Chapter 1
Aria’s pov.
The moans slipped through the wall, again.
Luca, my best friend, my secret crush for years, was having sex with my roommate on the other side of the wall.
The sounds were louder than usual tonight, a sharp, rhythmic thudding against the drywall that felt like it was happening inside my own head.
It felt deliberate, like Serena wanted to make sure I heard every single gasp, every single second of her winning. It was a shitty way to end a twelve-hour double shift at the coffee shop.
I lay on my bed, my eyes burning from the caffeine and the fluorescent lights I’d been under all day. I tried to sleep, but I couldn’t. Serena’s moans were reckless.
I looked at the small, framed photo on the corner of my desk—my parents and my older brother, Anthony, smiling in the sun.
They’ve been gone for five years now.
The car accident that took them when I was fifteen shattered my entire world in a single afternoon.
Luca was the only one who didn't let me drown in the silence of that empty house.
He held me while I cried until I had no tears left. He stayed when everyone else eventually went back to their lives.
He was my anchor, my only piece of home left in the world.
That’s why I followed him here to Westbridge University.
I gave up a full ride at my dream school just so I wouldn't have to face a single day without him nearby.
What a massive, pathetic fool I was.
Now I was just the scholarship girl working two jobs while he lived the life of a rich playboy.
I’d watched him date dozens of girls over the years. I used to just sit back and wait for them to vanish, which they usually did after a month or two.
I told myself they were just distractions, toys he used because he wasn't ready for something real.
But Serena felt different.
She didn't feel like a distraction, she felt like a permanent replacement.
The noise from the next room spiked again, a loud moan that made my skin crawl with a mix of nausea and rage.
The lack of sleep and the physical ache in my back from standing all day finally made something inside me snap.
I pushed myself up from the bed so fast it felt like the world jolted with me. I stormed into the hallway of our suite and hammered my fist against Serena’s door with everything I had.
"Keep it the fuck down, you two!" I yelled.
My voice sounded raw, cracking under the weight of the frustration I’d been bottling up for weeks.
"Some of us actually have to work for a living in the fucking morning!"
The noise stopped instantly.
It was replaced by a silence so heavy I could feel it pressing against my eardrums.
I didn't wait for a response. I turned around, went back into my room, and shut my door hard enough to make the walls tremble.
I fell onto my bed, staring at the ceiling and trying to force my heart to stop racing.
A few minutes later, there was a sharp, aggressive knock on my door.
I thought it was Luca coming to apologize, but when I opened it, Serena was leaning against the frame.
She wore one of Luca’s oversized t-shirts, looking like she’d stepped out of a magazine.
She had a smirk on her face that made me want to slap the look right off her.
"You're very grumpy tonight, Aria," She said, pushing past me into my room.
"I'm tired, Serena. I just want to sleep. Get out," I said, my voice flat and exhausted.
She leaned against my dresser, looking at me with this fake, sugary pity that made my stomach turn.
"Is it really the noise that's bothering you? Or is it the person making me scream?" she asked.
I felt a flush of heat creep up my neck, my face burning with a humiliation I couldn't hide.
"I don't know what you're talking about," I lied.
"Oh come on. I'm not blind. Just admit it. You’re in love with him," she said, her voice dropping to a sharp whisper.
"Every time he touches me, you feel like you're dying inside, don't you?" she asked.
I couldn't breathe. It felt like the air had been sucked out of the room.
I looked past her and saw Luca standing in the hallway.
He was frozen there, his hair messy, his shirt unbuttoned. He had heard everything.
He looked confused and deeply uncomfortable, like he was looking at a car wreck he didn't want to be involved in.
He didn't defend me. He didn't tell her she was being cruel.
He just stood there, avoiding my gaze, letting the silence confirm everything Serena said.
"Get out," I told her.
My voice was trembling now, and I hated myself for it.
"Both of you. Get the fuck out of my room," I said.
Serena let out a soft, mean laugh and walked back into the hall.
Luca stayed for a second longer, his mouth opening as if he wanted to say something, but he eventually just followed her back into her room.
I locked the door and stayed awake for a while, too embarrassed to stop thinking, replaying the look on his face, everything I should have said, everything I didn’t.
I didn’t even notice when I fell asleep.
★
The next morning was beyond awkward.
I tried to stay in my room as long as possible, but I eventually had to go to the kitchen for coffee.
I ran right into Luca.
He looked perfectly fine, looking like he’d slept for ten hours, while I looked like a ghost.
The eye bags were heavy under my eyes and my stare was probably enough to frighten the dead.
"Hey, Ri," he said.
He was acting like the fight last night didn't even happen.
"My mom called today," he said, pouring himself some juice.
"She wants to host a dinner for Serena this weekend. She wants to officially meet her," he continued.
I felt a sharp, icy pain in my chest that made it hard to swallow.
Luca had never brought a girl home to his parents before.
Not once in all the years I’d known him.
Only me.
I was the only girl who had ever met his family, and I had secretly convinced myself it would stay that way until it was my turn for real.
"That's nice," I said, keeping my voice as dead as I felt inside.
"I want you to come with us," he said. He beamed at me, like he was doing me a favor.
"It’ll be less awkward if you’re there you know. You can even study in the library at my house while we do the dinner," he added. He was serious.
He really expected me to sit at his family’s table and watch him play house with the girl who had just destroyed me.
He didn't care about my feelings. He didn't even care that Serena had humiliated me right in front of him.
To him, I was just a fixture. A doll that came along for the ride.
At that moment, I realized the truth.
He was serious about her. And I was officially being replaced.
"I can't go, Luca. I'm busy," I said.
"Busy with what? You always come home with me on weekends," he argued.
"Not anymore. I have plans," I said, my voice coming out harsher than I intended.
I don’t owe you any explanation for how I choose to live my life.
I walked away before he could say another word. I went back into my room and pulled up my banking app. I stared at the balance, calculating every penny from my scholarship and my shifts.
It wasn't much, but it was enough to get me a deposit on a tiny room somewhere else.
I looked at the thin dorm walls and realized I couldn’t stay here another night.
I was done being the backup friend. Tonight, I’m leaving.