Unexpected Love [GXG]

POV: ENID

I always found comfort in corners. The kind of corners no one really paid attention to—like the one tucked behind the history section in the school library, a place I've never been to until today.

It was quiet, a little dusty, and far enough from everything that I could finally breathe.

That afternoon, I just needed to disappear. From my thoughts. From the whispers.

From her.

But even when I hid, she always found me.

I sat curled up in an old armchair, my legs folded under me, clutching Last Night at the Telegraph Club. I didn’t really mean to pick it—it sort of… called out to me. Maybe because it felt a little too close to home.

Maybe because I wanted to feel seen without having to say anything out loud.

I kept rereading the same paragraph over and over again, not because I didn’t understand it, but because it hit something deep in me.

She didn’t know what to call what she felt. Just that it filled her up and emptied her out at the same time.

Yeah. That.

I didn’t notice her right away. Just the sound of steady footsteps cutting through the silence. Confident. Familiar. I knew it before she even spoke.

Even when I hid, she always found me.

"I figured I’d find you here," Olivia said.

My spine tensed instantly. I didn’t look up. I pretended to be immersed in the book, even though the words had already stopped making sense.

"Running away again, Nini?"

The nickname made something in me flinch, but I kept my eyes on the page, hoping she’d leave if I didn’t feed the moment.

"You read sapphic love stories in hidden corners now?" Her voice was lighter—teasing—but it didn’t have the usual sting. More… curious.

I shut the book gently, hugging it to my chest like it was some kind of shield. "I like the writing," I said, my voice barely above a whisper.

"I bet you do," she replied.

I looked up then. Just for a second. Her eyes were soft, like she hadn’t come to pick a fight—like maybe she understood. Which, honestly, made it harder.

"I just needed quiet," I said.

"You sure that’s all?" she asked, and when I didn’t respond, she sat down in the chair across from me. Just like that.

Like I hadn’t been trying to avoid her since Monday.

Like we hadn’t shared something we both couldn’t name.

"I’ve been trying to talk to you," she added after a pause. "You keep disappearing like I’m some disease."

I rolled my eyes. "You said it, not me."

She actually laughed at that, and I hated how warm it made me feel.

"I miss talking to you," Olivia said, and suddenly, everything in me stilled.

I didn’t know how to answer. So I didn’t.

"It was easier before that night," I mumbled, mostly to myself.

"I know," she said, quietly. "But I don’t regret it."

I looked down at the book in my lap again, tracing my finger along the spine.