Intramurals week had finally arrived, and the campus was buzzing like a beehive on espresso. The air was filled with the sounds of people shouting, laughing, and pretending they were athletic when, in reality, most of them would rather be in bed with a pizza and a Netflix marathon. Archie had been dragged into this chaos by his well-meaning but overly enthusiastic friends.
"Archie, this is it," Anne declared, her eyes wide with the kind of manic excitement usually reserved for birthday parties or spontaneous tattoo ideas. "The pinnacle of our college experience. The day we become legends. Or at least the day we have the best time of our lives before we graduate and pretend to be adults."
Archie was still trying to recover from the fact that he had somehow agreed to participate. But he was here, standing in the middle of a field with a group of people who seemed to think it was a good idea to throw a giant frisbee across the lawn like it was a competitive sport.
"Anne, I'm just here to watch," Archie muttered, his voice tinged with exhaustion and regret. "I'm not sure this 'competitive spirit' is for me."
"Oh, don't be such a buzzkill," Anne said, handing him a frisbee like it was a grenade. "We're all here to have fun. Come on, the game's starting. Get ready to catch the flying disc of destiny!"
"I'm not catching anything," Archie said, dodging the frisbee that Anne had thrown at him with alarming precision. "You're all crazy."
As they lined up for the game, Marco showed up, already looking like a rock star despite wearing an old hoodie and sweatpants. "You guys ready for this?" he asked, flipping his hair back dramatically as though he were about to jump on stage for a concert instead of participating in a field game.
"You look like you're about to perform a rock show, Marco," Lila said, eyeing him skeptically.
"Hey, what can I say?" Marco grinned. "When you've got rock star energy, you've got rock star energy. Besides, I'm not just here for frisbee. I'm also here for the evening's entertainment."
"Rock show?" Jonas raised an eyebrow, clearly intrigued. "What do you mean by that?"
"I'm performing tonight!" Marco announced with a theatrical flourish. "I'm the vocalist of the university's band, remember? We're playing at the student center after all this insanity. I thought we'd get some practice in first."
Anne's face lit up with excitement. "Are you serious? That's amazing! What are you singing?"
"Classic rock, obviously," Marco said with a smug grin. "I'm not doing any of that pop nonsense. Tonight, we're getting loud."
Archie couldn't help but smile at Marco's energy. It was impossible not to get swept up in it. Even if he didn't entirely understand what was happening, he was glad his friends were here.
The game began, and it was pure chaos. Anne darted around like she was auditioning for an action movie, her eyes locked on the frisbee with an intensity that could only be described as "unstoppable." Maya was surprisingly good, channeling her inner athlete despite her quiet nature. Lila was... well, Lila was more focused on making sure no one was accidentally getting hurt, which made her the most practical person in the group. Jonas was somewhere in between, trying his best to be competitive without breaking a sweat.
And then there was Archie.
Archie was just trying to make sure he didn't trip over his own feet. He threw the frisbee once. It went to the left. Then to the right. Then it flew straight up into the air and crashed into a tree. He sighed, holding up his hands. "Okay, so maybe I'm not cut out for this."
"Oh, no, you're doing great!" Anne called, laughing. "You've definitely got the 'awkward charm' down. You're like the underdog of this whole thing!"
Archie rolled his eyes. "Yeah, great. Just what I need, more charm."
Eventually, the game ended with no one being declared the victor, mainly because they had spent more time laughing than actually playing. Anne had somehow convinced everyone to just call it a "friendly draw," which was definitely a clever ploy to avoid acknowledging her "almost winning but not quite" moment.
Later in the evening, everyone gathered at the student center for Marco's performance. The crowd was buzzing with excitement, mostly because they'd heard rumors about how "insane" Marco's band was, and also because there was free food involved.
The lights dimmed, and Marco strutted onto the small stage, his bandmates following him with the kind of nonchalance that only a group of students who considered themselves "too cool for school" could manage. Marco grabbed the mic with a dramatic flourish and adjusted his hoodie, looking at the crowd like they were about to witness something life-changing.
The first few notes of the guitar rang out, and Archie was immediately hit by the sheer volume of sound. It was like being hit in the chest with a wave of electricity. Marco began to sing, his voice raw and full of energy, and for a moment, Archie could feel the music vibrating through his entire body.
"Don't stop believin'!" Marco belted out, and the crowd erupted into cheers. Even Archie found himself tapping his foot, the ridiculousness of the day melting away as the music took over.
Lila was the first to fully give in to the energy, bouncing on her feet. "Oh my god, I've missed this," she shouted, her excitement contagious.
Anne grabbed Archie by the arm. "See? This is what college is all about. Fun, chaos, and Marco's terrible rock singing. Don't you feel alive?"
"Alive, maybe," Archie said, still not sure whether he was more overwhelmed by the noise or the sheer absurdity of the whole day. "But also slightly deaf."
"You'll get used to it," Anne said, grinning.
Meanwhile, Marco was giving it his all, channeling every bit of his inner rock star. He jumped off the stage, crowd surfing for a few seconds, before being gently set back on stage by some overzealous fans who clearly had no idea how to handle a rock vocalist.
Maya leaned over to Archie. "I think Marco just made that whole crowd his personal fan club."
"More like his personal chaos squad," Archie said, shaking his head in disbelief.
When the last chord of the song hit, the crowd went wild, and Marco gave a ridiculous bow, clearly not caring how much of a mess he was. "Thank you, thank you! I'll be here all week, folks!"
Archie looked at his friends, all of them buzzing with excitement and happiness. They were loud. They were chaotic. They were exactly the right kind of mess. And maybe, just maybe, it was all a little bit perfect.
"Well," Anne said, still grinning ear to ear, "that was an absolute disaster."
"Yeah, but it was our disaster," Archie said, smiling at his friends. "And that's what counts."
The night carried on, filled with more laughing, dancing, and bad singing, but for Archie, it was the perfect reminder that, sometimes, the best days weren't the ones that made sense. They were the ones where everyone was together, making noise, and living in the moment. Even if that moment involved questionable frisbee throws and rock star antics.
The show ended in a storm of applause, off-key singing, and someone accidentally knocking over the nacho table. Marco took a bow so deep he nearly fell off the stage, while Jonas was trying to fish melted cheese out of his shoe. Elliot had commandeered the aux cord at the after-party and was DJing exclusively early-2000s emo bangers. Maya and Lila were already halfway through debating whether mozzarella sticks or onion rings were the superior emotional support food.
But Archie... was somewhere else entirely.
He laughed when he was supposed to. Smiled when people looked his way. Nodded and hummed and clapped when the music rose. But underneath it all, that moment at the diner lingered—sharp and echoing, like someone had cracked a glass and left the shards hidden under his ribs.
That face.
That voice.
That feeling.
And then—"I think you're mistaken."
Four little words that hit harder than they had any right to.
He slipped out of the crowd when no one was watching, ducking out to the side of the student center where the air was cooler and the bass was more of a distant thump. He leaned against the brick wall, hands in his pockets, trying to breathe through something that didn't quite want to be breathed through.
Then came Anne.
Of course she followed him. Anne always followed when it mattered.
"Hey," she said gently, stepping beside him. She didn't ask what was wrong. Didn't say his name like a question. Just stood there for a second, letting him know he wasn't alone.
He kept staring out at the empty sidewalk. "I don't want to ruin the night."
"You already did," she deadpanned. "But it's okay, I like my nights slightly ruined."
He huffed a laugh. "Sorry."
"Don't apologize," she said, bumping his shoulder lightly. "I saw your face after the song. The before-the-nachos face. You disappeared mentally like a ghost who just got laid off."
Archie hesitated, then exhaled. "It was him."
Anne's smile faltered. She didn't need to ask who. "The guy from your dreams?"
He nodded. "He came into the diner. Same face. Same voice. I—God, Anne, I knew him. Not just from dreams. I knew him like... like muscle memory. Like something in me just recognized him before I could even think."
Anne said nothing, just leaned against the wall next to him, close but not crowding.
"And I asked him," Archie continued, his voice low and uneven. "I walked right up and asked, 'Have we met before?' And he looked at me like I was a stranger off the street. Said, 'I think you're mistaken.' Just like that."
Anne was quiet for a long moment.
Then: "Well, I think he's mistaken."
Archie looked at her.
She shrugged. "You're not crazy, Archie. I've seen you when you talk about those dreams. That wasn't just some fantasy cooked up by your subconscious and a questionable burrito. That meant something. He meant something."
"But he didn't remember me. I quit at the restaurant after that because it pains me so much to remember what happened"
"That doesn't erase what you felt."
"But if he doesn't know me—if I was just projecting or hoping or wrong—what does that say about me?"
Anne turned to him, her expression softer than he'd ever seen it.
"It says you care," she said. "It says something deep inside you still believes. That's not weakness, Archie. That's the bravest thing about you."
Archie swallowed hard. His eyes burned in that tight, traitorous way. He blinked, looked away, but Anne didn't pretend not to notice. She just reached over and took his hand—gently, solidly, like a promise.
"You don't have to figure it all out tonight," she said. "Or tomorrow. Or ever, honestly. But I'm not going anywhere. You hear me? Not unless I get recruited by squirrels to become their queen, which could still happen, frankly."
He let out a shaky laugh, wiping at his face with the back of his sleeve. "Thanks."
"Anytime," she said, giving his hand a squeeze. "And for what it's worth... I don't think your story with him is over. Not yet. Some pages just take longer to turn."
They stood in silence again, two warm figures in the cool night, while the wind moved through the trees like a slow song. The music from the student center thumped faintly in the background—distant now, but still pulsing. Still alive.
Just like him.
Still here. Still beating.
And not alone.