SHE ONLY DID HER CLASSMATES’ HOMEWORK FOR MONEY—UNTIL ONE LOVE LETTER CHANGED EVERYTHING
Chapter 3
Jason gave Elena the letter on Friday.
Mia wasn’t there.
She didn’t want to be.
She had no interest in watching someone else’s romantic confession.
Yet Jason returned to her table that afternoon looking unusually quiet.
Mia glanced up.
“Well?”
He sat down.
“She said yes.”
Mia nodded.
“Congratulations.”
Jason smiled.
“Thanks.”
“You’re welcome.”
Silence.
Then Jason laughed.
“You really don’t know how to celebrate, do you?”
“No.”
He shook his head.
“She loved the letter.”
Mia continued typing.
“Good.”
“She asked me if I wrote it.”
Mia stopped.
“What did you say?”
“I said yes.”
Mia stared at him.
“That’s dishonest.”
“I know.”
“You should have told her I wrote it.”
Jason shook his head.
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because the words were mine.”
Mia looked confused.
“I just arranged them.”
“Exactly.”
Jason leaned forward.
“You didn’t invent how I felt.”
Mia didn’t respond.
He stood.
“I’ll see you Monday.”
After he left, Mia stared at her screen.
She wasn’t sure why his words bothered her.
Maybe because they were true.
She had spent years believing writing was about constructing perfect sentences.
But that letter had been different.
She had taken Jason’s messy emotions and given them shape.
And somewhere along the way, she had felt something.
Not love.
Not yet.
Something smaller.
Curiosity.
Mia began noticing things she had previously ignored.
Couples holding hands near the library.
Students waiting for each other outside classrooms.
Friends sharing food.
People laughing without needing a reason.
She started wondering whether she had been missing something.
The following week, Jason approached her again.
“I need another favor.”
Mia looked up.
“What?”
“Dinner.”
“No.”
He laughed.
“Not with me.”
“I don’t understand.”
“Elena wants to meet the person who wrote the letter.”
Mia immediately shook her head.
“No.”
“Please.”
“No.”
“She thinks you’re my cousin.”
Mia stared at him.
“You lied again?”
“I panicked.”
“You’re terrible at this.”
“Please.”
Mia considered it.
“How long?”
“Thirty minutes.”
“Twenty.”
“Deal.”
That evening, Mia sat across from Jason and Elena at a small café.
Elena smiled warmly.
“So you’re Jason’s cousin?”
Mia looked at Jason.
He nodded quickly.
“Yes.”
Mia took a sip of water.
“Unfortunately.”
Elena laughed.
Jason nearly choked.
For the first time, Mia realized something.
Her joke had made someone laugh.
And she didn’t feel uncomfortable.
She listened as Elena talked.
She watched Jason look at Elena.
There was something different in his face.
Something Mia had never seen before.
Warmth.
Fear.
Hope.
He wasn’t embarrassed by it.
He didn’t try to hide it.
He simply felt it.
When dinner ended, Elena hugged Mia.
“I’m glad I met you.”
Mia froze.
She wasn’t used to hugs.
But she returned it awkwardly.
“Me too.”
On the walk home, Jason looked at her.
“You did great.”
“At what?”
“Being a person.”
Mia frowned.
“That sounds insulting.”
“It wasn’t.”
He laughed.
“You were relaxed.”
“I was pretending.”
“No.”
Jason shook his head.
“You weren’t.”
Mia looked at him.
For some reason, she believed him.
That night, she realized something frightening.
For twenty years, she had treated emotions like dangerous objects.
She had locked them away because she believed they would complicate her life.
But perhaps they weren’t dangerous.
Perhaps she simply hadn’t learned how to hold them.
