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LXIX: Flashback : His Hold on Me

Author: Maya East
last update Last Updated: 2025-02-04 23:27:32

I had never felt this awful before.

It had been a few days since that rainy night in my dorm, since that kiss—and I did everything to avoid Pascha desperately.

Whenever I saw him on campus, I would immediately turn around, look the other way, or pretend to be busy with my phone. When he walked into the library, I would close my book quickly and leave. Even in the cafeteria, when I was with my friends, I chose to sit in a corner far away from where he and his friends usually ate.

I couldn't face him.

Not just because the kiss had left me confused but because something had changed inside me since that night, something I didn't dare admit.

Jacob, my crush, who had felt like the safest place to be, suddenly felt... boring.

I don't understand. I shouldn't feel this way. Jacob is a good man, a stable man, a reasonable man. He's not a storm like Pascha. He didn't confuse me or make me want to run away, but also... he didn't make me feel anything.

I denied that.

I told myself that this was ju
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