Lily looked over at the place where Adam usually sat.
The seat near the window.
The very desk where he was accustomed to setting his laptop and notebook, listening to the lecture while occasionally sketching small notes in the margins of the pages.
The place was empty.
Her eyes remained fixed there for moments, as though waiting for him to suddenly appear, to enter late as he sometimes did, or to see him raise his gaze to her with a faint smile.
Yet nothing.
Only an empty seat.
She felt a slight tightness in her chest.
Why did his absence disturb her to this degree?
She tried to return her focus to the blackboard, yet her eyes lingered for an extra second on that spot.
The professor’s voice continued in the background.
“…and therefore, the choice of antenna design relies fundamentally on the operational frequency and wavelength…” Then he paused briefly.
He looked over his glasses at the class.
“Lily Dubois.” She did not move.
She was still lost in her thoughts.
“Lily Dubois?” A few students turned to look at her.
Yet she did not notice.
Her mind was somewhere else entirely.
In their last conversation.
In his silence.
In the switched-off phone.
And in the question to which she found no answer.
The professor smiled faintly, tapping his pen on the desk before him.
“Miss Dubois.” This time his voice rose slightly.
The female student sitting beside her lightly touched her arm.
“Lily…” Lily started, as if suddenly pulled back into the hall.
She looked around in confusion.
Then she raised her eyes to the professor.
“Yes?” A brief silence fell over the hall.
The professor looked at her and said calmly: “I was asking you about the point I explained a moment ago.
If the frequency of a signal changes while the propagation speed remains constant, what happens to the wavelength?” She froze for a moment.
She knew the answer.
In fact, it was one of the concepts she loved understanding most.
Yet her mind needed seconds to return to physics instead of Adam.
She looked at the blackboard, then said in a low voice: “The wavelength decreases…
because speed equals frequency multiplied by wavelength.
If the frequency increases, the wavelength must decrease to maintain a constant speed.” The professor nodded his head.
“Correct.” Then he added: “I knew you knew the answer; I just wanted to make sure you were here in the hall with us.” A few students laughed softly.
As for Lily, she felt slightly embarrassed.
She lowered her gaze to her notebook.
And when she opened the page…
She saw the name she had written moments ago.
Adam.
She quickly placed her hand over it, as if attempting to hide the evidence even from herself.
Yet the question remained within her: If Adam were here right now…
Would he have noticed that she was not paying attention?
And would he have smiled, or remained silent?
The lecture finally came to an end.
The professor closed the book before him and said: “That will be all for today.
I want you to review the section regarding electromagnetic wave applications, and we will discuss the examples in the next lecture.” The hall began filling with the sounds of movement.
Students closed their laptops.
Pens were packed into bags.
Chairs began shifting, and the quiet that had filled the hall transformed into a soft chaos of conversations and footsteps.
As for Lily…
The moment she heard the word “finished,” she shut her notebook quickly.
She did not even care to arrange her papers as she always did.
She stuffed everything inside her bag haphazardly, then stood up.
Her eyes were searching before she even moved.
Adam’s usual place.
Yet the seat remained empty.
She felt a small touch of disappointment, but she did not let it stop her.
She left the hall quickly.
The corridors were crowded with students emerging from other lectures.
Her eyes moved between faces.
Every person passing before her made her look for a moment.
Perhaps it would be him.
Yet no.
She continued walking.
She went first to the corridor near the engineering laboratories.
The place Adam passed by frequently after lectures.
She did not find him.
She looked inside the laboratory through the glass.
A few students were working on their projects.
Yet Adam was not there.
She brought her phone out of her pocket.
She looked at the screen.
No messages.
No calls.
His last seen status remained unchanged.
She stared at the phone for seconds, then lowered it.
“Where are you, Adam?” She said it in a very low voice.
She pursued her search.
She went to the cafeteria.
The sounds were louder there.
Students sitting around tables, others standing engaged in talk.
She looked into every corner.
Nothing.
She felt that the anxiety was beginning to transform into something heavier.
It was not merely that she wanted to see him.
She wanted to know.
To understand what was happening.
To end that silence between them.
She exited the cafeteria and headed toward the main courtyard of the university.
The air was slightly cold, and students were scattered everywhere.
She paused for a moment.
She looked around.
One place after another.
Every place he could possibly be in.
Yet Adam did not appear.
She began to feel that perhaps there was a genuine reason behind his absence.
Not merely that he was avoiding her.
Perhaps something had happened.
She tightened her bag strap on her shoulder, then brought out her phone once more.
She hesitated briefly.
Her thumb hovered over his name in the contact list.
Should she call him?
Should she wait?
Would she make him feel that she was pressuring him?
She remained standing in the middle of the courtyard, phone in hand.
Then she whispered to herself: “Adam…
where are you?” Lily began moving among the students in the courtyard.
She no longer wished to wait.
If she could not find him herself, she would ask about him.
She approached a group of students standing near the main building.
“Excuse me…” They turned to her.
“Do you know Adam Russo?” A brief silence ensued.
They looked at one another.
Then one of them smiled.
“Adam Russo?” He repeated the name as though trying to recall it.
Another student chuckled softly and said: “Russo?
The name sounds very foreign.” Lily did not appreciate his tone, but she ignored the comment.
“Yes, he studies here.
Faculty of Science and Engineering.” One of the students shrugged his shoulders.
“Don’t know him.” And another said quickly: “Sorry, I don’t think I know him.” Yet the manner in which they said it made her feel that they perhaps preferred not to get involved.
She moved to another group.
“Hello, have you seen Adam Russo?” One of the female students smiled upon hearing the name.
“Adam Russo?
The one with dark hair?” Lily raised her eyes quickly.
“Yes, him.” The student exchanged a look with her friend, then said: “No, I haven’t seen him today.” Lily had felt a flicker of hope when she thought she was about to learn something, but it vanished rapidly.
She continued walking.
She asked anyone she thought might know him.
Some answered that they did not know.
Some merely smiled because of the foreign name.
And one student remarked jokingly: “Is he that famous that everyone is looking for him?” Lily did not smile.
She was in no mood for jokes.
“I just need to find him.” She said it calmly, yet carrying clear anxiety.
After several attempts, she stood for a moment beside the stairs leading to the building.
She looked out at the vast courtyard stretching before her.
She had not found Adam.
Nor had she found any answer.
She felt frustrated.
Yet she did not give up.
For she knew Adam.
She knew the places he preferred.
And the only thing left for her…
Was to search in the places no one ever asks about.