What We Carry

Maya Patel has always been a fighter-quick-witted, sharp-tongued, and just a little addicted to raising her hand in class debates. Starting her first semester at college, she's determined to prove herself, even if it means making a few enemies along the way.

Enter Eli Caldwell: brilliant, maddening, and every bit her intellectual equal. Their first clash in an ethics seminar leaves sparks-and not just academic ones. What begins as verbal sparring turns into something deeper, a tension neither of them can ignore.

But Maya's world isn't just late-night arguments and stolen glances. There's Leila, her sarcastic but loyal roommate, and a circle of friends who start to feel like the family she didn't know she was missing. Together, they navigate messy dorm life, identity, ambition, and the burden of expectations-discovering that what we carry isn't just books and deadlines, but fears, dreams, and each other.

Tender, funny, and real, What We Carry is a college romance about rivalry and connection, about finding your people, and about the risks we take when we let someone in.