Chapter 2
Tears pressed hot behind my eyes. I bit down on my lip until I tasted iron, refusing to let a single one fall.
The injustice of it burned through me like acid.
I was his girlfriend. I was the one who had stayed beside him through every sleepless night, every struggle, every low point. And he had just done this to me without a shred of remorse.
I thought back to that winter during junior year. Lucas had spiked a fever of 102, and I skipped class and snuck off campus to get him medicine.
On my way back, I fell hard and tore my knee open. Blood ran down my shin.
When he saw the wound, his eyes went red. He pulled me close and said, "Leah, when I make something of myself, I'm gonna take care of you. I won't ever let anyone hurt you again."
I thought back to that late night during senior year, when I stayed up cramming with him until two in the morning.
He got so tired he passed out, slumped over his desk, and I draped my jacket over his shoulders as quietly as I could and placed the review notes I'd put together right by his hand.
He woke up the next morning and saw all the annotations I'd packed into the margins. He pulled me into a tight hug, his voice low and muffled. "Leah, you're too good to me. I could spend my whole life trying and never pay you back."
I thought back to the week before the SAT, when he held my hand and walked me around the track, lap after lap after lap.
He said, "Leah, at prom, I'm gonna stand in front of everyone and tell them you're my girlfriend. I want the whole school to know you're the only one for me."
Every word, every promise, and every gentle touch had been a lie. The only fool in any of it was me.
My whole body had gone cold, and my chest was so tight I could barely breathe, when someone stepped into my line of sight.
It was Samuel.
He had held the number-one rank in our grade since our first year and had walked away with the top SAT score in the state as though the test barely deserved his attention.
He had always been quiet, the kind of person who kept to himself and never let anyone get close.
His eyes carried a permanent indifference, as if nothing in the world could hold his attention.
But now he stood in front of me, and those cold, distant eyes were filled with a sincerity and hope I had never seen in them before.
He looked at me, his voice low but steady, and every word carried quiet conviction. "Leah, will you be my girlfriend?"
I froze and stared up at him, unable to find a single word.
He paused for a beat, and a faint nervousness slipped through his composure.
"Northbridge University offered me a guaranteed admission. They also promised that if I enroll, my partner can be admitted with me."
The words hit me like a thunderclap.
I had scored a 1410 on the SAT. It was average at best.
Lucas and I had planned to apply to Eastlake University together, to stay in the same city and keep our relationship going. But now every promise we had made felt like a cruel joke.
I looked into Samuel's eyes, clear and sincere, without a hint of mockery or games.
Then I glanced across the room at Lucas. He was still surrounded by his crowd, leaning close to Susan and whispering in her ear.
He hadn't spared me a single glance, and guilt never once crossed his face.
It was as if I deserved to be treated this way, as if three years of love and devotion amounted to absolutely nothing.
Something inside me went still.
I sniffed and wiped the tears from the corners of my eyes. I looked at Samuel, and without a moment of hesitation, I nodded. "Okay."
I agreed.
If Lucas could betray me without a second thought and toss my heart aside like it was worthless, then I had no reason to keep holding on to something that had already made a fool of me.
Something soft flickered in Samuel's eyes, a tenderness I had never seen before. He reached out and gently took my hand. His palm was warm and steady, and the chill that had settled over me began to fade.
A few steps away, Lucas caught the moment from the corner of his eye.
He let out a sneer, and his expression was full of contempt and indifference.
To him, I was nobody.
Even if I moved on with someone else right then and there, it wouldn't put a single dent in whatever he had with Susan.
He was certain I couldn't let go of him, certain I would always be waiting for him to come back.
But he didn't know that the moment his lips touched Susan's, every ounce of love I had for him died. It didn't just fade or weaken. It died, completely and irreversibly.
The party wound down, and guests began to leave in small groups.
Susan clung to Lucas' arm, laughing with exaggerated delight, and when they passed me, she made a point of stopping. She looked me up and down with a satisfied smile.
"Leah, I have to say, you've got good taste. Samuel's quite the catch." She tilted her head, her gaze drifting pointedly toward Lucas. "Way better than your last one, by a mile."
Lucas frowned but didn't push back. He didn't even glance my way. He just wrapped his arm around Susan's waist and said flatly, "Let's go."
The two of them walked past me like the perfect couple, and I stood there feeling like something discarded on the side of the road.
Samuel tightened his grip on my hand and said quietly, "Don't watch them. They're not worth it."
I looked away and forced the faintest hint of a smile. He was right. They weren't worth it.