The Year I Stopped Being His novel Chapter 59

The black SUV sped down the highway, the silence inside the cabin heavy and oppressive.

"Josh, you're a junior this year, right? Did you buy a car already?" Sloane broke the silence, trying to ease the tension.

"It's my professor's..."

"Professor? You mean Professor Harrison?"

"You know him?"

"Yeah, Coach Hayes mentioned him. He said Professor Harrison is leading the Deep Ice expedition. I heard he's the absolute authority in polar geology and has led multiple Antarctic missions. I'm really looking forward to meeting him!"

"Yeah, you'll meet him in a couple of days."

...

They made casual small talk, and thirty minutes later, the car pulled up outside Sloane's rented apartment building.

"Thanks. I can head up from here," Sloane said quietly as she unbuckled her seatbelt.

"I'll walk you to the door."

Josh had already unbuckled his own belt. He stepped out, rounded the hood, and opened the door for her.

Sloane offered a faint smile. "You're full of gentlemanly service today."

Josh walked with her to the entrance of her building. The streetlamps stretched their shadows long across the pavement. Sloane stopped and turned to him.

"Go on back, Josh. Drive safe."

Josh didn't respond immediately. He lifted his gaze, taking in her noticeably thinner face and the deep loneliness pooling in her eyes.

The feelings he had ruthlessly suppressed for five years threatened to rip through his chest. He wanted to pull her into his arms. He wanted to hold her tight and ask her what she had truly endured all these years.

"Sloane," Josh said, his voice hoarse.

"Great news, Garrison!" Zachary beamed. "Project Deep Ice—the expedition to harvest The White Microbe in Antarctica—has been officially greenlit. The mission is a go!"

Garrison took the file and flipped to the first page.

The document outlined the core team: two top-tier geologists from Northgate Institute of Technology, two elite divers from the National Aquatics Center, and one guide/logistics expert.

"Don't worry, every single one of them is the absolute best in their field," Zachary said confidently. "It's a phenomenally professional team."

Hearing the Dean's assurance, Garrison closed the file without reading further.

Because of that, he completely missed the second page, where the name 'Sloane Taylor' was clearly printed on the roster.

"When do they leave?"

"One month," Zachary replied. "The experts advised aiming for the Antarctic winter window. The unique metabolic activity of The White Microbe only thrives and concentrates in that specific, ultra-stable, freezing environment. The winter is brutal, but it's the absolute best window for scientific yield."