The luxury pathway cutting through Belview's campus gleamed under the afternoon sun. Students drifted down it in clusters, their laughter and easy chatter filling the warm air.
Craig Lesnar and his best friend, Keith stood a little apart from the flow, effortlessly commanding attention without even trying. There was something about them — the kind of wealth that didn't need to be flaunted to be felt.
"You know what I don't get?" Keith said, casually tossing a small pebble from hand to hand. "People act like money's the whole point. Bro, we were born with it. That's not the flex."
Craig tilted his head slightly, a knowing glint in his eye. "It's not about having it. It's about what people think you could do with it."
"Exactly. Power. Presence. Status," Keith agreed, smirking.
"Legacy," Craig finished quietly.
Keith chuckled, nudging him playfully. "Lesnar Global's next-gen leader talk. I see you, future king."
Craig offered only the faintest smile, but his mind was already elsewhere. His gaze drifted across the courtyard—and there she was.
Merlina Sanchez.
Walking beside Megan, sunlight catching her dark hair, lighting her up like something straight out of a dream. For one stolen second, Craig forgot how to breathe. His eyes stayed locked on her until Keith's voice broke the moment.
"Something wrong?"
Craig blinked, snapping his gaze away as if burned. "Nah," he said coolly, folding his arms over his chest.
But inside, something stirred — something he wasn't ready to name.
Meanwhile, Merlina walked with Megan, winding through the busy campus grounds.
"Okay, theory time," Megan announced dramatically. "If Professor Harper ever actually smiled, his face would crack. Like Porcelain."
Merlina laughed under her breath. "Don't let him hear you say that. He'll probably invent a surprise oral exam just to punish you."
Megan slowed down, her eyes catching on something—or rather, someone.
"Ugh. Craig Lesnar," she muttered. "Why does he always act like he owns the damn air?"
Merlina followed her gaze. Craig wasn't looking now, but she had caught his eyes on her earlier—felt it like a whisper across her skin. Her heart skipped a beat before she could stop it.
"I mean… he is kind of—" Merlina started, then caught herself and shook her head briskly.
"What?" Megan demanded, raising a brow.
"Never mind," Merlina said quickly, tugging her friend along. "Let's go."
They wandered toward the Professors' Memorial Wall, a solemn stone monument lined with framed photographs of Belview's long-serving faculty. Most of the pictures were aged, black-and-white; a few newer ones stood out in color.
Merlina's pace slowed. Something pulled at her chest as she scanned the wall, her fingers brushing lightly over the glass. Row after row… until she found it:
A gap.
An empty frame. A space where a memory should have been.
Still missing, her mind whispered. Still erased. Like she never existed here.
Her heart twisted.
*** Flashback***
The living room was warm with lamplight. Fifteen-year-old Merlina sat cross-legged on the floor, her mother, Marjorie Sanchez, flipping through an old Belview yearbook.
"See this building?" Marjorie said, tapping a faded photo. "That's where I taught my first class. God, I was a wreck."
"Were you scared?" young Merlina asked, wide-eyed.
"Terrified," her mother admitted with a laugh. "But I loved it. Belview made me feel seen. Like I mattered."
She smiled softly, tapping her own picture among the faculty. "Promise me something?"
"What?"
"One day, you'll walk those halls too."
Merlina had nodded, heart swelling with wonder.
**** Present Day ****
Merlina stood frozen before the blank space where her mother's photo should have been. Her chest rose and fell quietly.
I'm here now, but you're not.
Behind her, Megan scrolled absently through her phone. "You coming?"
Merlina blinked away the sting behind her eyes. "Yeah… just a sec." Megan proceeded her walk to the classroom.
Merlina, cast one last look at the empty frame before turning away.
The crowds thinned as Merlina rounded a corner, hugging a brand-new student handbook against her chest. Up ahead, walking alone, was Craig Lesnar.
Her pulse quickened. Without thinking, she picked up her pace until she was close enough to call out.
"Hey Craig…um…I wanted—"
Craig glanced at her.
And then he walked away. No word. No hesitation.
Merlina stood there, stunned, clutching the handbook she had meant to give him. She stared after his retreating figure, cheeks burning with embarrassment.
"—to… okay," she whispered to herself, swallowing the lump in her throat.
Merlina stands there, stunned. Jaw clenched. Looking at the new handbook she wanted to give him.
After classes, Craig Lesnar and Keith sauntered along the paved walkway, every step radiating the quiet confidence of boys who thought they ruled the place.
"I'm done with Naomi," Keith announced, running a hand through his perfectly messy hair. "For real this time. I need someone new — fresh, fun, zero drama. Someone who doesn't check my location every five minutes."
Craig arched an eyebrow. "So… a ghost?"
Keith laughed. "If she's hot, I'd consider it."
Craig gave a half-smirk, the kind that came too easily to him. But then—
Something pulled at him.
Like a thread he hadn't realized was tangled around his chest.
Across the courtyard, Merlina Sanchez stepped out of the library with Phoebe at her side, adjusting the strap of her bag as the wind caught her hair. She raised a hand, pushing loose strands behind her ear, her face tilted into the sunlight.
She didn't know it, but in that moment — she glowed.
Her laugh drifted faintly over the crowd, light and unguarded, and for a second… everything else blurred. The noise, the footsteps, even Keith's voice next to him.
Craig's smirk faltered.
His body stilled.
Something in him — something he didn't have a name for — caught.
Keith was still talking, oblivious.
"Maybe that girl from psych class — Tania. You remember her?"
Craig barely heard him. His gaze stayed locked on Merlina, studying the way she moved, the way the world seemed to lean a little closer to her without her even trying.
"Yeah…" Craig said distantly. "I remember."
But he wasn't thinking about Tania.
Not even close.
Merlina, unaware, gave a final glance around — her gaze skimming right past him without landing — and walked off with Phoebe. Her hair caught the sunlight one last time before she disappeared down the path.
Craig let out a slow breath, something heavy and unfamiliar pressing against his ribs.
He didn't understand it.
He only knew he wasn't imagining it.
He was hooked — and it terrified him more than he'd ever admit.