Just when I thought the day couldn't get any crazier than it had already been, I got a text from Levi.
Hey, are you free?
I looked at the screen for a bit and thought about whether I wanted to put myself out there, socially, but something in me wanted to be distracted, and also wanted company that came without contracts and other agendas. So, I replied yes, and not five minutes later, he texted me asking what was wrong because I, apparently, "sounded off."
I told him not to worry about it, but of course, Levi wouldn't let it go. He asked if I wanted to go out for dinner with him. And, it could've been my fatigue, could've been the emotional roller coaster that had been today, but I said yes.
I stepped outside of my house, and there was Levi casually resting against his car like he owned the street. I blinked. He grinned. I asked how the hell he knew where I lived and he just said he might've "tracked" my location like it was so socially acceptable to admit to.
I couldn't even be bothered to argue.
He asked me where I wanted to go and I told him I just wanted a pizza. Something greasy and cheesy and simple. He nodded and opened the door for me too.
Once we arrived at the restaurant and ordered, he leaned back a little, gave me that look, you know the one that says talk to me, I can handle anything, and so I told him everything.
I told him everything fell apart on the same day. I told him how my student loan company had called me to immediately pay back the whole loan, within twenty-four hours. I told him how my dad's vet's office was probably going to be locked up because he didn't pay his landlord, and my brother was warned against hiis tuition fees being overdue, again. Everything I told Levi just came out in a long, worn-out sentence that I never realized I had been holding in all this time.
He never interrupted me. Levi just listened and nodded.
I told him how Aria offered to help because of course she did. That woman is a superhero in a fashion goddess disguise. She said she would figure out my dad's vet office, and my brother's tuition, and I was too exhausted to fight her.
When I finished, I expected Levi to say something supportive or to make me laugh. And then he said he would just take care of my student loan. Just like that.
At first, I laughed, thinking he was joking. But he was serious. He said he had the money and didn't see why a friend couldn't help a friend out. I told him that it was too much—I wasn't going to take something that big—but he shrugged and said I owed him nothing.
Just my smile.
That was all.
I doubt he even knows how much this moment meant to me.
And for the first time all day, I felt the lightest flicker of hope in my heart—that maybe I wasn't actually drowning after all.
The next day, I woke with a discomfort in my chest that was not one of slumber. Not the kind that fades with a stretch or a yawn—but a deeper one. A quiet pressure like my ribs are holding back a scream I'd been unaware I'd been storing.
You know that feeling? That eerie, unstable moment before the floodgate opens? When the rest of the world stays quiet, but you're aware something is rising?
Yeah. That.
My phone was ringing on the nightstand, loud in the silence. I opened my eyes from the haze of half-asleep, heart already yanking itself into wakefulness. Two notifications lit up the screen—one from Aria. One from Levi.
Aria: Something's wrong. The payment isn't going through. I've tried twice. Bank says it's a technical issue, but I don't trust it. I'll keep trying.
Levi: Hey. Weird thing—my transfer got rejected. Tried again, same result. My account's fine, but something's off. You sure the info's correct?
My stomach hit the floor. Hard.
I sat up, heart thudding too loud for what should've been a minor glitch. My sleepy fingers, still fumbling, scrolled back to read the messages—again—as if they'd somehow be different. As if this would somehow make more sense the second time around.
But the words did not change.
And my fear grew.
This wasn't part of the plan. This wasn't supposed to happen. We were past the worst of it—at least, I'd let myself believe we were… I thought…I thought I found a way. Help was finally within reach. A light at the end of the endless hustle just barely visible. I'd dared to loosen my grip, just a little, just enough to imagine breathing again.
Now? That flicker was dying out.
I opened my banking app with a knot already knotted in my gut. Still no sign of Dad's transfer. And when I tried calling the landlord's number he'd given me, it went straight to voicemail─ again.
I told myself it could still be a coincidence. A hiccup in the system. A bad network day. But deep down, something within me was sounding the alarm.
This isn't random.This feels like a hand, an imaginary one but deliberate, pressing down.
And the worst part? I couldn't tell if I was being paranoid… or if I wasn't paranoid enough.
Whatever this was, it was deliberate. Clean. Like someone—or something—was two steps ahead. And I was only now realizing the trap that I had already fallen into.
The world turned beneath me slightly. Just enough to make me question where solid ground had ever been.
And this time…I couldn't determine if there was one.
****
The hours were slipping through my fingers like sand through a storm - chaotic, relentless, vicious. Every second that passed felt like a countdown and I felt like I was in the center of an hourglass collapsing, buried alive under time I would never receive back.
I could not stop refreshing my phone. My thumb was on autopilot, screen flicking from home to messages to my banking app and back again, waiting for a miracle. A ping. A change. Anything.
Then - two messages arrived in quick succession.
Aria.
Levi.
Both with the same horrifying echo.
Aria: Payment failed again. System's showing 'authorization blocked.' Trying again.
Levi: Still not processing. I don't understand. Shouldn't be this complicated.
I sat there, frozen. My chest was tight. My skin felt clammy, a cold sweat erupting from within as if somehow my body was aware of what my mind simply refused to allow. This can't be happening.
Not now.
Not when we were on the brink of hope, the first inklings of it stabilizing. This was when things were supposed to level out. When our nightmare began to slow down, not necessarily stop- just slow down but everything felt like it was cracking and I felt my time slipping away.
Three hours.
That was all I had left before everything fell apart.
Before the locks came down on my father's vet clinic. Before the university locked my brother's account, leaving him unsure when the unthinkable would occur. Before the debt collectors called with their auto-generated sympathy and cold politeness. Before the weight of the world—actually—crushed me for once.
"I don't…" I gasped, the word barely a whisper, as if I spoke it, it would be true. "No, no, no…"
I put my hand on my forehead, I was trying to breathe, to think but there was somehow no air. My lungs began to struggle against the heightened panic, the hum in my ears was deepening, threatening to drown everything out.
And then my phone rang.
Aria.
I answered without a greeting.
"Still nothing?" My voice trembled, thinner than I meant.
"No," she replied, breathing deeply. "Levi tried again too. I even went down to the bank in person and talked to someone. They're just… coonfused. No red flags on the account. No blocks that they can find. It's like the system itself is blocking the payments. Like something—or someone—is specifically stopping them."
I felt my blood drain from my face.
My voice struggled to work. "So it's not just me."
"I knew it. This isn't a glitch."
"I concur," Aria said softly. "And I know you won't like this, but Izzy… you may have to think about Adrien."
The name struck me like ice water.
"What?" I gasped.