Rhapsody

I wasn’t supposed to fall. Then I saw her.

The first time I noticed Ariana Skyee, she was storming out of a lecture hall, furious at a professor twice her size and not caring who saw it.

I fell in love right there.

I’m Cal Remus. I’m seventeen years old and I live on a planet that was built to save us — but I’m starting to think it might destroy us instead. My father brings home classified files he shouldn’t. Earth is in pieces below us, but people survived and life goes on. The grown-ups are lying about all of it.

But this isn’t a story about any of that. Not yet.

This is the story of a boy who watches a girl from across a target range, who lies awake imagining what she’s thinking, who sets his alarm before dawn just to share a track with her — and gets shut down every single time.

Ariana doesn’t know me yet. She doesn’t want to.

I’m going to change her mind. Or break my heart trying.

Note: This prequel short story is narrated solely from Cal Remus’ point of view, and it depicts the events leading up to the introduction of “The Calling.” It is only available to newsletter subscribers. This book was previously published as Lovestruck (True Calling #1.5). It has undergone a makeover in 2026, and it has been re-edited. The story has not changed.