The dust motes in the university library were the only things moving as Leo stared at a diagram of a human heart. It was ironic, he thought, that he could label every valve and chamber but hadn't a clue how to talk to the girl sitting three tables away.
Her name was Maya. She was a Literature major, usually buried in a worn copy of The Great Gatsby or scribbling frantically in a leather-bound journal. Leo, a pre-med student, had spent three semesters "coincidentally" choosing the same study nook at 4:00 PM.
One rainy Tuesday, the power in the library flickered and died. A collective groan rose from the students, followed by the frantic clicking of laptop keys and the rustle of bags. In the sudden dimness, Leo saw the glow of a single phone flashlight—Maya's.
"Need a hand?" he asked, his heart thumping louder than any textbook description.
She looked up, her glasses sliding down her nose. "I was just at the best part. Daisy was finally choosing."
"Or failing to choose," Leo countered, surprised by his own boldness.
Maya smiled, a slow, radiant thing that made the dark library feel warmer. "A romantic and a cynic. That's a dangerous combination for a Tuesday."
They spent the next hour talking, not about anatomy or prose, but about the small things: the best place for late-night fries, the terror of finals week, and the way the campus looked when the cherry blossoms first bloomed. When the lights finally hummed back to life, the silence between them felt different—charged and expectant.
"I should probably get back to this," Leo said, gesturing to his textbook. "Hearts don't study themselves."
Maya stood up, tucking a stray lock of hair behind her ear. She reached into her bag, pulled out a small, neon-yellow post-it note, and stuck it on the page of his book—right over the left ventricle.
"Maybe this one will help," she whispered before walking away.
Leo looked down. Written in neat, loopy cursive was a phone number and a single line: For when you're tired of studying the theory and want to try the real thing.
He didn't study another word that night