Chapter 1 The Petal Moment

There were cherry blossoms blooming in the wrong season.

Evelyn noticed them first on a Tuesday. A light drizzle tapped gently against the library windows, and students rushed past the quad with hoodies over their heads, shoulders hunched against the weather. But there, at the center of the old stone courtyard-a single tree was in full bloom.

Not pink. Not white.

Crimson.

She paused under the archway, clutching her books against her chest. Crimson petals drifted in the air like drops of blood caught in slow motion. Her breath caught, and for a moment, she felt... dizzy.

A flicker of something. A sound that wasn't there. A whisper that didn't quite form words.

She blinked.

Then he walked by.

Victor Adu-Fei.

Golden. Effortless. The boy who looked like he'd stepped out of a glossy school magazine. Hair tousled in just the right way. White button-down rolled to his forearms. A messenger bag slung carelessly over one shoulder. And a smile-God, that smile-half-formed, but enough to make the air thicken around him.

He walked through the drifting petals without seeing her.

But then he stopped.

Right under the tree.

And looked back.

Evelyn flinched as their eyes met-unmistakably, impossibly-and the moment broke something inside her chest. Like she was being seen and forgotten at the same time.

Victor's brow twitched, just slightly. Then he looked up at the blossoms, confused, maybe even disturbed. A second later, someone called his name from across the quad, and he turned toward the sound.

Gone.

Evelyn stared at the place where he'd stood. Something about him felt... wrong.

No-not wrong. Familiar.

And she had no idea why.

That night, Evelyn couldn't sleep.

She lay on her bed in Monroe Hall, her roommates whispering on the other side of the room, but their words washed over her like static. Her mind played the moment over and over-the way Victor had looked back. The slight frown. The hesitation. The connection.

She'd seen him before. Of course she had. Everyone on campus knew Victor Adu-Fei. He was student council president, award-winning pianist, part-time debate legend, and probably someone's dream husband already. But that wasn't what haunted her.

It was that in the moment their eyes met, she knew him.

And worse-she felt like he knew her too.

Her phone buzzed. A message from her best friend, Lina.

Lina: "You okay? You went quiet after lit class."

Evelyn stared at the screen, then typed:

Evelyn: "Do you believe in soulmates?"

Lina: "👀 Girl, what happened."

Evelyn: "Nothing. Just... I saw something today. Someone."

Lina: "Was he hot or haunting?"

Evelyn: "Both."

Victor couldn't focus the next morning.

He sat in his Fundamentals of Design class, pencil frozen above the page, staring at a rough sketch of interlocking arches. Professor Nwosu droned on about ancient symmetry, but Victor's mind kept drifting.

To her.

He didn't even know her name.

But the image of her-long lashes shadowing wide brown eyes, books clutched like armor, lips slightly parted in confusion-lingered like smoke in his head.

And those blossoms.

They weren't supposed to bloom this time of year. He'd walked through that quad every morning for two years. He knew every corner of that campus like the veins on his palm. There had never been a crimson-blossomed cherry tree.

Until yesterday.

His phone vibrated softly. A message from his cousin, Jide:

Jide: "That History of Myth class open this semester. You joining or nah?"

Victor didn't reply. Instead, he opened his notes app and typed three words:

Crimson cherry blossoms.

He stared at them for a long time.

Later that week, fate-or something disturbingly like it-struck again.

Evelyn was helping Professor Iloba catalogue first editions in the Humanities Archive. Dusty volumes lined the narrow shelves, and she carefully entered each record into the departmental laptop. She liked this job. It was quiet. Predictable.

Safe.

"Hey," a voice said behind her.

Her heart leapt.

She turned.

Victor Adu-Fei stood there, holding a hardcover book with faint gold embossing.

"This goes in the special collection," he said, extending the book.

She blinked. "You... you volunteer here?"

He smiled. "I just started today. Needed some quiet time, I guess."

Of course he did. Even his reasons were perfect.

She took the book, trying to hide the slight tremor in her fingers. "Room two. Far shelf. Coded by myth origin."

He tilted his head. "You always this helpful?"

"Only when I'm being watched," she said softly, then bit the inside of her cheek.

Victor laughed-low, genuine.

"You're Evelyn, right?" he said.

She stared. "How do you know that?"

He hesitated. "I... don't know."

A pause. Then: "Have we met before?"

She didn't know whether to lie or tell the truth she didn't understand.

"Maybe in another life," she whispered, almost to herself.

Victor blinked.

Outside the tall arched window, a single crimson petal drifted past.