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The First Glare

by @sepiameadow

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4 chapters

~10 min read

Amara Chen has Venice mapped out in her head, but Matteo Ricci is the one landmark she can't read—gray-green eyes that pin her across the lecture hall after a first, electric glance in a sunlit piazza. He's all sharp words and stormy silences, and she's all restless curiosity he can't shake. Every argument sparks hotter until the tension between them becomes its own kind of study abroad.

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MEET THE CHARACTERS

Amara Chen

A 21-year-old study-abroad student from New York, with wild chestnut curls that escape every bun she tries and honey-brown eyes that miss nothing. She's built like a dancer—small, quick, restless—and her sundress clings to her hips when the Venetian humidity gets to her. She's here to lose herself in art history, but she can't stop noticing the way the city watches her back.

Matteo Ricci

A 23-year-old Venetian native with dark, disheveled hair that falls over his forehead and eyes the color of the lagoon on a stormy day—gray-green, unreadable. He's tall and lean, with the restless energy of someone who's spent his life weaving through crowded piazzas and narrow alleys. His hands are always in motion, gesturing when he speaks, and his lips curl into a smirk that's equal parts challenge and invitation.

EXPLORE CHAPTERS

First Glare

Amara steps out of the train station into the golden light of Venice, her suitcase wheels catching on the cobblestones as she tilts her head up at the domes. A boy on a bicycle swerves past her, close

The Seminar Seat

Amara steps into the seminar room, still buzzing from the night before, and scans for an empty seat—her eyes land on Matteo in the back row, legs stretched out, a lazy smile on his face. He's not a st

The Hallway Wait

The lecture ends and Amara is the first out of her seat, her bag strap cutting into her shoulder as she pushes through the door—only to find Matteo leaning against the wall just outside, arms crossed,

The Unsaid Name

The fluorescent light hums as Matteo's thumb presses flat against the collar of her sundress, his gray-green eyes holding hers with a patience that feels like pressure. "You gave the professor your na