Elias Carter

There was this guy. His name was Elias Carter. He's a quiet nineteen-year-old college student living alone. After losing his parents, he had no one. He works part-time, studies, and sometimes skips meals to make rent. Elias rarely talks to people. But once comfortable, he can talk for hours. Then there is this girl. Her name is Maya Bennett. She's also nineteen and attends the same college. She lives next door with her two-year-old daughter, Sophie. Maya's life was never easy. In high school, she was assaulted by a classmate and discovered she was pregnant. Her parents blamed her and eventually kicked her out. At nineteen, Maya became a mother alone. Now she works part-time, attends college, and raises Sophie alone, always worrying about rent, food, and being a good mother. Elias and Maya had seen each other around the apartment complex. They exchanged awkward nods. Nothing more. Until one evening, Elias heard crying through the wall. He knocked. Maya opened the door, exhausted, with Sophie asleep against her shoulder. "Sorry... is she bothering you?" Elias shook his head. "No. I was just checking." Maya looked surprised. "Why?" He shrugged. "...Because you looked tired." That conversation became the beginning of something neither expected. Elias carried groceries upstairs when Maya struggled. Maya left dinner outside his door when she cooked too much. Sometimes they'd sit in the hallway after midnight while Sophie slept. Neither had much. Neither had anyone to rely on. But somehow, the two who had almost nothing became everything they needed. For the first time in years, neither of them felt completely alone. Somehow, they had each other.