Chapter 6: Room for Two
The dorm hallway smelled like laundry detergent and someone else’s dinner.
Luca pushed open the door to his shared room, letting it swing shut behind him with a soft click.
Noel wasn’t there.
The bed on the left was untouched, perfectly made like some showroom display.
A stack of books leaned against the wall beside it, arranged by height. A small desk lamp sat in the corner, switched off. Neat, quiet, and borderline suspicious.
Luca peeled off his jacket and tossed it onto his own bed—the one with the wrinkled sheets and yesterday’s hoodie still balled up at the noel chair.
He lingered at the small table wedged between his bed and the window. Unlike Noel’s, his was bare.
Just a laptop, a phone charger, and a forgotten energy drink can. He pulled the chair out with a foot and dropped into it.
A beat passed.
Then another.
He reached for his earbuds, pushed one in, then the other. The familiar ding of connection, and then the music kicked in—bass-heavy, chaotic, the kind that filled the space in your chest when silence started whispering too loud.