure to her days, though even there, she felt invisible. She didn’t mind being unnoticed most of the time; it was safer that way.
The campus was already buzzing when she arrived. Students sat on benches sipping coffee, others rushed past with notebooks tucked under their arms, and groups laughed loudly at inside jokes. Delz kept her head down, walking quickly to her usual spot under the large oak tree near the library.
“Late again,” a familiar voice teased.
Delz turned and found Maya waiting for her, perched elegantly on the bench with a coffee cup in hand. Maya looked like she had stepped out of a fashion magazine even though she insisted she had rolled out of bed five minutes earlier.
“You could at least pretend to be human in the mornings,” Delz muttered, sitting beside her.
Maya grinned. “And you could at least try to believe me when I tell you that cardigan makes your eyes look gorgeous.”
Delz rolled her eyes, staring at the ground. Compliments made her uncomfortable, like wearing a dress two sizes too small.
Before Maya could say anything else, Delz noticed movement across the courtyard. A tall figure walked confidently toward the library, his dark hair catching the sunlight. He carried a stack of books tucked under one arm, his other hand buried in his jacket pocket. There was something about him quiet yet unshakably present.
Maya followed her gaze and smirked. “Sam.”
Delz’s heart jolted. She quickly looked away. “I wasn’t looking.”
“You were definitely looking,” Maya whispered, amused. “He’s in your literature class, isn’t he?”
Delz fiddled with the strap of her bag. Yes, he was. Sam had joined the class halfway through the semester, and from the moment he walked in, people had noticed him. Not just because he was good-looking though he was, in a way that seemed almost unfair but because he had this calm aura, like he belonged anywhere he went.
He had smiled at her once, a brief, fleeting smile when their eyes accidentally met across the classroom. Delz had convinced herself it meant nothing. People like Sam didn’t look twice at people like her.
“Stop overthinking,” Maya said, nudging her gently. “You never know, maybe he’s not as untouchable as you think.”
Delz shook her head quickly. “Maya, guys like him don’t…” she trailed off, unable to finish the sentence.
Don’t notice girls like me.
But what Delz didn’t know, as she sat there trying to make herself invisible, was that Sam had already noticed her more than once. And for reasons she couldn’t possibly imagine, he found himself drawn to her quiet presence,the way she seemed lost in thought, the way she scribbled in her notebook when she thought no one was watching.
And soon, their worlds would collide in ways that neither of them could predict.
