Chapter One: A Quiet Fire

The heat of Liberia's coastal air hung heavy over Monrovia, thick as the smoke that rose from the burning piles of rubber and trash along the roads. Even in the early hours of the morning, the sun pressed down like a weight, its golden glow casting everything in a haze of expectation.

Kendall didn't mind the heat. She had learned to breathe through it, to smile through it, just like everyone else. In the city where the past and present collided, where freedom was as slippery as the wet mud after a rainstorm, people had learned to keep moving. She walked through the bustling streets, past vendors selling pineapple slices and fried plantains, past the old woman who always asked for change with a smile that didn't quite reach her eyes.

Kendall had lived in Monrovia her whole life. She had witnessed the city's beauty and its scars, its laughter and its silence. But today, her thoughts weren't on the city's pulse. They were on him—Juma.

Juma, with his easy smile and the kind of confidence that filled a room even before he spoke. Juma, who made her heart race when he called her name, but also left a lingering ache in her chest whenever he walked away.

The first time they met was at a party. A party thrown by people who seemed to forget that war had just ended and that a fragile peace still hung in the air like the scent of burning wood. The music was loud, too loud, but it felt right. That's where she had seen him—dancing in the crowd, with the same carefree energy as the young men in the streets who still believed in a future.

Kendall had tried to ignore the way he looked at her. The way his eyes found hers in a sea of strangers. She had tried to ignore the way he made her feel. The way he made everything feel a little brighter, a little sharper. But she hadn't succeeded.

They spent the whole night talking, laughing, and slowly unraveling their stories. She told him about growing up in a house where love was rare, and he told her about the mother he had lost too soon. The connection was undeniable, but so was the fear of it. Fear of falling too hard in a city where promises were as fragile as the people who made them.

Now, weeks later, Kendall wasn't sure where things stood. She wasn't sure if they were just a fleeting memory in each other's lives or something that could turn into something more. But one thing was for certain—she couldn't stop thinking about him.

And that was dangerous.