FROM SAGE TO SAVED

THE MORE THE FRIENDS ♾️,,,.

Felicy was a contradiction I didn't know I needed. Warm and cold, approachable and distant—she was a paradox wrapped in a leather jacket and nonchalant smirks. Her world was loud, chaotic, and drenched in everything we pretended to avoid—drugs, wild nights, and unfiltered chaos. My circle? Let's just say we thought ourselves above it. No drugs, no drama. But isn't it funny how life blurs those lines when you're not paying attention?

Felicy and her crew had this effortless magnetism. They were the kind of people who could laugh in the face of gravity and still land on their feet. Meanwhile, Jace, Felix, and I were just trying to keep our sneakers clean. We thought we were the stable ones, but maybe that stability was just an illusion.

She made life bearable in ways she probably didn't even realize. Her careless confidence was infectious, even if it clashed with my cautious optimism. We'd occasionally merge friend groups—brief moments of interaction that felt like two planets grazing orbits, never quite colliding. I liked her, though. Maybe a bit too much.

Enter Maya. She called the next day to say she'd arrived, and like the dutiful squad we were, Jace, Felix, Marcus, and I marched off to welcome her. Jace and Marcus had ulterior motives, of course—potential girlfriend scouting. Typical.

When Maya finally showed up at her room, she looked stunned. Not because she'd walked into a room full of strangers, but because she hadn't expected the strangers to feel like friends. That's the thing about a warm welcome—it erases the awkwardness before it even starts.The room was small, but the presence of this quiet girl sitting in the corner made it feel even smaller. She barely looked up, but when she spoke, it was with the kind of calm that makes you lean in.

"Did you see a girl come in here?" I asked.

She nodded toward Maya's charging phone and explained how she'd just left. Nothing remarkable about the exchange, but looking back, it was the start of something none of us saw coming. Her name was Natalie, but she insisted we call her Tallie. And somehow, she became part of the family without any formal initiation.

By the time we left for supper that evening, the group had grown. Maya and Tallie were inseparable by then, and Marcus... well, Marcus was probably dreaming up his next conquest. Jace was trying to divide his time between us and his new roommates, but Felix and I? We were constants in each other's orbit, unshaken by the shifting alliances.

Let me paint the picture: six of us now, or maybe six and a half if you count Felicy—who still held a strange piece of my heart. Our little "family" looked like an ad campaign for diverse perfection, as if fate had handpicked us for our photogenic appeal. Tallie brought this understated South African vibe that balanced out Maya's loud energy. Marcus was the storyteller, spinning tales of his adventures with girls who probably didn't know he was a freshman. And Jace? He was torn, juggling loyalty to us and his newfound independence.

But Felix and I... we were a story all our own.

Felix wasn't just my friend; he was my escape, my anchor, and my partner in crime. He had this way of making the mundane magical, like turning late-night walks into epic adventures. I could tell him anything, and he'd listen without judgment—a rarity in this noisy, opinionated world.With Felix, it felt like I was living in some parallel universe, a fantasy I never wanted to wake up from. It was "The Originals" come to life, all loyalty and foreverness. Always and forever. The kind of bond you tattoo on your soul, even if it leaves a scar.

I can still picture us: game nights in Jace's room with his fifteen roommates, all of them crammed into a space that somehow felt big enough for us all. They'd come to the girls' hostel without hesitation, making me feel like the most protected person on campus. I wasn't just a girl anymore—I was their girl.

But as much as I loved the chaos of our growing group, there was always something quieter, more intimate, about my time with Felix. It wasn't about the big moments; it was about the quiet ones. The nights we spent talking about everything and nothing. The way he'd laugh at my bad jokes and make me feel like I was the funniest person alive.He was the best thing that ever happened to me, and even now, as I write this, I feel a tear slip down my cheek. Felix wasn't just a chapter in my story—he was the whole book. A story I never wanted to end.