Chapter 8 This Isn't Goodbye... Yet

Art Exhibit Hall, Rosewood University

The student showcase was buzzing. Music played softly in the background, champagne glasses clinked, and everyone looked like they had somewhere important to be even if it was just the other side of the gallery.

Mikey stood near the center, eyes glued to his canvas hanging on the far wall. It was a portrait charcoal and pastel the outline of a girl's face in profile, half turned, half hidden. Her eyes were detailed. Focused. Unapologetically hers.

Only Crizzle would recognize herself in it.

"You didn't tell me you were submitting that one," her voice came from beside him.

Mikey turned. She looked stunning black jumpsuit, minimal makeup, a red tint on her lips that made it very hard to look away. But it was the look in her eyes that got him. Something close to awe, with a hint of confusion.

"I wasn't sure I would," he said. "But then I figured... why not?"

Crizzle stared at the piece. "You drew me from memory?"

He nodded slowly. "I've drawn you a hundred times in my head."

She didn't say anything for a while. Just stood there, arms crossed, biting the inside of her cheek like she was holding something back.

"You know," she finally whispered, "sometimes I wonder if we're just bad at timing... or if we're scared of getting it right."

That landed harder than anything she'd said before.

Mikey's chest tightened, but he couldn't answer. Not here. Not with professors circling, friends laughing, and the Dean awkwardly attempting a speech on a nearby mic.

So instead, he offered her a soft, crooked smile. "Want to ditch this place?"

Crizzle grinned. "Thought you'd never ask."

Abandoned Greenhouse, Behind Campus

The old greenhouse was one of their secret spots. Overgrown, half-cracked windows, vines creeping through the gaps like nature was trying to take it back. But it had character. And quiet.

They sat on an overturned potting bench, knees touching, the air thick with unspoken things.

Crizzle pulled a chocolate bar from her bag and offered him half.

"You always carry snacks?"

"Only on emotional evenings," she replied, breaking it in two.

Mikey chewed in silence, then asked, "What did you mean earlier? About timing?"

She shrugged, looking anywhere but at him. "I mean... we keep circling. Almost something. Then we back off. I don't know how to read us anymore."

He nodded slowly. "You don't think we're just friends?"

Crizzle laughed soft and sad. "Mikey, friends don't draw each other like that."

He stared at his hands. "So what are we?"

"I don't know," she whispered. "Something. But something unfinished."

Another pause.

Then she said, "I got offered an internship."

He looked up. "That's great."

"In London."

The words landed like bricks. His mouth went dry.

"For how long?" he asked.

"A year."

He tried to swallow the lump in his throat. "Are you taking it?"

She didn't answer right away. "I don't know. I haven't told anyone else. Not even Aria."

Mikey looked at her carefully. "Why me?"

"Because your opinion matters more than anyone's."

The silence this time wasn't awkward.

It was devastating.

"I want you to go," Mikey said finally, even though every part of him screamed otherwise.

Her eyes glistened. "You do?"

"You'll regret it if you don't. And I don't want to be the reason you stay."

Crizzle nodded slowly. "Even if I want to?"

He looked at her, voice thick. "Especially then."

They didn't touch. Didn't move.

But everything between them screamed for a pause button.

Saturday Morning – Dorm Hallway

Graduation gowns hung behind every dorm room door. There was laughter, celebration, last-minute ironing, and people shouting about missing tassels.

Mikey stood outside Crizzle's room, holding a note in his hand. Folded. Reread. Rewritten.

A confession that wasn't quite a confession.

He was about to slide it under her door... when it opened.

She stood there, makeup half-done, holding her cap awkwardly in one hand. "You okay?"

Mikey nodded, quickly shoving the note into his pocket. "Yeah. Just came to see if you needed help with the gown zipper."

She turned her back without hesitation. "Yes, please. This thing's cursed."

He helped with the zipper. Slowly. Carefully. Her perfume made it hard to breathe.

When she turned to face him again, they were too close.

Way too close.

Her voice came out small. "After today... everything changes, huh?"

He nodded. "It already is."

And just like that, the moment passed.

But not for long.

Not forever.

Something big was coming.

They just didn't know it yet.