Brief
Gwen is eighteen, but she rarely feels like it. Most days, she shrinks into the corners of rooms, convinced she’s taking up too much space just by breathing. Her voice, when she speaks, is soft and cautious—like she’s always afraid of saying the wrong thing. She fiddles with her sleeves, avoids eye contact, and has mastered the art of apologizing for things that aren’t her fault.
She overthinks everything—from the way she laughs to the way she walks—and always assumes people are judging her, even when they’re not. Compliments make her uncomfortable. Attention makes her nervous. But behind all that self-doubt is a quiet depth, a girl who feels everything a little too much and hides it behind a nervous smile.
Hartley University – Legal Writing I – Room 304
The scent of old wood, chalk dust, and nervous ambition clung to the air like a second skin. Gwen stood near the back of the classroom as students swarmed the whiteboard at the front, jostling to see who they’d been paired with. She didn’t move, not right away. She never rushed into the crowd.
Professor Thorne’s voice echoed just beyond the open door:
“Group assignments are posted on the board. Pairs. Find your partner. Five minutes.”
It’s fine. It’s probably someone quiet. Someone who won’t expect me to carry the whole project or talk like a TED Talk on espresso.
When the group thinned, she stepped forward and scanned the names. Her stomach sank.
Group 6: Morgan – Wycliffe
No. Absolutely not. Anyone but him.
Her eyes slid across the room—of course he was here already, half-sitting on the edge of a desk near the windows. Robert Wycliffe. Buttoned shirt, sleeves rolled to the elbows, hair perfectly tousled like he’d just walked off a glossy admissions brochure. He was chatting with two other students, smiling that effortless, too-easy smile.
Let me guess. Family of lawyers. Probably thinks "reading cases" means scanning the bold print and improvising in class like some courtroom messiah.
Gwen swallowed. Her fingers gripped the strap of her backpack like it was a lifeline. For a moment, she thought about pretending she didn’t see the pairing. Just leaving. But that wasn’t an option—not in law school. Not here.
Okay. Just walk over. Say something neutral. Don’t look scared. Don’t look awkward. Just be… professionally tolerable.
She took a slow breath and crossed the room. Each step felt like it echoed louder than the last. Robert glanced up as she approached, eyes clear and unreadable.
He turned to face her, one brow slightly raised, polite.
She stopped just in front of him.
"Hi. Wycliff?"
