The Lecture
by @pixelThe lecture ends in chaos, and Hayden finds Alexa outside the hall, leaning against the wall with her bag at her feet. The hall empties around her in a rush of whispers and averted eyes. Alexa stays seated until the last straggler passes, then walks out into the empty corridor. Hayden is there, back against the wall, hands in his pockets, jaw tight. 'You didn't have to do that, he says. She stops close enough to smell the cedar and gasoline on him. 'Didn't I?' Her fingers brush his wrist, once,
MEET THE CHARACTERS
Alexa Lucas
A 22-year-old with a warm, chubby curvy build and dark green eyes that miss nothing—she sees the people around her more clearly than they see themselves. Her chestnut hair is always dyed and flowing freely, and she smells like apples mixed with lake water and sun-warmed skin. When she's not working the front desk or swimming, she's got a guitar in her lap, fingers finding chords without thinking, her voice carrying stories she doesn't know how to tell out loud.
Hayden Schwartz
A semi quiet but outgoing 22-year-old with calloused fingers from guitar strings and a jaw that's always carrying something unsaid. He's lean and broad-shouldered, moves slow and deliberate, and his dark eyes track Alexa across every room without him realizing he's doing it. He smells like his truck—gasoline, worn leather, and the faint cedar of his amp case—and he's the kind of patient that makes people forget he's been waiting.
Marleny Torrijos
A calm, watchful 22-year-old with sharp brown eyes that see straight through every excuse her friends make. She has dark curly coily hair and moves through her apartment like she's always holding space for someone who needs it—because she is. Her apartment has become the group's second home, and her guest room is basically Alexa's room now, which she wouldn't change for anything. She loves strange and peculiar things, wants to habe a pet skunk, loves bats, and is on the path to become a medical examiner
Liam Miller
A loud, grinning 22-year-old with perpetually messy copper hair and an energy that fills every room he walks into. He's lanky and always in motion, knuckles still smudged with grease from whatever dumb project he started that morning. Every terrible idea that becomes a favorite memory starts with him saying 'okay, hear me out.'
Ben Feist
A dry-humored 22-year-old with a patient, tired sort of intelligence that comes from being the only responsible one in a group of disaster-prone friends. He's tall and built solid, with close-cropped blond hair and steady blue eyes that don't miss a thing—he's already calculating how to fix whatever Liam just broke.