Worth It

The College AUCruz Manuelos is a senior at NYU, a track star on an athletic scholarship with no safety net and an uncertain future looming after graduation. The one thing she wasn’t prepared for? Developing an undeniable, impossible crush on her TA.Aaliyah Amrohi has spent years proving herself in academia, determined to carve out a future on her own terms despite the expectations of her family. As a PhD candidate, she’s supposed to be focused on her dissertation and research—not on the captivating student in her undergrad class whose confidence, sharp mind, and quiet vulnerability pull her in against her better judgment.What starts as just a little harmless admiration spirals into something far more complicated. A string of miscommunications, near-misses, and outside pressures keep them circling each other, unable to bridge the distance between them. Neither realizes how much they’re both holding back.But fate—and a few meddling friends—have other plans.As graduation looms and emotions reach their breaking point, Cruz and Aaliyah are faced with a choice: risk everything for the possibility of something real or walk away from a connection that might just be worth it.