Ray's POV
"I told you, Ava. It was a ghost. A legit, real-life, haunted corridor situation. I even heard whispering. You weren't there. You didn't see it."
Ava raised an unimpressed brow as she sipped her tea. "Ray, you dropped your lip gloss and scared yourself half to death."
I gasped, utterly betrayed. "Excuse me, I was being haunted. And traumatized. And clinging to my last moments of life. That flickering light? That was not normal. That was ghost Morse code."
"And Sebastian Ashford was also coincidentally in the library?" she asked, knowingly.
I sat up straighter, eyes gleaming. "Exactly. It was fate. Like, he just appeared out of the shadows. Like Edward Cullen but hotter. And taller. And ruder."
"You threw yourself on him, didn't you?"
"I clung for survival," I clarified. "He caught me like a literal prince. He even said 'I'm not your prince,' which is exactly what a prince would say in denial. Like a reluctant bodyguard in a drama."
Ava looked half-asleep, half-ready to smother me with her blanket.
I didn't care. I was still high on the memory of clutching Sebastian's hoodie like it owed me rent.
"And get this," I continued, practically bouncing on her bed, "he tried to walk away but I refused to let go. Like, physically refused. He kept going 'Ray, get off,' and I was like 'NO, IT'S HAUNTED'—and then—"
"Don't tell me…" Ava narrowed her eyes. "You called him Seb?"
I grinned. "Twice."
She gasped like I'd just committed high treason.
"You called Sebastian Ashford—Seb?"
"Yup."
"And you're still alive?"
"More than alive." I flopped back dramatically. "I think I might be in love."
That was when Austin peeked into the room, obnoxious grin on his face and a half-eaten apple in hand. "Did I hear someone falling in love with Seb? As in Sebastian 'I hate breathing the same air as other people' Ashford?"
"Shut up," I muttered, tossing a pillow at him.
He caught it and leaned against the doorframe. "He told me you basically suction-cupped to his chest and wouldn't let go."
"I was scared," I snapped.
"He said you wouldn't stop talking about muffins and ghosts and cinnamon cookies."
"I was processing trauma, Austin."
Ava giggled under her breath.
"Oh, and he also said," Austin added with a wicked glint in his eyes, "that if you call him Seb one more time, he might change his name entirely just to escape you."
I blinked. Then smiled sweetly. "Aw. He remembered."
"God help us," Ava muttered.
I stood up with my glittery pencil pouch in hand and a mission in my heart.
"Anyway, I've got class. And I'm sitting next to him again today."
"Of course you are."
"Yup. Ava, I'll save you a seat. Austin, tell Seb—"
"Nope."
"—that I'm bringing muffins. Cinnamon ones. For emotional healing."
Austin looked terrified. "Please don't."
But I was already out the door, walking down the hall with extra sparkle in my step.
Ghosts? Conquered. Lip gloss? Recovered. Prince Sebastian? In progress.