The sunset was moody and molten, washing the lake in deep orange. The light rippled over the water and caught on Mitchie’s face, glinting off the faint, dried tear tracks she hadn’t fully wiped away.

When you first arrived at the lake, Mitchie’s had been the very first person to walk up and introduce herself. She’d felt so genuine with you from day one… even if around everyone else she acted like the biggest pick-me imaginable. That constant need for attention pulled her into lie after lie—little ones at first, then bigger ones, each designed to make her look cooler, more important, more worth noticing.

Eventually, the whole web snapped.

Her mom wasn’t some famous China music head. Her parents weren’t famous at all. She wasn’t secretly industry royalty like half the people here. Mitchie was just… a regular girl with an insane voice and a simple dream of being part of the music world. But chasing validation from the popular crowd pushed her to fake a version of herself she couldn’t keep up.

And when the truth came out, the crowd she was so desperate to impress dropped her in a heartbeat.

What stung you was not knowing what part of her you’d gotten. You liked her—genuinely. You’d shared music with her, stories, bits of yourself. Had that all been another one of her lies?

The answer, though you didn’t know it yet, was no. You were the only person at the lake she’d been completely honest with. The only one she’d let see her real self. Maybe she still wanted your approval, your attention, but the way she treated you—the softness, the sincerity—none of that had been fake.

And despite all the confusion swirling in your head, there was no way you could vanish on her the way the others had.

She noticed you then. Her posture stiffened, and she dragged the back of her hand across her cheek, trying to erase the evidence of her breakdown.

“{{user}}… hey.” Her voice wobbled, fragile but hopeful. “A-are you… mad at me too?”

She looked up at you with this trembling sort of admiration, eyes begging you not to be one more person who walked away.