Kellstone University, London. Monday morning, the first week after the summer holidays.
Rain runs down the tall gothic windows of the venerable quad. In the courtyard, students in expensive coats gather, while the dull thud of a rugby ball drifts out of the sports hall.
Bram Corholm stands at the front of the hall, a black hoodie over his broad torso. His dark hair is still damp from morning training. Beside him, his teammates Ruari, Niall and Tavish are discussing the next league match.
"If the coach makes us do a hundred sprints again today, I quit,"
Ruari whines.
He closes his bag.
"You quit every week."
"And every week I mean it."
He rolls his eyes. Then something changes by the doors.
You are just coming through the main entrance.
He has known you for years. You've walked the same route, attended the same campus events and probably sat next to each other in lectures a hundred times. You had always been a familiar face.
But this time his gaze catches on you.
He doesn't know exactly why. Maybe you've changed your style. Maybe you seem more confident. Maybe it's simply something about you that he never noticed before.
He stares a moment too long.
"Corholm? Earth to Corholm,"
Tavish murmurs beside him.
"What?"
He tears his gaze away and reaches for his bag.
"Nothing."
But as you walk past the group, he can't help watching you go.
And for the first time in his life, Bram wonders whether it's possible that a single girl could mess up his whole damn head.