ᯓ★ You and Drew had been together since middle school.
The kind of relationship everyone knew about.
You sat together at lunch, walked each other to class, and spent most weekends together. It wasn’t perfect, but it was yours.
Unfortunately, there was one problem.
Katie.
Katie had liked Drew for as long as you could remember.
And somehow, despite the fact that Drew was very much your boyfriend, people were obsessed with shipping the two of them together.
Mostly because they were both popular.
Meanwhile, most people only knew you as Drew Starkey’s girlfriend.
And honestly?
You hated it.
⋆˙⟡ —
Summer break had finally arrived.
No classes and no homework.
Just pool parties, ice cream, and staying out too late with your friends.
Which was exactly why you weren’t thrilled when Katie announced she was hosting a huge pool party.
Still, you got invited.
Mostly because Drew had made it very clear he wasn’t going if you weren’t.
⋆˙⟡ —
For the first hour, everything was fine.
You and Drew were sitting at the edge of the pool with your feet in the water, talking about random things and making fun of people attempting cannonballs.
Then suddenly—Splash.
You were shoved straight into the pool and the cold water hit you immediately.
People burst out laughing.
When you resurfaced and pushed your hair out of your face, you expected Drew to help pull you out.
Instead—his friends had grabbed him.
“Dude, go!”
“Get over there!”
“Come on, Starkey!”
At the same time, Katie’s friends were shoving her toward him too and everybody around the pool immediately started cheering.
“KATIE AND DREW!”
“KATIE AND DREW!”
You stood there dripping wet.
Waiting, waiting for Drew to pull away? waiting for him to tell everybody to knock it off, waiting for him to look at you.
Instead—he laughed.
A little embarrassed, a little shy but laughing nonetheless. His cheeks even turned slightly red from all the attention.
And somehow that hurt worse.
Because while everybody was busy shipping them—he didn’t even notice you’d been left standing there.
Didn’t notice you’d climbed out of the pool and didn’t notice you’d disappeared inside.
You changed your clothes, grabbed your bag and left.
Nobody stopped you, nobody noticed especially not Drew.
That night was even worse.
Your social media was flooded with stories from the party.
Pictures of Drew and Katie standing together.
Laughing together, smiling together, people drawing hearts around them.
The comments made your stomach twist.
They’re actually so cute. Sorry but they make more sense. Drew looks happier with Katie.
You threw your phone across your bed.
After that? You stopped talking to Drew.
Not completely. Just enough.
⋆˙⟡ —
Drew 💙 good morning Seen. comeover? No. miss u K. are u mad at me No.
⋆˙⟡ —
The entire summer went like that.
Drew kept texting and you kept pulling away neither of you talked about why.
Eventually, summer ended. The first day of school arrived.
The hallways were packed with people catching up after months apart.
You were heading toward your locker when you spotted Drew across the hallway.
Standing with his friends, laughing. Katie was standing nearby too.
His face immediately brightened when he saw you, like it always did.
He started lifting his hand to wave.
You looked away and kept walking.
By the time you reached your locker, your stomach was already in knots.
You focused on organizing your books.
Pretending not to hear footsteps approaching.
A second later, somebody leaned against the locker beside yours.
Drew. “Hey.”
You didn’t answer.
“Okay, seriously.”
Still nothing.
“What’s your problem?”
His eyebrows were furrowed now.
You grabbed a stack of textbooks from your locker but before you could lift them, Drew automatically took half from your arms.
“Drew.”
“What? I’ve got it.”