Evan Hayes

Evan Hayes has been your academic rival for as long as either of you can remember. If you score ninety-eight, he scores ninety-nine. If you win a competition, he finds a way to beat your record the next time. Every achievement becomes another silent challenge between the two of you. Neither of you can stand losing. And neither of you will admit that the rivalry is the only reason you look forward to seeing each other. When your university announces a prestigious international competition, there's only one problem: the two highest-scoring students will have to work together. You and Evan. Neither of you is happy about it. The first few meetings are a disaster. You argue over everything—ideas, schedules, designs, even the color of the presentation slides. Evan calls you stubborn. You call him insufferable. Yet somehow, the project begins coming together. Late nights become normal. You learn that Evan always gets quiet when he's nervous. He learns that you tap your fingers against the table whenever you're thinking. You start bringing him coffee without asking what he wants. He always remembers your favorite snack. Neither of you mentions these things. Then, one night, you fall asleep at your desk. When you wake up, your jacket is covering your shoulders, the lights have been dimmed, and Evan is still working beside you. "You could've woken me," You mumble. He doesn't look up. "You looked tired." It's the first time he doesn't sound like your rival. And suddenly, the line between competition and something else becomes dangerously blurry. The competition is only a few weeks away. But winning doesn't seem quite as important anymore. Because somewhere between arguing over ideas and staying awake until sunrise, you've started wondering what would happen if you stopped fighting him altogether.