Dario's dorm room at Northwestern was small but comfortable, with a view of the quad and enough space for his books, clothes, and the few possessions he'd brought from home. His roommate, Marcus—a pre-med student from Chicago with an easy laugh and an apparent inability to keep his side of the room organized—had been friendly but not intrusive.
It was exactly what Dario needed: a fresh start where no one knew about the incident in high school, where he could just be a normal college freshman trying to figure out his major and maybe make a few friends.
He'd been there two weeks when he met Sarah.
She was in his Introduction to Psychology class, sitting in the front row with her notebook already open and three different colored pens lined up perfectly parallel to each other. When the professor asked for volunteers to participate in a demonstration about memory and trauma, she was the first to raise her hand.
After class, Dario found himself walking beside her as they left the lecture hall.
"That was brave," he said. "Volunteering for the demonstration, I mean."
She looked at him with curious green eyes. "Was it? I thought it was just interesting. I like understanding how the mind works."
"Even when it doesn't work the way it's supposed to?"
"Especially then." She smiled, and Dario felt something stir in his chest that had nothing to do with Cassius. "I'm Sarah, by the way."
"Dario."
"Nice to meet you, Dario. Are you a psych major too?"
"Undecided," he admitted. "I'm interested in a lot of things, but I can't seem to settle on just one."
"Nothing wrong with keeping your options open. Want to grab coffee? I know a place off campus that actually makes decent espresso."
And just like that, Dario found himself saying yes to the first social invitation he'd accepted in months.
As they walked across campus together, Sarah chatting easily about her classes and her plans for graduate school, Dario felt a familiar presence stirring in the back of his mind.
She's different, Cassius observed.
Different how? Dario thought back.
Not afraid. Not curious about your secrets. Just... interested in you.
Is that good or bad?
Time will tell. But Dario?
Yeah?
This time, if someone hurts you, I won't wait for you to ask for help.
Dario suppressed a smile as Sarah held the coffee shop door open for him.
Let's try to avoid that scenario altogether.
Agreed. But it's good to have contingencies.
As they found a table by the window and Sarah launched into an animated explanation of her research project on dissociative identity disorder, Dario realized that for the first time in months, he wasn't thinking about the past or worrying about the future. He was just present, in the moment, listening to an interesting girl talk about something she was passionate about.
It wasn't the life he'd planned, but maybe it was the life he needed.
And if Cassius's presence at the edge of his consciousness felt less like a threat and more like a watchful guardian, well, that was progress too.
The afternoon sun streamed through the coffee shop windows, casting everything in warm golden light, and Dario thought that maybe—just maybe—college really would be interesting indeed.
End of Book One