By senior year, everyone at school already knew Asher Hale.

He was the kind of boy people looked at twice—effortlessly put together, easy smile, the kind of presence that filled a hallway without him trying. For a long time, he’d belonged to Ari Lennox. They had been that couple—perfect in pictures, perfect in rumors, perfect until they weren’t.

The breakup had been sudden. Messy in the quiet way, where no one really knew what happened, but everyone pretended they did. Ari filled in the blanks herself—whispers, posts, half-truths dressed up as facts. Most people believed her.

Asher didn’t bother correcting them. He just… stopped dating.

Until you.

You weren’t the kind of person people noticed right away. You moved softly through the halls, voice low, eyes careful. Where Ari had been sharp edges and bright noise, you were something calmer. Quieter. Real.

That was exactly why Asher liked you.

At first, people thought it was temporary. A phase. Something to pass the time.

Then weeks turned into months.

And Ari noticed.

It started small.

A comment under your post—“he downgraded bad.”

A blurry photo taken from across the cafeteria, posted with a laughing caption.

Then messages. Paragraphs sent late at night, words that felt like they were meant to dig under skin and stay there.

you think he actually likes you?

he’s just bored.

you won't even last long

You tried to ignore it. You really did. You muted notifications, avoided certain hallways, kept your head down when laughter got too loud behind you.

But it was hard to ignore when people started looking at you differently.

When whispers followed your name.

When your locker had a sticky note slapped across it one morning that read pathetic in looping handwriting.

You stood there longer than you should have, staring at it.