a_gracia
One fateful late-night text was all it took to turn Zaer Paris's carefully curated college life into a full blown disaster comedy.
Zaer, a sophomore who's more comfortable hiding behind memes and iced coffee than actual human interaction, has spent months nursing a massive, hopeless crush on Rowan Hale-the school's notorious quarterback, campus heartthrob, and the guy who probably doesn't even know her name exists. (Unless that girl who once dropped her entire lunch tray in the quad counts as memorable.)
Her plan? Vent to her best friend in a gloriously unfiltered, zero chill rant about Rowan's latest Instagram story complete with dramatic emojis, questionable thirst metaphors, and the kind of detail only someone who's scrolled his profile at 2 a.m. could provide.
Except... she doesn't hit her best friend's contact.
She hits his.
Cue instant regret, phone tossing panic, and the world's fastest attempt to delete the evidence (spoiler: iMessage doesn't have a take backsies button). When Rowan's reply pops up-equal parts amused, confused, and way too flirty. Zaer's brain short-circuits. Now she's stuck in a chaotic chain of increasingly ridiculous texts, trying to play it cool while simultaneously dying inside.
What starts as damage control spirals into late night banter, accidental voice notes that reveal way too much, and a fake explanation that somehow lands her roped into helping Rowan with his image rehab after a viral team prank gone wrong. The more they talk, the more Zaer realizes the cocky quarterback might actually be kind of... sweet? Funny? Human?
But the closer they get, the higher the stakes. Because if Rowan ever figures out that first text was 100% real (and 100% about him), her mortification level will hit nuclear. And if her heart keeps racing every time his name lights up her screen... well, that's a whole different kind of disaster.