1. Xenophobia is "the fear and hatred of strangers or foreigners or of anything that is strange/foreign to what one perceives as normal". Xenophobia is often connected to nationalism (e.g. believing one's nation is superior to others) and has been linked to discrimination/hate crimes, increased implicit bias, anti-immigration laws, and even war and genocide (e.g. the Holocaust). Today, Covid-19 has fueled anti-Asian xenophobia (ever heard someone call it the "China virus"?). Islamophobia - while it existed before the 9/11 attacks - has increased since that incident, and disproportionately impacts people who "look" Muslim (e.g. women who wear scarves). To combat internalized/implicit xenophobia, there are many things a person can do! Travel to different places (after the pandemic ends, please), actively interact with people of different cultures/religions/etc., and make a conscious effort to identify xenophobia in day-to-day life (be it one's own xenophobic thoughts or xenophobic actions committed/words said by someone else - and call them out on it!). (This information is condensed from a post on xenophobia by soyouwanttotalkabout on Instagram!)

I am about to start college... I do not like thinking about this. It's very nerve-wracking. And my classes are basically all online, so I'm worried I'm going to struggle learning virtually, too. But I'll get through it! It's definitely better than dying from the virus, lol. (If y'all wanna give me some tips to survive college, I would not be opposed.) Anyways! Idk if you guys noticed, but my chapter titles degrade in quality with each new chapter lmao. But I hope you enjoy this update nonetheless! :)

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Callum: are you sure you don't want me to pick you up? I'll be passing by your dorm anyways on the way there

Rayla: nah it's really fine. nbd. see you soon!

Rayla: (if i'm late tell Sonya i'm sorry lol)

She wouldn't be late if she caught a ride with him, Callum wanted to point out, but he refrained. Being snippy would get him nowhere.

Callum: of course. see you there

He sighed as he put his phone away. He and Rayla were meeting Sonya at a local halal restaurant for an early dinner to discuss their project for Renaissance History, with mid-afternoon chosen as the time so it wouldn't clash with Sonya's daily prayers. That morning, he and his girlfriend had made plans to drive there together, but less than five minutes ago - completely out of the blue - she'd informed him she was getting a ride from Claudia instead. He didn't understand what part her schedule had changed, but he also didn't want to start an argument with her, so he let it be, even though the real reason he'd wanted to drive her was so he could show her his finished work he was submitting for the fall art showcase.

He supposed he could always show her some other time.

'Show her some other time.' That was the only thing he was telling himself these days, wasn't it? The same excuse, the same dull reassurance.

Regardless, it was disappointing. To say the least.

Rayla had been acting… distant the past few days. If he really tried to put a date to it, probably ever since she'd sprained her finger. At first he thought her distance was just a result of residual embarrassment about her injury and not wanting to continue being so vulnerable around him and their friends, which was understandable and he didn't blame her for that. But now… he wasn't so sure. She'd brushed him off several times since then and had even cancelled a movie date they'd had planned for Monday evening as a way to distract her from the football practice she would be missing. That had really caught his attention, because she'd both picked out the movie and bought the tickets for it.

Callum was just… worried about her.

Obviously he didn't think she was cheating or something asinine like that. In fact, he was all but certain that her distance and secretive behavior was related to her injury. He just didn't know how.

He'd tried asking Soren and Felix, but neither of them seemed to have any idea what he was talking about. Callum had temporarily considered the possibility that Felix was merely acting clueless, since he knew Felix was in a theatre elective for his art credit, but considering that Soren couldn't lie to save his life, he figured they were both being honest about their… erm, lack of knowledge.

Claudia, however, was a different story.

He and Claudia told each other everything. They always had. The only person Callum was more open with than her was Ezran - Rayla was at that same level, too, or so he'd thought until now - and even then he'd argue it was pretty close between his half-brother and pseudo-sister. As a result, Callum could tell when she was hiding something from him.

And Claudia was definitely hiding something from him. Anytime he brought up Rayla in conversation, she'd laugh her slightly-too-high-pitched laugh that he knew meant she was avoiding whatever topic had been at hand before she quickly changed the subject. It was almost funny - for someone who loved theatre as much as she did and was seriously good at it, Claudia was a pretty terrible liar. Or, to give her credit where it was due, maybe Callum just knew her too well to be fooled.

At one point he thought he'd finally convinced her to spill whatever was going on with Rayla, but then she'd balked, instead telling him that if Rayla hadn't told him herself what was happening, then she didn't feel it was her place to do so, either. Claudia proceeded to immediately reassure him that Rayla was fine and the fact that she hadn't said anything to him yet probably meant it wasn't a big deal.

Still. How could he not worry?

Callum arrived at the restaurant seven minutes after four, and he internally chastised himself for being late. He shouldn't have let his concern for Rayla - likely unnecessary concern, for that matter - distract him from his academics, especially because other people were depending on him.

Sure enough, Sonya was already sitting at a corner booth inside, three glasses resting on the table in front of her.

"As-Salaam-Alaikum," Callum said when he arrived, placing a hand flat on his chest and praying he wasn't bungling the pronunciation. He'd practiced with a recording multiple times to make sure he was getting it right, and at one point he'd even sent it to Ezran - who'd always had a knack for languages - to get his opinion on the matter.

Sonya appeared surprised at his greeting, and Callum had to wonder if he'd screwed it up somehow. Then a tiny smile twitched at the corners of her lips, and he could feel some of the knots of tension in his body uncoiling. "Wa-Alaikum-Salaam," she replied, tilting her head towards him. "Thank you."

Callum could only nod in response, relieved that he hadn't embarrassed himself in front of her or - much worse - accidentally been disrespectful.

"I went ahead and got us all water," she said as he sat down across from her on the other side of the booth. "I hope that's okay."

"Oh, yeah, that's fine," Callum reassured her as he took off his satchel and placed it beside him on the seat. "Also, I am so sorry that I'm late. I was doing a philosophy assignment" - a lie, unless worrying about his girlfriend and questioning her motives could be considered equivalent to philosophical thought - "and Rayla said she'll probably be late, too, so -"

"Don't worry about it," Sonya said dismissively, taking a sip of her water. "I haven't been waiting long."

Callum noticed she still wore a black ring on her right middle finger. That and her pink hijab seemed to be the two staples of her attire, as she was now wearing a simple navy blue sweater and jeans instead of the more dark, punk aesthetic she'd presented the last time he'd seen her in class.

Callum started to ask her some general pleasantries about how she was doing and what she'd been up to since they'd last spoken over text, but he was interrupted by his phone buzzing loudly before he could get more than one or two words out.

Rayla: on my way! like 6 minutes eta? but no pressure to wait up

"Rayla's almost here," he passed on to Sonya, who obviously - well, hopefully - couldn't read his messages from where she sat. "She's only about five minutes away, so do we want to wait for her before we start going over more of our project, or…?"

Sonya shrugged. "Waiting works for me. I trust our ability to be productive, even with less time."

Callum nodded and quickly texted Rayla that they'd wait for her before he set his phone down. The silence that followed was… a little awkward, he couldn't lie. He wasn't great at starting conversations, and Sonya already seemed to be a bit more closed off than the average person. She was nice, of course, she just… didn't talk about herself much. And he didn't want to pressure her or make her feel like she had no choice but to tell him her life story.

"So," he began, fiddling with the straw in his water. "Did you have a good weekend?" A boring question, but at least not a weird, overly-personal one.

"It was alright," Sonya answered with a noncommittal shrug. "I spend most of it studying for midterms and working on our project."

Right. 90% of the school had used most of the weekend to study, himself included. Duh.

"But I did catch some of the game, though. Like I mentioned when we were texting. You never told me what happened when Rayla was taken off the field early." She raised an eyebrow at him. "Is she okay?"

Callum silently cursed, because he'd totally forgotten about answering her text. "Right. I'm sorry about that. Yes, Rayla is fine. The doctor said she just has a light sprain in her finger and that she could be back to normal by the end of the week if she doesn't use her hand too much and risk overextending it."

"No need to apologize." She gave him a small smile. "I imagine you prioritized taking care of her over answering my text. Completely understandable. But I'm glad to hear she's okay."

"Yep!"

There was another awkward pause. Callum found himself wishing that Claudia would just break a few speed limit laws and get Rayla there already. His girlfriend was far better at keeping conversations flowing smoothly than he was.

"I noticed you carry a sketchbook around with you," Sonya offered. "Are you an art major?"

Callum tried not to show how relieved he was that she'd broken the silence. "Art minor, actually. I've had this sketchbook since I was a kid." In fact, he was nearing the final fifth or sixth fraction of the blank pages, but he didn't really want to think about that just yet.

Sonya laughed. "Ah, the nostalgia factor of studying art. I know how that feels." She smiled at him, and Callum found himself wondering if this was the first time he'd ever seen that expression on her. A full, genuine smile, not a - a smirk or a half-smile or something along those lines. "You know, I actually started at KSU as an art major."

Callum blinked in surprise. "Wait, really?"

"Yep," she said, popping the 'p'. "And then I switched majors maybe a month into my freshman year. Probably less."

Callum didn't know what had sparked her sudden openness about herself, but he realized he didn't mind in the slightest. Though he was silently thanking the universe that the subject she'd chosen to talk about was art-related. "Really? What made you change?"

Sonya's nose wrinkled with distaste. "I couldn't stand the… academia of it. Don't get me wrong, I love learning about the history of art and new artistic techniques and mediums, but something about the classroom setting made it too… confined for me." She glanced up at him, having previously been examining and picking at her fingernails, which Callum noticed were expertly painted to match her pink hijab. "Does that make sense?"

Callum nodded, possibly a little too eagerly. Not that he could bring himself to care. "Yes, definitely. I went through like seven art teachers as a kid before my dad - you probably know him, Professor Harrow - gave up and just made sure I had the tools I needed to learn on my own. Like my sketchbook." A long-internalized resistance to art academia was one of the reasons he was - for now - only minoring in the subject.

"Exactly," Sonya affirmed. "Art should be about freedom, not a letter on a transcript." She then paused, raising an eyebrow at him. "And I have to be honest - I didn't know Professor Harrow was your father. You don't exactly -"

"Look like him?" Callum finished with a wry smile. "Yeah, I get that a lot."

Sonya held up her hands in mock-surrender. "Fair enough. Who am I to judge?" She took another sip of her water. "Anyways. Art minor. You planning to submit a piece for the fall art showcase?"

Callum was pretty sure his eyes lit up like a kid getting their birthday presents at her question. "Yes, actually!" He hesitated before asking tentatively, "Do you - er, would you like to see it?"

Sonya chuckled. "I'd love to."

He pulled out his phone, scrolling through his recent photos to find the picture he'd taken of his stadium-Colosseum fusion. "I don't have a title yet," he admitted as he handed his phone to her, "but I'm still pretty proud of it. I think it's one of my best works yet."

"Firstly, you can be proud of anything you create simply because you made it. You put your heart into your work and that's enough reason to be proud," Sonya pointed out. "But second" - she gestured to the picture he was showing her, a small smirk sliding on her lips - "that piece is absolutely incredible, and you should be very proud of it." She learned forward to zoom in on a section where the Colosseum's wall was crumbling. "Fantastic job on the shading here. It gives the destruction so much depth, reminding the viewer just how old the building is."

Callum could feel himself blushing at her praise, and he did his best to not show how he was freaking out on the inside. That'd be embarrassing, especially because Sonya seemed so cool and collected. "Thank you! That part required a lot of practice sketches and do-overs."

"The best things tend to."

Callum hesitated before he asked his next question, unsure if he was getting too familiar with her, but forced himself to push aside that nagging voice of cowardice in his mind. "Do you still do art on your own time? Even though you don't study it anymore?"

Sonya nodded. "Oh, yeah. Most definitely." She twisted her ring before smirking at him. "And yes, I promise I'll show you some of my work. Another time."

Callum laughed as he tried to hide his mild panic because how on Earth had she known he was going to ask that?! "Awesome. I look forward to it."

Just then, his phone buzzed with a text informing him that Rayla had arrived, and sure enough she entered the restaurant a few seconds later. Upon spotting their table, she quickly walked over to them and slid into the booth beside Callum.

"Sorry I'm late," she apologized. Callum noticed that her face had a pink tint to it, and tiny beads of sweat decorated her forehead, beads which were only visible because she had her hair tied up in a bun. "Soren tried to take a shortcut on the way here, but all it did was get us turned around, so we ended up having to circle back."

Callum frowned. Soren? He thought Claudia was the one who'd given her a ride.

"Don't worry about it," Sonya said with a dismissive wave of her hand. "We weren't waiting long. Callum and I passed the time by talking about art, anyways, and he showed me the piece he's submitting to the fall art showcase. It's incredible. You must be very excited on his behalf."

Uh oh.

Callum felt his entire body tense up at her words, and he glanced at Rayla out of the corner of his eye just in time to see hurt and confusion flicker across her face for the briefest of seconds.

"Oh. Yes! Yes, absolutely." Her cheery tone was obviously forced. Or so it sounded to him. "That's - That's really great! I'm glad you guys found something in common to… chat about while you waited for me."

God, now he felt so guilty. He hadn't meant to not show Rayla his finished project. The chance had just never come up! And it had also absolutely not helped that she'd constantly brushed him off the past few days, so part of the situation could be considered her fault, too. Ultimately, they were both responsible. Or maybe he was just trying to make himself feel better.

But she'd understand, right? It was Rayla, after all. Things would work out.

"Anyways," Rayla continued, her smile tighter than usual, "why waste time? Let's start going over our project, shall we?"

And so they did, only stopping twice, first to order their food and second to thank the waitress when she brought it over.

Callum had examined the development of humanism and individualism during the Italian Renaissance, while Sonya had studied the same through the Northern Renaissance and Rayla the English one. All in all, their project was progressing along nicely.

The purpose of their meeting that day had been to begin drafting their presentation, so they created a detailed outline of the information they wanted to include in what order, as well as figured out how to get their respective topics and sections to best flow together. Rayla ended up volunteering to write the speaking portions, and Callum agreed to put the PowerPoint together. Sonya offered to help both of them wherever they needed. Normally Callum would have suspected that type of suggestion to be one where it sounded like the person would be assisting but wouldn't actually end up doing anything, but with Sonya, he had a feeling she'd go above and beyond to help them. Her notes had been the most detailed, after all, though Rayla's had contained the most precise analysis.

Not that he'd told his girlfriend that.

The air was definitely… tense between himself and Rayla. Callum had no doubt that Sonya noticed, but he was thankful that she didn't comment. He mostly felt bad she had to witness it.

He could tell that Rayla was upset he hadn't shown her his piece for the fall art showcase. And he understood why! She'd been one of his primary supporters as he'd worked on it, second to maybe Harrow and Ezran, even as he'd refused to let anyone - her included - see the picture while it was still a work in progress. Not to mention he'd promised her that she'd be one of the first people he showed when it was finished.

And then she hadn't been.

But he himself was also feeling a bit frustrated with his girlfriend's evasive, inconsistent behavior over the past few days. She was definitely hiding something from him. Lying about getting a ride with Claudia, cancelling plans last minute - he didn't know whether to be angry with her or worried. Which was probably why he was both.

They needed to talk.

God. Poor Sonya, having to put up with their silent feud. He owed her big time.

"I'm really pleased with everything we've gotten done so far," Sonya said as they split the bill, each making sure to chip in for their waitress's tip, too. "My cousin Samirah says her group is still yet to finish even getting their necessary information together." She rolled her eyes. "Which is her own fault for partnering with Alex and Magnus. I warned her not to."

"Do you normally work in a group with them?" Callum found himself asking.

Sonya nodded, drinking the last of her water. "Not always, but often. I love them to death, don't get me wrong, but I didn't trust them for something as important as a midterm." She clicked her tongue, then corrected herself. "Let me rephrase: I don't trust Magnus."

"Why did you choose to work with us?" Rayla asked after a pause. Her voice was hesitant - a tone Callum didn't often hear from her. "I mean, we aren't exactly… you know. The most popular kids in class."

Sonya sighed. "Maybe not. But everyone in our class who looks down on you is a complete fool, blinded by their bigotry and some twisted sense of self-righteousness, as I'm sure you know." She twisted her ring around her finger. Callum was starting to pick up on that action as something she did when she was thinking. "The main reason I wanted to partner with you two is because your work is always some of the best in our class. This time, I was determined to be part of a group that I knew would be as dedicated to the project as I was, since the midterm is such an important grade. But also…" She chewed her bottom lip, then shrugged helplessly. "Ugh. I don't know, really. I guess I just got tired of people whispering about you behind your back."

"Oh," Rayla said, touched. There was a softness to her smile that followed. "That's really kind, Sonya."

Sonya snorted. "Don't give me too much credit. It still took me until early October to work up the nerve. But…" She reached up, almost subconsciously, to finger the edge of her hijab that fell around her collarbone. "I guess I just felt like I understood what you were going through, at least to some extent. Especially you, Rayla." She gave them both a wry smile. "I've had my hijab torn off before. Been called a terrorist once or twice." She snorted. "That's why I don't like public transport. I have also been accused of 'subjugating' myself to men because I choose to wear a hijab." She shook her head. "I suppose some people cannot and will never understand that other cultures and religions exist outside of their own."

Callum knew it wasn't his place to speak on this subject. Not that he would have known what to say even if he could. Really, all he wanted to do was pull the both of them into a giant group hug, but instinct told him that now was not the time. He also wasn't sure if Sonya would even be okay with him hugging her, and he didn't want to overstep.

"I'm sorry you've had to go through that," Rayla said softly. "But… I appreciate you telling me." She tilted her head, giving Sonya a small smile. "Maybe this is a depressing perspective, but it's kinda nice to have someone who gets it."

Sonya chuckled, returning her smile. "Agreed."

The heartfelt moment was promptly shattered by Callum's phone buzzing loudly. "Oh my God, I'm so sorry," he said, feeling absolutely mortified as he grabbed his phone to see who'd texted him. He thought he'd put it on 'do not disturb', but apparently not. "I feel like I've interrupted the emotional climax of a movie."

Both of them burst out laughing at his comment. Rayla's laugh was especially nice to hear. It felt like he hadn't heard her laugh so freely in ages.

"You're fine," Sonya reassured him. "But you should probably answer whoever that was."

Callum nodded, still embarrassed, and turned his attention to his phone.

Claudia: are you and rayla on your way back yet?

Claudia: i forgot about an online calc assignment due tonight!

Claudia: and if i forgot

Claudia: rayla DEFINITELY forgot

Callum had to bite back a laugh at her messages, and he lifted his head to turn and face his girlfriend. "So… Claudia says you guys have some kind of calc assignment due tonight that she forgot about?"

Rayla's eyes widened, and she pulled her own phone out of her back pocket to pull up her assignment calendar. "Oh, you've got to be kidding me. I hate Dr. Harsch."

Sonya chuckled as she watched Rayla jam her phone back into her pocket. "I take it we're about to have to go our separate ways."

"Yes. I'm so sorry," Rayla said as she slid out of the booth. Callum noticed her wince as her buddy-taped fingers hit the edge of the table. "Stupid calculus class. I should have listened to Ethari and taken an AP math in high school so I'd have all my STEM credits already."

They said their goodbyes to Sonya, promising to text daily in the group chat to make sure progress on their presentation continued as planned. Then they split up, Callum leading Rayla to his car while Sonya headed the opposite direction down the sidewalk.

The drive to the girls' dorms consisted mostly of Rayla texting Claudia about their calculus assignment while simultaneously complaining to Callum about how irritated she was with their professor. "All of my other classes will send out a Remind or an email about stuff like this! But no, not Dr. Harsch. He just wants to see us suffer." She sighed. "I'm being unfair. He's not even the worst teacher. He's just bad with technology."

"Yeah, I've heard a few horror stories about him not alerting students about their assignments," Callum said as he turned left onto the road that would take them to the dorms' parking lot. "Makes me even more grateful that I tested out of intro-level calc."

"Uh huh. Mr. 'I took a bajillion AP classes'." He couldn't look to see her face because he was driving, but he knew she was smirking at him. "No need to rub it in. I know I am but a mere peasant to you."

"Hey, I can't that help that - shit!" Callum slammed on the brakes as someone sprinted across the road in front of his car, narrowly avoiding getting hit. "Jesus Christ, what an idiot!"

Rayla had thrown her arm out onto the dash to brace herself, and was now wincing and cradling her injured fingers. "Ow," she muttered, flexing her hand and grimacing. "That was not the brightest idea on my part."

Callum quickly pulled into the dorm parking lot, turning awkwardly between a set of painted white lines and not really caring that his car was crooked. He proceeded to nearly sprain his own finger in his haste to unbuckle and check on his girlfriend. "Are you okay? I'm so sorry, I didn't see them coming -"

"You're fine," Rayla interrupted gently. "No need to apologize." She slowly flexed her hand again, still wincing slightly.

"Are you sure you're okay?" he asked worriedly, reaching out to touch her shoulder. He tried not to let the hurt show on his face as she pulled away.

"Yeah. It's no big deal." She managed a laugh, as if trying to ease the tension. "Honestly, I almost did something way worse to it earlier."

Callum frowned. "What? How could you have - What were you…" He trailed off, eyes widening as the puzzle pieces finally fell into place.

Soren driving her to the restaurant.

Her hair being tied up. The sweat on her forehead.

Why Claudia was being so evasive.

"You've been going to football practice."

Rayla froze, and he knew he'd hit the nail on the head. "I don't know what -"

"Seriously, Rayla?!" He leaned back into the headrest of his seat, running a hand through his hair in frustration. "No wonder you haven't been able to look me in the eyes lately. It also explains why you've cancelled literally all of our plans the past few days!" He bit back an aggravated sigh. "You promised me that you wouldn't go back to practice until your hand was ready."

"But I am ready!" Rayla protested. "And I technically didn't promise you anything other than that I would try to follow your advice. Besides, I can't let something this small get in my way. I'd just be letting the team down -"

"I said you should go back when your body was ready, Rayla," Callum interrupted, trying not to snap at her. "I know your mind wants you back in the action as soon as possible, but you have to let yourself heal first. You're not letting the team down by taking some time off to get better!"

"See, this is why I didn't tell you," Rayla said, glaring at him. "I knew you wouldn't understand."

"No, no. I just -"

"I also knew you'd overreact, which is exactly what you're doing right now," she continued, not letting him finish. "I'm fine, Callum. I know my own limits!"

Callum had to bite back a scathing comment that he knew he'd regret later. "Rayla, it's not that I don't think you know your own limits. You are completely capable of taking care of yourself, but -"

"No 'buts'!" Rayla snapped. "Just - Just stop there, alright? That should be a complete statement! I am an adult, and I can take care of myself. No qualifiers needed."

Callum's jaw clenched. "Okay, fine. Yes, Rayla, you can take care of yourself. But half of the time you'll also readily prioritize everything else above your own well-being! So I don't think my concern here is as unjustified as you're making it out to be!"

"'Concern'? Really? It's kind of difficult to pass off your constant nagging about my barely-sprained finger as 'concern', so if I were you, I would stop trying. You aren't fooling anyone."

"It's not my fault you've been acting super sketchy about this!" he said accusingly. "If you had just been honest with me from the start that you wanted to go back to practice, then maybe I wouldn't have - I wouldn't have felt like -" He faltered, his fists clenching. "Argh, I don't know! Maybe I wouldn't have felt like I couldn't trust you!"

Rayla scoffed, rolling her eyes. "Oh, right. Let's talk about trust, shall we, Mr. I'm-so-High-and-Mighty?" She unbuckled her seatbelt with her non-injured hand, jerking it so hard that the metal piece slammed against the car door. "You told - no, no, you showed Sonya your finished piece for the art showcase before you even let me know that it was done. Claudia, I understand. Even Soren. But Sonya? She's a lovely person, don't get me wrong, but the fact that she's someone you barely know? And you decided to show her before me?" She shook her head, hurt flickering across her face once more. "Yeah. So much for me being one of the first people you showed, huh? So glad to know I can trust you."

'Trust' was drenched with sharp, bitter venom, and a wave of guilt washed over Callum that dulled his anger to become a sense of vague frustration and utter helplessness. "Rayla, I'm sorry. I - I meant to tell you, but you've been so distant the past few days, and it just never came up -"

"I've been so 'distant', as you put it, because I knew all of this was going to end in some stupid argument! And I was right! I just - I can't deal with - ugh!" She ran her uninjured hand through her hair, which had started to fall free from her bun. "Whatever. I'm done." She shoved open the passenger door before grabbing her bag and notes from the floor of the car.

Callum didn't know what to do. Beg her to stay so they could talk it out? Shout 'Fine!' and wait for her to walk away? Try to stall until a better idea occurred to him? "Rayla…"

His indecision cost him. Hesitation flickered in Rayla's eyes as he said her name, but when only silence followed, her gaze hardened.

"Goodbye, Callum. Claudia's waiting for me."

And with that, she shut the door. Callum could only watch as she disappeared up the stairs and into her dorm, leaving him with nothing but his thoughts and a nauseating anxiety that kept turning over in his stomach.

His phone then buzzed, providing a much-needed distraction at that moment. It was a notification from Instagram - Sonya J. had accepted his follow request. Maybe that could be interpreted as a silver lining to his otherwise completely miserable past few minutes?

He and Rayla would be okay, he tried to reassure himself as he turned his phone off. It was a fight, yes. But one fight was no big deal. All couples fought. They could work things out, no problem.

Couldn't they?

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Chapter titles don't lie! Writing their argument was... so much fun lmao. Even happy and healthy couples can fight, especially young couples who are new to a relationship! But I'm sure they'll work things out. Probably. Hopefully. :) And shoutout to Sonya, just sitting there in the booth having to deal with these kids like "well there is clearly some tension here, kind of an unspoken argument going on. but as long as it's not interfering with our project, it's none of my business" lmfao. Thank you for reading!