Between Hearts

Chapter 1 : Between the lines

Elyra stood at the edge of the quad, the cool autumn breeze sweeping through her hair as she adjusted the lens of her camera. The campus was alive with students hurrying to and from classes, laughter and chatter filling the air. Yet, despite the noise, Elyra felt strangely detached, as though the world existed behind the viewfinder of her camera, and she was merely an observer.

She snapped a photo of the towering oak trees that lined the walkway, their leaves a fiery blend of oranges and reds. Photography was her escape, her way of freezing the world in moments of beauty that no one else seemed to notice. For as long as she could remember, the camera had been her constant companion, a silent witness to the parts of her life she wasn’t ready to face.

She adjusted her focus, this time zooming in on a couple sitting on one of the benches, their fingers interlaced as they laughed together. It was a simple moment, but one that stirred something deep inside her. She clicked the shutter, capturing the intimacy of the scene before lowering the camera with a sigh.

Love, it seemed, was all around her. It was in the air she breathed, the smiles exchanged between strangers, the unspoken connections lingering in the spaces between people. Yet, for all its presence, love felt elusive, distant—just out of her reach.

“Elyra!”

The sound of her name pulled her from her thoughts. She lowered her camera just in time to see Caelum jogging toward her, his tousled dark hair catching the light. His familiar grin, the one that always seemed to melt away her worries, lit up his face. There was something comforting in the way he moved, like gravity held him a little closer to the earth than the rest of them.

“Did you catch any good shots?” Caelum asked, slightly out of breath as he came to a stop in front of her. He glanced at her camera with an easy smile, his deep blue eyes filled with the kind of warmth that made Elyra’s heart twist in ways she didn’t fully understand.

“Just the usual,” she said, shrugging. “Trees, people, the random squirrel that thinks it’s a model.”

Caelum chuckled, nudging her shoulder lightly. “You’ve got a gift, El. You see the world differently.”

Elyra rolled her eyes playfully but couldn’t help the small smile that tugged at her lips. Caelum always had a way of making her feel seen, like she wasn’t just another face in the crowd. They had been friends for as long as she could remember, inseparable since childhood. But lately, something about their friendship felt different. There were moments when his touches lingered just a bit too long, when his gaze held something deeper than casual affection. Moments that left her questioning everything.

“You sure you’re not gonna be famous one day?” Caelum teased. “You’ll be at some fancy New York exhibit and forget all about us small-town folks.”

Elyra laughed lightly, shaking her head. “As if. I’ll be lucky if I graduate without my GPA tanking.”

“You? Fail? Impossible. But if you ever do, I’ll be there to pick you up,” Caelum said, his voice softening slightly. “You know I’ve always got your back, right?”

The sincerity in his tone caught her off guard. Elyra met his gaze, something unspoken hanging between them. For a moment world seemed to pause, the sounds of campus fading into the background. She could feel the weight of everything they weren’t saying—everything they had been avoiding for months now.

“Yeah,” she said quietly, her throat tight. “I know.”

Caelum smiled, but it didn’t reach his eyes. He glanced at his watch, suddenly looking a little more anxious. “I’ve gotta head to Lit class, but… can we talk later? I feel like we haven’t really talked in a while.”