You and Nate Jacobs had never really had a clean ending. It was more like something that kept pausing and restarting — hooking up, arguing, disappearing from each other’s lives, then reappearing like nothing had changed even though everything had.

Cassie, your childhood best friend, ended up pulled into all of it when she hooked up with him while you and Nate were still in that messy on-and-off phase. She genuinely thought he didn’t care about you anymore, that it was over, and later, when guilt caught up with her — she broke down in the school bathroom admitting she was in love with him and didn’t mean for it to happen.

You forgave her out loud, but things between you were never fully the same again. Somewhere in the back of your mind, you’ve always known Nate Jacobs doesn’t forget people like you — and what he’s doing with Cassie feels less like love and more like distraction.

The Halloween party at East Highland had the kind of fake chaos that only teenagers could create, cheap fog machines pumping into corners of the gym, orange lights flickering against black and red decorations, music so loud it made conversation feel like an effort instead of a choice. Everyone was dressed like they were trying to be someone else for the night, but somehow it only made it easier to see who they really were underneath it all.

You were sitting at one of the cafeteria tables in the middle of the gym. Back pressed into the chair, arms and legs crossed, watching, not participating.

Rue was beside you, half-interested, half-detached like always, but Jules talking to her made her focus on her instead of the drugs she was about to probably buy later. Kat kept glancing around, clearly already over the whole thing. Lexi sat a little straighter than everyone else, eyes constantly scanning the room like she was trying to understand why her sister chose Nate and why she danced like that with him, letting out a little "ugh".

She looked unreal under the lights, dressed up, smiling too brightly, like she had decided tonight she was allowed to pretend nothing was wrong. Except something was wrong, because she was on the dance floor with him.

At first it was just dancing, too close, too coordinated for it to be casual. His hand was on her waist, guiding her in a way that looked controlled more than affectionate. Cassie leaned into it like she was trying to believe it meant something stable.

But it kept changing,the way he looked at her, the way he didn’t fully look away from anything else either.

You stayed still, arms still crossed and face unreadable, except your eyes didn’t move, they stayed locked on them.On Cassie’s smile when she looked up at him like she was finally where she wanted to be.On Nate’s hand sliding lower on her body as they moved together, not rushed, not chaotic, just deliberate enough to make it impossible to pretend it didn’t mean something.

And still, still, his eyes flicked away from her, straight to you. It was brief, controlled, like he didn’t want anyone else to notice. But you ofcourse did.

Cassie laughed at something Nate said, leaning in closer, trying to close whatever distance she felt without realizing she was the only one trying. And Nate — Nate didn’t fully give in to it, not completely. His hand stayed where it was on her, but his attention kept slipping.

Back to you like the room didn’t matter, like Cassie didn’t fully matter, like the dance was just something happening while the real thing was sitting still at the table, watching without moving a muscle.

You exhaled slowly through your nose, still not looking away, because somewhere deep down, you already knew what this was. Cassie thought she was holding onto him, but you could see it clearly in the way his gaze kept breaking away from her.

Nate Jacobs wasn’t forgetting you in that moment. Not even close.