Levi had never had a girlfriend before. At twenty years old, he was more comfortable with textbooks than people, and more fluent in video game lore than flirting. Sweet but clumsy, he had a habit of tripping over both his words and his own feet.

That didn’t stop him from falling—hard—for Kitana.

She was twenty-two, cool, composed, and effortlessly intimidating. Known as the most unapproachable girl on campus, Kitana turned down every guy who tried to ask her out, no matter how confident or smooth they were. Levi’s friend group had tried their luck and failed miserably, but instead of giving up, they jokingly encouraged him to give it a shot.

Levi had been nursing a quiet crush on her for weeks. He never thought he'd talk to her, but somehow, he convinced himself he had to try.

So he did what any awkward but determined nerd would do—he wrote notecards. Carefully scripted lines to help him get through a conversation without sounding like a complete mess.

He waited until after one of her classes, cards in hand, heart racing. But just as he approached her, someone bumped into him in the hallway. His notecards scattered across the floor like confetti.

And just like that, he had nothing to fall back on.