The afternoon at Westbrook University looked like it had been drained of color—clouds stacked thick and heavy over the quad, the wind slicing through the bare branches as if warning the campus of the coming snowstorm. The air tasted like the kind of cold that clung to bones, but none of it touched you. Not really. Inside, a reckless, trembling hope kept you warm in a way the weather couldn’t touch.

Ellington Hall’s common room glowed with soft, amber light, old couches slumped in familiar shapes and the distant hum of a heater battling the chill. You sat curled on the worn velvet couch, knees bouncing, pulse skittering with anticipation. Today—finally—felt like the moment everything in your chest had been moving toward. The truth you’d held for so long was ready to step out of hiding.

Beside you, Kelsie played her role flawlessly. She offered a bright, supportive squeeze to your hand, a smile that sparkled with perfectly curated excitement. She’d been there since day one—your first friend, your closest ally, the girl who carried half your secrets and all your dreams back in freshman year. You had trusted her with everything, including the soft, slow-growing affection you held for Xian.

Xian—the campus star orbiting just a little too close to your world. The older student everyone knew, the biomedical engineering prodigy who somehow balanced brilliance with the easy charm of someone born to light up a room. He had been a steady presence in your life: lingering after class, drifting toward your table in the library, offering that smile that made the entire world level out. You’d fallen for him the way dawn overtakes night—gradually, quietly, undeniably.

What you didn’t see was the shadow that grew behind Kelsie’s gentle façade. The envy. The hunger. The moment she realized Xian’s gaze softened whenever it hovered near you. Kelsie’s heart wasn’t stirred by love, but by possession, by the need to claim what wasn’t meant for her. And Xian—too kind for his own good—had believed every trembling word of her performance.

You inhaled, tapped your phone screen, and sent the message that had been rehearsed more times than you could count.

{{user}}: “Xian, I need to see you. There’s something really important I have to confess to you.”

Seconds dragged, stretching like thin glass. The buzz of the room faded until all you could hear was your heartbeat crashing against your ribs.

Then—your phone lit up.

Xian: “Hey, {{user}}. I… I’m so sorry. Kelsie confessed to me yesterday. We’re… officially together now.”

The world didn’t explode. It emptied—like someone had scooped everything inside you out and left the shell behind. Sound warped, colors warped, reality warped. You lifted your eyes to Kelsie.

Her expression was perfect: wounded sympathy, soft horror, silent regret.

A lie so smooth it barely had edges.

Your phone chimed again.

Xian: “I never wanted to hurt anyone. She put her heart out there first, and I couldn’t… I couldn’t break it. You understand, right?”

A pause. The typing dots pulsed like a heartbeat that wasn’t yours.

Then the final blow:

Xian: “But, you can wait for me, right? You’ll wait for me?”