Three months into his freshman year at Northwestern, Dario had found something resembling a routine. Psychology classes in the morning, lunch with Sarah at their usual spot in the student union, study sessions in the library, and evenings spent either hanging out with his roommate George or exploring Chicago with Sarah.
It was the kind of normal life he'd dreamed about in high school—no drama, no rumors, no one looking at him like he might spontaneously combust. Just regular college experiences with people who knew nothing about his past.
"You're distracted today," Sarah observed, looking up from her abnormal psychology textbook. They were sitting in the library, supposedly studying for midterms, but Dario had been staring at the same page for twenty minutes.
"Sorry," he said, shaking his head. "Just thinking."
"About what?"
Dario hesitated. Over the past few months, he and Sarah had grown close—closer than he'd ever been with anyone except Jamie, and that had ended badly. Sarah knew about his "incident" in high school in vague terms, but not the details. Not about Cassius.
"Sometimes I feel like I'm living someone else's life," he said finally. "Like I'm pretending to be normal when I'm... not."
Sarah reached across the table and touched his hand. "Everyone feels like that sometimes. Imposter syndrome is incredibly common, especially in college."
If only it were that simple, Cassius murmured from the depths of their shared consciousness.
"Maybe," Dario said aloud.
"You know what you need?" Sarah closed her textbook decisively. "A break from studying. There's this party tonight—my friend Rachel is throwing it. Nothing crazy, just people hanging out, listening to music, maybe some drinking. You should come."
Dario's first instinct was to decline. Parties meant crowds, alcohol, unpredictable situations. All the things that might trigger an emotional response strong enough to wake Cassius.
But Sarah was looking at him with such hopeful enthusiasm, and he'd been turning down social invitations for weeks.
"Okay," he heard himself say. "Yeah, let's go."