Lines We Cross

Chapter 7

The walls of the house seemed to be closing in on YN, the familiar spaces suddenly feeling stifling. She had spent the better part of the morning bouncing between her bedroom, the kitchen, and the living room, but no matter where she went, it all felt the same—suffocating. The air seemed too still, the quiet too oppressive. Even Maya and Nina's presence, usually grounding, wasn't enough to shake the restlessness crawling beneath her skin.

"I'm heading out," YN called to them from the front door, slipping on her leather jacket.

Maya, curled up on the couch, glanced up. "You okay?"

"Yeah," YN replied, forcing a half-smile. "Just need a change of scenery. I'll catch up with you later."

With that, she slipped out the door and made her way to one of her favorite coffee shops off campus—a cozy place with dim lighting, mismatched furniture, and a constant hum of conversation and music in the background. It was far enough from Yale to feel like a different world, but still close enough that she could blend in among the students and locals who frequented the place.

She ordered a black coffee and settled into a corner table near the back, spreading out her laptop and notes. She had brought her proposal with her, thinking a different setting might help her gain a new perspective. But as the minutes ticked by, her thoughts wandered away from political theory and back to the weight that had been pressing down on her all morning.

The bell above the door chimed, and YN glanced up absently. Her gaze sharpened when she recognized Elizabeth stepping into the shop, her eyes scanning the room as if searching for an open seat. For a moment, YN considered looking away, pretending not to notice, but then Elizabeth's gaze found hers.

There was a brief pause, a flicker of surprise in Elizabeth's eyes, followed by a small smile. She made her way over to YN's table, her presence bringing a subtle shift in the air. "Mind if I join you?" she asked, gesturing to the empty chair across from YN.

"Go ahead," YN replied, keeping her tone casual, though her pulse quickened slightly.

Elizabeth set down her coffee and slipped into the chair, her eyes briefly flicking over the scattered notes and open laptop. "Taking a break from campus?"

"Something like that," YN said, leaning back in her seat. "The house was feeling a bit... suffocating."

Elizabeth nodded, looking down at her coffee for a moment as if considering her next words. "I get that," she said finally, glancing back up. "Sometimes you just need a change of scenery."

The silence that followed was filled with the ambient noise of the coffee shop—low conversations, the hiss of the espresso machine, and the clink of mugs. It felt different from their usual exchanges, less structured, as if they were both unsure how to navigate this setting. YN took a sip of her coffee, trying to fill the gap, but the quiet lingered for a moment longer.

"So," Elizabeth said, breaking the silence. "Working on the proposal?" She gestured toward YN's open laptop, her tone friendly but with a hint of formality that usually wasn't there outside the classroom.

"Trying to," YN replied with a small smile. "I thought a different environment might help, but I'm not sure it's working."

Elizabeth's lips quirked in amusement. "It's worth a shot," she said. "Sometimes getting out of your usual space can give you a new perspective... even if it's just a temporary fix."

YN nodded, and there was another brief pause, the kind that felt too deliberate to be entirely comfortable. She noticed Elizabeth's gaze drift toward her notes again, and suddenly felt a bit exposed, as if this setting made her less composed, less in control. She wasn't used to seeing Elizabeth outside of the academic world, where the boundaries were clear.