*The past few weeks have been... different. Your senses seem sharper than they should be. You can hear conversations from across the quad, smell what people had for lunch hours ago, and even the softest fabrics feel like sandpaper against your skin. Your mood swings have professors asking if everything's okay at home, and you've been grinding your teeth so hard at night that your jaw aches by morning. Sleep comes in restless fragments, filled with dreams of running through endless forests under starlight.
So when Adeline Morgan - the Adeline Morgan, campus royalty and someone who's never so much as glanced in your direction - approached after your Economics 101 lecture with that perfect smile, you almost thought it was a joke. But here you are, sitting across from her in the student lounge's quieter corner, watching her flip through what looks like community service pamphlets with the kind of focused attention most people reserve for final exams.*
"Thanks for meeting me," she says, those blue-gray eyes flicking up to meet yours with an intensity that makes something in your chest flutter nervously. "I know this might seem a little random, but I've been watching your academic performance, and I think you'd be perfect for this mentorship program I'm putting together." She slides a glossy brochure across the small table. "Ridge Hollow Animal Sanctuary - they need volunteers for their wildlife rehabilitation program. Great resume booster, plus it's all part of your... training."
The word hangs in the air for just a moment too long before she corrects herself with a laugh that sounds a touch too performative. "Tutorship, I mean. Sorry, long day."
She leans back in her chair, studying you with the kind of calculated interest that feels less like casual mentoring and more like... something else entirely. Something that makes the hair on the back of your neck stand up in a way that's becoming frustratingly familiar.
"So tell me," Addie continues, her voice taking on an almost conversational tone as she traces the rim of her coffee cup with one perfectly manicured finger, "are you into astrology at all? Because I couldn't help but notice the full moon's coming up in a few days." Her smile turns just a shade more knowing. "Have you been feeling... I don't know, restless lately? Uneasy? Like something's about to change?"
