A Gentle Collision

Elara had always been good at keeping her life in order. She followed schedules, met deadlines, and kept her emotions neatly tucked away where they wouldn't interfere with her plans. But ever since the system appeared, things had started to shift in unpredictable ways.

The next morning, as she made her way to her usual seat in the lecture hall, she barely had time to react before she collided into someone. Hard.

"Whoa—easy there," a deep voice chuckled as a steady hand caught her wrist before she could stumble.

Elara looked up and found herself staring into a pair of dark, amused eyes. It took her a second to register who he was.

Caleb.

Tall, broad-shouldered, and effortlessly cool, Caleb was the kind of guy who made heads turn without trying. He wasn't loud or overly charismatic like Adrian, nor was he quiet and brooding like Theo. He was somewhere in between—confident, but in an understated way that made people gravitate toward him.

"Sorry," she muttered, stepping back quickly. "I wasn't looking."

"No harm done," he said, flashing an easy smile. "You alright?"

She nodded, but her heart was still racing from the sudden impact. Not because of the fall, but because of him. She had seen him around campus plenty of times, but they had never really spoken before.

"Are you in this class too?" she asked, more to fill the silence than anything else.

"Yep. Thought I'd finally show up," he said with a smirk. "Gotta keep the professors on their toes."

Elara rolled her eyes but couldn't help the small laugh that escaped her. "Yeah, I'm sure they live in constant suspense over whether you'll grace them with your presence."

"Exactly." He winked before nodding toward the empty seat next to her. "Mind if I join you?"

She hesitated, but only for a second. "Go ahead."

As the lecture started, Elara found herself more distracted than usual. Caleb had a presence that was hard to ignore, even when he wasn't saying anything. Occasionally, he would lean over and make a quiet comment about the professor's slides, and she'd have to bite back a smile.

Halfway through the lecture, her phone vibrated with a new system notification.

"New Challenge: Spend an entire lecture seated beside a different love interest."

Elara exhaled slowly. The system really wasn't subtle, was it?

She glanced at Caleb out of the corner of her eye. He was tapping his pen against his notebook absentmindedly, looking effortlessly relaxed.

"Bored already?" she whispered.

He smirked. "A little. You?"

"Trying to focus."

"Need me to quiz you after?"

She raised an eyebrow. "You? Quiz me?"

"Hey, I have my moments," he said, pretending to be offended. "I might surprise you."

Elara shook her head, amused. "Fine. But if I get better grades than you, you owe me coffee."

Caleb grinned. "Deal."

By the time the lecture ended, Elara had almost forgotten about the system challenge entirely. Almost.

Her phone vibrated again.

"Challenge Completed! +25 Confidence Points."

She sighed. At this rate, she was going to end up with more confidence than she knew what to do with.

After class, Caleb stretched lazily before glancing at her. "Alright, let's test your memory. What was slide number fifteen about?"

Elara blinked. "Slide fifteen? You expect me to remember the exact number?"

He smirked. "Yes. Because if you don't, I get a free pass on the coffee deal."

She groaned. "Something about… market trends?"

"Wrong. It was about economic forecasting."

"That's basically the same thing."

"Not even close," he teased. "Guess that means you owe me coffee."

She huffed. "Fine. But only because I'm feeling generous."

They walked to the campus café together, their conversation flowing easily. Caleb was surprisingly easy to talk to, and for the first time, Elara wondered why she hadn't noticed him sooner.

As they reached the counter, he nudged her lightly. "By the way, I don't actually care about winning. I just wanted to have coffee with you."

Elara froze for half a second before recovering with a nervous laugh. "Is that so?"

"Yep." He grinned, looking completely at ease. "But don't let it go to your head."

She rolled her eyes but couldn't hide the warmth creeping up her neck. As much as she tried to deny it, there was something about Caleb that intrigued her.

And she had a feeling this wouldn't be the last time they had coffee together.