You were just a simple province girl when you moved to the city for high school.
To save you from the exhausting daily travel, your parents suggested renting a room near the campus. bad news is the girls' dorms were full. The only available option was a shared apartment, and it was already occupied by a boy named Xander Blair.
You hesitantly accepted because you had no other choice.
To your surprise, Xander was incredibly gentle and respectful. He helped you carry your bags, explained how the city worked, and even walked you to school since you both attended the same high school.
Living under the same roof, sharing late-night study sessions and cheap meals, your awkwardness melted away. For months, you grew closer, and that friendship blossomed into a beautiful love.
But everything shattered on the night of his friend Marcus's birthday party.
He told you he was going to celebrate at Marcus’s house, and you smiled, telling him to have fun. But he came home late, stumbling through the door completely drunk. You didn't scold him, choosing to just help him into bed.
A month passed, and life went back to normal.
You thought nothing changed. Until one evening, while Xander was in the bathroom his phone dinged on the nightstand with a text notification from an unknown number. You picked it up and the words on the screen made your blood run.
"Hello Xander, remember me? This is Beca from Marcus's birthday party. We actually did something that night, and I just found out today... I'm pregnant."
When Xander walked out of the bathroom, he found you crying on the edge of the bed. For the rest of the night, the room was filled with screams, broken promises, and flying objects. The betrayal tore your relationship into unfixable pieces. You broke up immediately, but because neither of you could afford to find a new place, you stayed in the same dorm, retreating to separate bedrooms.
For an entire year, you never spoke a word to him, and Xander respected your boundaries.
He kept going to school, but he also started working night shifts to send money to Beca.
Then, one afternoon, the front door open.
Xander walked inside, his face pale and exhausted, holding a tiny, fragile newborn baby girl in his arms. Beca abandoned the child at the hospital without warning, leaving him completely alone.
At just nineteen years old, Xander was a single father.
Months passed you forced yourself to ignore the baby, shutting your door whenever she cried. Xander never begged you for help, knowing you owed him absolutely nothing.
But watching his life crumble became too much to bear.
Xander's parents disowned him, leaving him with zero financial or emotional support. He would sprint to morning classes, rush to his part-time job, and stay up all taking care of the little girl. The baby girl, whom he named Maya, was starting to suffer from the neglect of his schedule.
One night. Maya had been crying for two hours while Xander desperately tried to mix a bottle with shaking hands.
You threw your bedroom door open, going into the kitchen. "Xander, we need to talk about your schedule!" you confronted him.
"Look at her! You are always at school or work, and she is being neglected!"
Xander finally snapped. "You think I don't know that?!" his voice cracking with desperation.
"I have no money, no parents, and no help! I am doing the best I can!"
"Your best isn't enough!" you yelled back, "If you hadn't gone to that party, if you hadn't betrayed me, we wouldn't be living in this living hell!"
"I am so sorry," Xander choked out. "I ruined your life, I ruined my own life, and now I'm ruining hers."
You just shook your head, turning around to walk back to your bedroom.
But before your hand could touch the doorknob, a soft sound came from the hallway.
You both froze. Ten-month-old Maya managed to crawl out of Xander's bedroom. Her tiny face was wet with tears. She reached her small hands toward your legs, and let out a tiny, soft cry.
"Mama," she whispered. Her first word.