Chapter 1

If someone had told me that my last month at UCLA would get completely turned upside down by a stolen kiss, I would've laughed in their face. But life has this funny way of throwing curveballs when you least expect them.

"Riley, can you pass me that eyeliner?" Emma's voice drifted from somewhere behind a mountain of scattered makeup. Our common room looked like Sephora had exploded - mascara tubes, hair spray bottles, and shimmery eyeshadows covered every surface.

Sarah was sprawled across the coffee table, following a YouTube smoky eye tutorial with the concentration of a brain surgeon. Her hand was shaking so badly I was worried she'd poke her eye out.

"Which one?" I asked, surveying at least five different eyeliners. "Black? Brown? Or that glittery disaster?"

"Any of them, as long as I don't end up looking like a raccoon."

I tossed her the Urban Decay liner and went back to my own crisis: should I wear the Jimmy Choo heels that would absolutely murder my feet but looked incredible, or the boring but comfortable flats? These were the kinds of life-changing decisions that kept me up at night.

"God, I can't believe this is the last time we'll ever get ready for a school event together," Sarah said suddenly, her makeup brush frozen in mid-air.

The entire room went quiet. Even Emma stopped wrestling with her eyeliner.

Moments like this made me really not want to graduate.

Don't get me wrong - I was excited about starting my career, excited about moving to LA, excited about finally becoming a real adult. But I was also terrified of leaving this bubble. This safe space where wearing pajamas to the dining hall was acceptable, where we could have deep conversations about life at three AM, and where doing laundry was more of a suggestion than a requirement.

"Stop it, you're gonna make me cry and ruin my mascara," Emma fake-sobbed, though I could see her eyes getting genuinely watery.

"Could you guys keep it down?" my brother Ethan called from his corner, not looking up from Jake's laptop. "I'm trying to install new RAM here, and concentration is key."

"Nobody asked you to be our resident tech support," I shot back, though my tone was fond.

Ethan always did this - pretended to be annoyed while secretly loving being needed. He looked like the stereotypical computer science nerd in his favorite Stanford hoodie, black-rimmed glasses sliding down his nose. But he was the most caring nerd I'd ever met.

"And Emma," he continued, pointing his screwdriver in her direction, "don't spill your Starbucks on that keyboard. It took me an hour to clean up your mess last time."

An amazing smell drifted from the kitchenette - Mexican food with sautéed onions and peppers. Dylan was making us late-night snacks because he knew we all stress-ate, and prom prep definitely counted as a stressful situation.

"Dylan, you're literally an angel," Sarah called out. "I don't know how we survived four years without you."

Dylan poked his head out of the kitchen, a streak of flour on his cheek and that warm smile that could melt ice. "Just making sure you guys don't faint from hunger while getting gorgeous. Food is love, right?"

That was basically his life philosophy. Food is love. Honestly, it might be the sweetest thing ever.

Cameron sat by the window with his vintage Canon, capturing our chaotic prep session. Click, click, click. He was always documenting moments, like he was preserving our lives for posterity.

Tonight he wore black ripped jeans and a faded band t-shirt, managing to look effortlessly cool without trying. His tattoos peeked out from his sleeve - geometric patterns that ran from his wrist up his forearm.

"Cameron, stop making us look like hot messes," Emma laughed, trying to cover her half-done makeup.

"Too late," he replied, but his smile softened the words. "Besides, authentic moments are the most beautiful."

Jake was fiddling with the speakers, and suddenly Taylor Swift's voice filled the room. He cranked up the volume and started lip-syncing to "22," grabbing a hairbrush as his microphone.

"We're feeling twenty-two!" he belted out, completely off-key but with pure enthusiasm.

Jake had this gift for turning any situation into a party. His blonde hair was perfectly messy, like he'd just run his fingers through it, and his blue eyes sparkled with mischief.

"We're actually feeling twenty-two!" Sarah jumped up and joined in.

Soon we were all singing along, even Ethan mumbling the lyrics under his breath. This was what I was going to miss. This spontaneous happiness, this feeling like we could conquer the world together.

Outside, the California spring evening was still warm, but I could hear thunder rumbling in the distance.

"Was that thunder?" Emma asked, pausing mid-dance move.

I walked to the window. The sky had turned dark gray, with clouds moving fast across campus. "Looks like a storm's coming. Weird for this time of year."

"I hope it doesn't rain tomorrow night," Sarah worried. "My hair cannot handle humidity."

Another rumble of thunder, closer this time. Rain started hitting the windows - first scattered drops, then a sudden downpour. Lightning illuminated our common room for a split second, followed by a sharp crack of thunder.

"Whoa, that's intense," Jake said, turning down the music.

Then everything went black.

Complete, absolute darkness. The kind where you literally cannot see your hand in front of your face. The music cut off abruptly, leaving only the sound of rain pounding against the windows and our collective gasps of surprise.

"What the hell?" Emma's voice came from somewhere in the darkness.

"Power's out," Ethan stated the obvious, but his voice was steady and calm.

"Everyone okay?" Dylan called from the kitchen.

"Stay where you are," I said, fumbling for my phone. "Let me find my flashlight."

But before I could unlock my phone, something happened that changed everything.

In the darkness, with rain creating white noise against the windows, someone moved close to me. I felt his presence before I felt his touch.

Gentle fingers on my chin, tilting my face up. Then the softest kiss on the corner of my mouth.

So light it felt more like a question than a statement.

His breath against my cheek carried a hint of mint, and I felt a slight tremor - not mine, but his. Nervousness mixed with something that felt like longing.

The kiss lasted maybe two seconds, but it felt like my entire world shifted on its axis.

Then he was gone, melted back into the darkness like he'd never been there at all.