Chapter 1
Maya and Jordan sat across from each other at the café, but they weren’t really together.
Not in the way their friends were.
At the next table, Tessa and her boyfriend laughed softly over shared headphones, watching the same video. Across the room, Liam adjusted Ava’s jacket without being asked, like it was the most natural thing in the world. Even the smallest gestures around them looked like proof that love could be easy.
Maya stirred her drink harder than necessary.
“Why are you even upset?” Jordan asked, leaning back in his chair. His tone wasn’t loud—but it wasn’t soft either.
“I’m not upset,” she said immediately.
He gave her a look. “You’ve barely said two words since we got here.”
That was the problem. He always noticed everything—but never understood it right.
“I’m just tired,” she said finally.
“Tired of me?” he asked.
Maya looked up sharply. “That’s not what I said.”
“But that’s what you meant, right?” Jordan’s voice tightened.
Silence fell between them—heavy, familiar, and uncomfortable.
At the next table, laughter continued like nothing was wrong in the world.
Maya watched Tessa lean her head on her boyfriend’s shoulder and felt something twist inside her.
“Why is it so easy for them?” she muttered.
Jordan followed her gaze. “It’s not easy. They just don’t overthink everything.”
Maya let out a short laugh. “Right. Because it’s definitely me overthinking.”
Jordan exhaled, rubbing his hand across his face. “Here we go again.”
“That’s exactly what I mean,” Maya said, voice rising slightly. “You always act like I’m the problem.”
“I didn’t say that.”
“You didn’t have to.”
The space between them filled with everything they never said properly.
Jordan stood up first. “I’m going to get some air.”
Maya didn’t stop him.
She watched him walk out of the café, then turned back to the table full of “perfect couples” and wondered why love looked so easy for everyone else—but felt like a battlefield for them.
And for the first time that day, she asked herself a question she didn’t want the answer to:
If everyone else can make it look this easy… why can’t we?
