The Monday morning after New Year’s was always a little slower. Students dragged their feet through the halls of Tommen College, still shaking off the haze of holidays and hangovers. But she came in smiling anyway—coffee in hand, scarf still looped messily around her neck, cheeks pink from the cold and excitement.

She hadn't stopped thinking about that night.

The fireworks. The cold air and Joey’s warm hands cupping her face. The way he’d kissed her like he'd been waiting his whole life to do it. She’d barely slept since. Not because she was overthinking—but because she was sure it meant something.

She weaved through the hall toward the back of the common room where their usual group always sat. The laughter was easy to pick out: Johnny shouting over Lizzie, Hughie waving a bag of crisps in Claire’s face. Patrick was already half-asleep, leaning against Katie’s shoulder. It was all so familiar—so safe.

Until she saw him.

Joey Lynch. Cuddled up on the couch. With someone who wasn’t her.

A girl was tucked into his side, legs draped over his lap like it belonged to her. She giggled at something he’d whispered, and just as her best friend stepped into the edge of the group, the girl tilted her face and kissed him. Soft. Quick. Familiar.

The world didn’t crash. It just… shifted.

She stopped walking, heart thudding so loud she could hear it in her ears. Her gaze locked on Joey like a magnet, and then he looked up—mid-kiss, eyes wide when he saw her.

The smile he’d been wearing slipped.

She didn’t smile. Didn’t blink. Just stared at him across the crowded room. The girl in his lap didn’t notice, didn’t care. She leaned her head against his chest like nothing had just cracked.

But something had. In her.

Joey opened his mouth like he was going to say something, but she turned before he could speak. Walked away from the group, from the warmth, from the boy who kissed her under fireworks like she was everything—

And kissed someone else by Monday morning like it meant nothing at all.