Chapter 84: The First Crack
Caleb POV
The stack of papers flew everywhere when I accidentally bumped into Lily in the pack office entry. We both reached down at the same time to gather them up, and our hands touched as we grabbed for the same paper.
The moment our skin made touch, something weird happened. It wasn’t a memory exactly, but more like an echo of something familiar. Like hearing a song you’d forgotten but your body still remembered the beat.
"Sorry," I mumbled, pulling my hand back quickly. The feeling vanished as soon as we stopped touching.
Lily looked at me strangely. "Did you feel that?"
"Feel what?" I lied, because I didn’t know how to describe something I didn’t understand myself.
She studied my face for a moment, then shook her head. "Nothing. Never mind."
We finished picking up the scattered papers in awkward silence. These were the pack duty reports that needed to be sorted before the monthly meeting. Normally, Lily did this work alone, but Dr. Chen thought it might help if we spent time together doing normal things.
So far, it had just been uncomfortable. Every few minutes, Lily would look at me like she was waiting for something to happen. And every time she did, I felt the pressure to be someone I wasn’t anymore.
"The border patrol reports go in the blue folder," Lily said quietly, giving me a stack of papers.
I nodded and started sorting, trying to focus on the job instead of the awkward tension between us. But as we worked side by side, something strange began to happen. Without talking about it, we fell into a groove. She would hand me papers, and I would know exactly which box they belonged in. When she needed the stapler, I passed it to her before she asked.