Chapter 4
The post title was wild. It read: [Shocking! The former campus heartthrob's obsessive admirer has moved on, and her new crush is a broke student from the same dorm.]
The main post featured a secretly taken photo.
In the picture, Olivia and I were sitting on a bench by the school lake. I was reading, and she was turned toward me, her eyes sparkling with joy as she watched me. Sunlight spilled over us, making everything look calm and perfect.
If one ignored the poster's nasty spin, it was actually a beautiful photo.
The comments were tearing Olivia apart.
[Holy crap, isn't that the girl who was always after Henry? She switched up this fast?]
[Who's the guy next to her? Never seen him before. He looks pretty average.]
[That's Henry's roommate, Yannis. He's dirt poor. I heard he's only here because of student loans.]
[Seriously? Her standards really tanked. From the campus heartthrob to a broke dude? That's a serious downgrade.]
[Guess she couldn't land Henry, so she settled for less. Picking a poor guy is way easier to control.]
[This girl is wild. I used to think she was super devoted, but turns out she's simply a player. She falls for anyone she meets.]
The comments section was turning downright ugly.
Most of the commenters were Henry's fans, and they'd always been pissed at Olivia for chasing after him. Now that they finally had a chance, they were tearing her apart.
They made Olivia out to be some shameless flirt who couldn't snag a rich guy, so she went for a poor dude to be her backup plan.
And me? I was the "nice guy" getting played by a rich girl, the sucker left holding the bag.
Henry had obviously seen the post, too. He held his phone, grinning smugly.
"Yannis, you're blowing up," he said, shoving his phone in my face. "Look. Everyone's pitying you, saying you're her backup."
I glanced at the screen, expressionless.
"But honestly," Henry said, rubbing his chin with that smug "I saw through it all" look. "This girl's got some tricks. She couldn't get me, so now she's targeting my friends, trying to get to me by going around.
"Too bad she picked a broke guy like you. What could you possibly do for her?"
He patted my shoulder, acting all sincere. "Bro, take my advice. Stay away from her. You're out of your league. She's playing with you. When she gets bored, she'll kick you to the curb."
I didn't say anything. Honestly, I thought he was being loud.
Later that afternoon, I went to the library to return some books and bumped into Olivia at the entrance.
She looked really down. Her eyes were red. Clearly, she'd seen the post too.
A few girls walked past her, deliberately pointing and talking loudly.
"Look, that's her, the one who's two-timing."
"She looks all sweet and innocent, but who knew she could be so manipulative."
"Poor Yannis. He's being used and doesn't even know it."
Olivia froze, clutching her books so tightly that her knuckles turned white.
She kept her head down, her long hair hiding her face. I couldn't see her expression, but the sadness and frustration coming off her was almost palpable.
Those whispers felt like a thousand needles stabbing into my ears.
I sighed and walked over to Olivia.
I took off my jacket and tossed it over her head, blocking out all those nasty looks from the crowd.
Olivia jerked her head up, startled.
"Let's go." I took her wrist. Her hand was ice-cold.
I led her through the crowd into the quiet grove behind the library.
Once everything around us was finally quiet, I let go of her hand.
"Just ignore them," I said.
Olivia took the jacket off her head and hugged it tight to her chest.
The jacket was still warm from my body and carried that faint scent of laundry detergent.
Olivia kept her head down, her voice a little shaky and stuffed up. "I'm sorry, Yannis. I've caused you trouble."
"You didn't do anything wrong. No need to apologize." I looked at her. "The ones at fault are those people talking crap."
"But... everyone keeps saying..." Olivia choked up, unable to finish her sentence. Her tears kept falling, one after another.
Through her tears, she defiantly swiped at her eyes with her hand, but wiping only made them flow faster.