The rumor didn’t start at the pep rally.

It ended there—sealed and unquestioned.

By the time Ethan stepped onstage beside Mia, the crowd was already waiting for proof. They leaned forward like they’d paid for the reveal, like this was the moment the university’s favorite story would finally be official.

Mia gave it to them.

She stood close, confident, fingers brushing his arm as if it had always been hers. She laughed into the mic, bright and easy, and the crowd responded like it was natural—like they’d been right all along.

I stood near the back, swallowed by noise.

“Called it,” someone said behind me. “Power couple,” another agreed.

Ethan wasn’t smiling.

His gaze drifted over the sea of faces, skipping past phones and banners and cheers—until it landed on me.

I felt it like a pull.

His shoulders tensed. The charm slipped. For half a second, the mask cracked, and there he was—the same boy who knew my coffee order, who slept on the phone with me when exams got heavy, who whispered my name like it wasn’t something he was afraid of.

His fingers flexed, like he wanted to reach.

Mia noticed.

She stepped closer, looping her arm through his with practiced ease. Cameras flashed. The crowd roared.

Ethan froze.

He didn’t pull away.

That was all the confirmation anyone needed.

By the time the music swelled and the rally wrapped up, the story had already written itself. Ethan Reyes and Mia Valdez. The heartthrob and the cheer captain. Obvious. Perfect. Real.

I turned before it could hurt more.

“Hey—wait.”

His voice was right behind me, rough, urgent. He caught up near the edge of the field, grabbing my wrist before I could disappear into the crowd.

“Please,” he said. “Don’t walk away like this.”

I stopped but didn’t face him. “Like what?”

“Like it’s over.”

I finally looked at him then. His eyes were frantic, searching my face like he was afraid of what he might find. “You stood there,” I said quietly. “And let them believe it.”

“I didn’t choose her,” he said immediately.

“You didn’t stop it either.”

People were starting to notice—slowing down, glancing our way, curiosity sparking. Mia’s laughter floated somewhere behind him.

“This isn’t the place,” I murmured.

His grip loosened, not wanting to trap me. “I was going to say something. I swear.”

I nodded slowly. “Just… not in time.”

I stepped back.

From a distance, it probably looked like a breakup. Like a girl walking away from a guy who finally realized what he lost.

But as I passed him, I said softly, “We’ll talk. Just not here. Not like this.”

His breath hitched. “You’re not leaving me.”

“No,” I replied. “I’m just tired of being invisible.”

I walked away before he could answer.