chapter eighteen- A spark of support

Stephanie sat hunched over her laptop in the corner of the campus library, her hair tied up in a messy bun, a chewed pen between her teeth. Her screen was filled with an unfinished spreadsheet, mismatched graphs, and a half-done write-up for the class project that was slowly killing her enthusiasm for science.

Her partner had bailed. Again. And her group? More concerned with gossip than data analysis.

She buried her face in her palms. "I'm gonna fail. I'm actually going to fail."

"Don't say that. You've got at least two mental breakdowns left before failure becomes official."

Stephanie looked up, startled.

Jasmine stood there, one brow raised, two iced coffees in hand.

"Surprise," she said, sliding into the seat opposite her. "I figured you could use caffeine and sarcasm."

Stephanie gave a weak laugh. "Both are deeply appreciated."

Jasmine handed her one of the cups and peered at her screen. "That your project?"

Stephanie sighed. "Yeah. A joint report on environmental impact of lab waste disposal. It's boring, technical, and everyone's ghosted me. I have to finish the data analysis and compile the findings tonight."

Jasmine took a sip of her coffee. "Mind if I help?"

Stephanie blinked. "Wait. You're a Business Admin major, right?"

"True," Jasmine said casually. "But I did some stats back in high school. And I'm freakishly good at making boring presentations look like gold."

"…Seriously?"

"Dead serious. Slide decks and smart talk — that's my brand."

Stephanie smiled — a real one this time. "You're like a knight in ripped jeans."

"Better than a prince with a fragile ego," Jasmine said with a smirk. "Now move over."

For the next hour, the two girls worked side by side.

Jasmine was fast — surprisingly analytical for someone from a different field. She reorganized Stephanie's data into something that actually made sense, cleaned up her layout, and helped her reframe her introduction to sound more persuasive.

"Where did you even learn all this?" Stephanie asked, stunned.

"My brother made me do all the dirty work for his early business pitches," Jasmine shrugged. "Said it would 'build character.' I say it just gave me insomnia."

Stephanie chuckled. "He sounds intense."

"You have no idea."

Jasmine glanced sideways, her expression unreadable for a second — as if the thought of her brother brought something complicated to the surface. But it vanished quickly.

"So," Jasmine said, stretching. "Think you'll survive now?"

"Honestly… you just saved my GPA."

"You're welcome. That's two lives I've saved in twenty-four hours. I should get a cape."

Stephanie laughed again, and for the first time in days, she didn't feel like the world was closing in on her.

They left the library together later, walking under the soft twilight sky. Stephanie still had work ahead, but something had shifted — her stress felt lighter, her world a little less lonely.

And even though she didn't know who Jasmine really was…

She felt like she'd found a real friend aside kat.