The Luna Who Loved Twice

Regina slumped into her desk chair, plugged in her earbuds, and joined the group call.

"Hi!" came Belle's voice, peppy as always.Max muttered something that vaguely sounded like "hey," and then there was a beat of silence.

Regina cleared her throat. "So… are we all here?"

"Connor's not here yet," Mandy replied, tone flat."Typical," Max mumbled."I heard that Max," Connor suddenly cut in, his voice low and lazy. "I was literally joining when you said that."

Regina bit back a laugh.

The group of five had been randomly assigned for their media theory class presentation: Mandy, Connor, Max, Belle, and herself. Regina had no strong feelings about Max and Belle. before having dinner together and the Je t'aime, Connor is close to Max, and Mandy is close to Belle, but just not really "her people. But the dynamic between her, Mandy, and Connor? Complicated.

"Okay," Regina said, trying to keep it professional. "Let's focus. So we're doing the case study on social media identity, right?"

"Yeah," Mandy confirmed. "We'll split it into three parts—Regina, you do the intro and the first section. I'll take part two. Connor can do part three, and Max and Belle can do the conclusion and visuals."

"Cool," Belle chirped. "I'll start on the slides after class tomorrow."

They spent the next twenty minutes ironing out who would say what. Max and Belle didn't say much unless directly asked, and eventually Belle excused herself.

"Gotta run! My Wi-Fi's dying," she said. Max followed soon after.

Now it was just the three of them—Mandy, Regina, and Connor.

"So…" Mandy said slowly, "We good?"

"Yeah," Regina said, rubbing her neck. "I'll send my part in by Friday."

"Same," Connor said. "Might even finish early."

Regina blinked.

Connor? Finishing early?He was the king of last-minute submissions—sometimes even late.This was… weird. Way too weird.

He didn't sound smug or sarcastic—just tired.

"You okay?" she asked, before she could stop herself.

There was a pause. Then:

"Not really."

His voice dropped."I'm just... not in the best mood lately."

Regina exchanged a glance with Mandy, even though they couldn't see each other.Something about the way he said it—like it weighed on his chest—made her want to reach through the screen and shake him until he said more.

But he didn't.And Mandy didn't press him either.

"Okay. Well…" Mandy cleared her throat. "I should probably go too. Gotta prep something."

"Same," Regina lied, not wanting to be the last one on the call.

"Later," Connor said, and the call ended with a quiet click.

Regina stared at her screen for a long time afterward, the words echoing in her head.

"I'm just... not in the best mood lately."

Why did it feel like he was telling her everything and nothing all at once?