Anna POV

  “Neul, stay right there after everyone else leaves, I need to go over your paper with you, it is not up to the standard I expect from you, come up to the front here so we can talk about it properly.”

  The lecture hall emptied out slowly, students grabbing their bags and shuffling toward the doors, their voices fading into murmurs as they disappeared down the hallway. 

  I watched Neul from my desk, his broad shoulders hunched over his notebook as he packed up last, that familiar mix of focus and nervousness in the way he moved, always so attentive in my class, always lingering just a bit...