Chapter 1
Chapter 1
Sean and I were almost breaking up. Again.
The day I planned to apologize, I drew a dare at a party: steal food from the top student’s plate.
Everyone expected Sean to stop me.
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Sean, always ranked second, just scoffed. “Go ahead. Why not seduce him while you’re at it? Tank his grad
- I don’t care.”
Comments flashed before my eyes-phantom spectators of my life:
【Classic prideful jerk. One kind word from Ava and he’d crumble.】
【He’s been obsessively scrolling your chats since the fight, yet pushes you away.】
[Just dump him. The top student’s had a crush on you forever.]
glanced at indifferent Sean, then picked up my fork. “Fine,” I said, voice steady. “I’ll try.”
Then, softer: “Besides… I’ve wanted to meet him anyway.”
Sean and I were on the verge of breaking up. Again.
t started with a game of Truth or Dare. Sean drew a dare: kiss your girlfriend in front of everyone.
Sean was my childhood best friend and, as of this summer, my boyfriend. He had a touch of separatior anxiety; growing up, we’d never been apart for more than five days. We’d made things official over the sum ner break, and I thought we were solid.
Our friends erupted into a chorus of cheers. “Kiss her! Kiss her!”
My heart hammered against my ribs. I clutched the hem of my shirt, hoping this was my chance to make up
with him after our latest fight.
But his face went cold. “I’m not kissing her. It’s embarrassing.”
His
gaze drifted over me, light and dismissive. “Her grades on the last test were a disaster. I don’t want peo- ›le knowing I have a girlfriend who’s that dumb.”
Olivia, sitting next to him, let out a little snort of laughter. “Ava can be a bit slow, can’t she? You should really help tutor your own girlfriend, Sean.” She nudged him playfully. “You helped me catch up when I transferred nere, remember?”
Sean leaned back in his chair, a smirk playing on his lips as he looked at her. “It’s not the same. She is what she is-all beauty, no brains. You’re different. Tutoring her would be a waste of time.”
froze, the words hitting me like a physical slap. A hot wave of shame washed over my face, burning all the
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way to my ears. The truth was, I consistently aced English and History, topping the school rankings, and m other subjects weren’t that bad. I’d only fallen behind because I was out sick for half a semester.
Olivia wrapped her arm around his shoulders, her hair brushing against his neck in a way that was far to familiar. “You know, it’s like one of those steamy stories online. The hot couple studying together, and whe she gets a question wrong, you pull her over your knee and… teach her a lesson.”
Sean chuckled. “What are you talking about? She’s not a kid anymore.”
Olivia tilted her head, her expression a mask of innocence. “Then how come you only tease me like that You threatened to do the same thing to me when I messed up on that problem set.”
I sat there, feeling small and utterly out of place.
Come to think of it, Olivia was the reason Sean and I were fighting in the first place.
Last week was my birthday. Sean had promised to celebrate with me, but he never showed up. In the middl of my party, I video-called him. Olivia was the one who answered.
“What do you want?” she’d asked, a bored look on her face.
I was stunned. “Is his phone… with you?”
“Yeah, so?” she shot back, annoyed.
A knot formed in my stomach. Sean was fiercely territorial about his things. I was the only person he ever le touch his phone.
A moment later, Sean took the phone from her, his voice softening. “Ava? What’s up?”
Before I could speak, Olivia cut in, her voice loud enough for me to hear clearly. “It’s all your fault, Sean. I tol
you not to worry about it, but you insisted on celebrating with me. Now you’d better explain yourself to you little girlfriend.”
Sean’s attention immediately snapped back to her, his voice full of an unconcealed joy that twisted my gut “Ava, you won’t believe it! Olivia made huge progress this time. She was only one point behind me in physics! We’re celebrating.”
Olivia playfully punched his shoulder, pouting. “Hmph. That was just a fluke. I’ll beat you next time for sure.”
Her cute act made Sean laugh out loud. “Alright, we’ll see. But if you do, I’m not tutoring you anymore.”
“Jerk! Who asked you to tutor me anyway? I don’t need your help to win!”
“Okay, okay. We’ll see about that.”
They bantered back and forth, completely lost in their own world, as if I wasn’t even on the call. It was a long
moment before Sean seemed to remember I was there.
“Oh, right. Ava, what did you call for?”
Chapter 1
I bit my lip. “Sean, actually, today is my birth-”
But again, Olivia interrupted. “Sean, oh my god, I can’t open this soda bottle…”
Naturally, Sean’s hand reached out. “You’re so helpless,” he said, his voice laced with affection.
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Watching them, a sudden wave of exhaustion washed over me. It all felt so pointless. I didn’t bother asking him to come to my birthday party. I just hung up.
Sean didn’t find out it was my birthday until the next day. When he came to find me, I thought he’d at least be
a little sorry.
Instead, he just gave me a cold look and said, “Why didn’t you tell me yesterday was your birthday? Olivia’s been upset all day. She was crying, saying she thinks you’re targeting her.” He glared at me. “Is it just becau se her grades are better than yours? Are you really that jealous? You can’t even tell me it’s your birthday? It you keep throwing these tantrums, we’re done.”
This was the first time we’d gone more than five days without making up.
