Chapter 1

The night my boyfriend cheated, I slept with a stranger.

The next morning, I woke up late— late for the online seminar taught by the most popular professor alive.

I ran out of the bedroom in a man’s T-shirt.

Seconds later, the screen froze.

The whole class was staring at me—through the professor’s live stream.

I swallowed hard.

“Professor… did we…?”

————

Today was my boyfriend Brad’s coming-of-age party. As the starting quarterback for our school team, his gifts from admirers had already piled high. But mine would be the most memorable.

I spent three sleepless nights preparing, hiding inside a giant gift box in his room—one he thought was just a decoration. When the clock struck midnight, I would leap onto his bed dressed in a sexy bunny outfit. Yes, my gift was going to be my virginity.

Midnight chimed. I was about to push the box open when a glimpse through the cracks froze me in place.

Brad had brought a girl back. They tumbled onto the bed, tearing at each other’s clothes. Then he thrust into her.

What did that mean? I shot upright, scattering gifts everywhere. The room shook, but neither of them noticed.

“How could you… How dare you do this?!” My voice trembled as I rushed to pull them apart. They finally broke away from each other, audaciously annoyed.

Brad’s face showed a flicker of surprise mixed with guilt when he saw me, but it lasted only a second. He just dragged the sheet over their naked bodies, not even bothering to get dressed, as if I were an unwanted intruder.

The sting of his betrayal intensified, but a desperate part of me still clung to the hope of an explanation—until the girl who had her back to me turned.

My blood went cold. Because I finally recognized the girl.

Jasmine. My best friend.

What the fuck was going on?!! No!!

“What the actual hell is your problem?!” I hissed to Brad. Tears gathered in the corners of my eyes. “How could you treat me this way after all the time we spent together? How could you treat me this way?”

Jasmine was quicker. She stepped in front of Brad, all fake sympathy. “I'm so sorry, Elara. Please don't blame Brad—blame me.”

Brad cut her off. He hardly showed an ounce of remorse now. He just stood there completely naked and shrugged, as if it were nothing. “Look, Elara...This isn’t something that someone like you would understand. ”

Someone like me??

I’d always felt like the odd one out at Fairmont University. A majority of the student body consistently used terms that I never understood and mainly kept to the tight-knit cliques that they formed. When I came to be in a relationship with Brad, I was willing to accommodate his extroverted lifestyle. And this was what I got in return.

His half-assed explanation only sent my anger spiraling even further. I couldn’t believe it.

"You were the one who pursued me first..."

"Yeah, well, it's over now."

The words slipped past my lips. “You’re such an asshole,” I cried. “Everything I did for you...”

"You did all that on your own. As you can see, I have things to do. Just go."

Brad gave me one last fleeting look as though I was nothing more than another stranger, dropping back into the mess of sheets, losing himself in Jasmine's moans. I stood there, frozen, feeling my heart being ripped out of my chest, going to fall out of my chest and hit the floor in a million pieces.

Next second, as if guided by some silent signal, the bedroom door burst open. Brad's friends, coming for the birthday party, swarmed in. They hauled me out into the living room as I struggled.

"Brad cheated on me! Why didn't you stop them? Let me back in!"

They just rolled their eyes and looked away. One of them even told me, with something sounding a lot like pity, “You should go. You don't belong here.”

What made it worse was that they were all cheering, as though it was something to celebrate. They all wore looks of prideful happiness and rowdy excitement for their friend.

“Thatta boy, Brad!”

“Good on you, man! You finally found her!”

It was all wrong. Days ago, Brad was whispering how badly he wanted to take our relationship further. I planned this perfect birthday party for my boyfriend. Me. Now I was ready, and he publicly had sex with my best friend instead! How could they do this to me?!

Everyone was cheering for them like they were meant to be, while I—the actual girlfriend—ended up looking like the other woman.