I came home for the holidays with a busted lip. My childhood friend, who always had a problem with me, smirked. "Did you get bit by a dog again?" With a room full of people staring at me, I said, "My boyfriend bit me." His face instantly darkened. 1 On the absolute last day of the deadline my mom gave me to come home for the holidays, I finally arrived that evening. The second I walked through the door, I saw my childhood friend, Nate, and his parents sitting in our living room. We locked eyes for a second before Nate put on a mocking smirk. "Avery, did you get bit by a dog again?" When I was five, I insisted on kissing a stray dog and got bitten instead. I had to get three rabies shots. Nate was the one who accompanied me to get the shots, even though he complained the whole time. Since then, it had become his favorite running joke to mock me with. Remembering the story, all the adults in the room chuckled. I reached up and touched my lip. A scab had formed, looking incredibly obvious against my pale skin. Over the sound of their laughter, I spoke up. "No, my boyfriend bit me this morning." The laughter stopped dead. Under the shocked gazes of everyone in the room, Nate was the only one whose face turned pitch black. Because, once upon a time, our parents used to joke that we were destined to get married. 2 In a silence so quiet you could hear a pin drop, Nate’s mom finally spoke. "Avery, you have a boyfriend now?" I replied politely, "Yes, he's a senior at my college." Ignoring Nate’s furious glare, I continued, "He didn't have time to come with me this trip, but I’ll have him come over after the holidays so we can all get dinner together." Nate finally snapped, roaring, "Eat my ass!" Then he turned and stormed out to the balcony. Nate's mom shot me a panicked look and hurried out after him. I shrugged, used to his dramatic outbursts, and pushed my suitcase into my bedroom while the remaining adults exchanged awkward glances. I could hear muffled arguing coming from the balcony. "You were the one who said you'd rather die than marry Avery! Now that she has a boyfriend, why are you throwing a fit?!" After his mom yelled at him, there was a long silence before Nate replied, "I just won't accept it!" I lowered my eyes and smiled to myself. Three years ago, at a joint family dinner, Nate's mom joked around and called me her "future daughter-in-law." To everyone's shock, Nate blew up. He yelled at his mom for taking the joke too far, then turned his anger on me, calling me shameless for following him around like a lost puppy. He told me to stop bothering him. Nate's dad slapped him across the face right then and there. And Nate blamed me for the entire humiliation. We had a massive falling out. When it came time to pick colleges, I purposely chose a university in California, as far away from him as possible. I thought our relationship would strictly remain casual acquaintances from then on. So what exactly was he doing now? 3 By the time I changed into my loungewear, Nate was already sitting at the dining table. I didn't know how his mom managed to calm him down. He didn't look as furious as he had a few minutes ago. During dinner, everyone deliberately avoided what just happened, sticking to safe questions about my classes. Just as the atmosphere started to relax, my phone rang. Glancing at the caller ID, I couldn't help but smile. "I need to take this. Please, keep eating." I stepped out into the hallway. It was Connor, my boyfriend. He asked if I was eating. I lowered my voice and asked, "Why did you bite my lip so hard it bled? I didn't even notice until I got here." Connor whined on the other end for a solid minute before finally admitting, "I did it on purpose." Just as I was about to reply, there was a loud BANG from the dining room. I turned my head. Nate was standing there, his face flushed red with impatience. "Are you going to eat or not? If you don't eat, you're doing the dishes." Connor heard him through the phone. "Are you still eating? Should I order you some DoorDash?" Hearing Connor's voice, Nate's face turned iron-gray. "Who is that?" I looked up at him, flashed a sweet smile, and said slowly, "My boyfriend." 4 Connor went silent on the phone for a moment before saying, "Call me tonight. I'll wait for you~" The line went dead. In the entryway, only silence remained between Nate and me. Nate stared at my bruised lip for a long time before suddenly asking, "How long have you two been dating? You're already... kissing?" I locked my screen and slid the phone into my pocket. "We've been together for almost a year." I watched his face cycle from black to red. "Why haven't I ever seen you mention him?" I thought about it. Nate was probably talking about my Instagram. After our falling out, I never blocked or deleted him, but we basically never texted. I rarely posted on social media anyway, never changed my profile picture or bio, and had never posted anything related to Connor. "I forgot to post about it," I said, putting my hands in my pockets. Nate let out a light scoff. "Looks like you don't like him that much." He sounded like he was breathing a sigh of relief. I looked at him, confused. "Why would you say that?" "If you actually liked him, you wouldn't keep him a complete secret." I gently clenched my fists. "You're wrong. I really love him." I looked up, staring directly into Nate’s eyes, wanting him to know I wasn't lying. Nate looked down at me. Seeing that I was entirely serious, a flash of anxiety crossed his eyes. I didn't want to deal with him anymore and turned to leave. As I brushed past him, he asked softly, "How did you move on so fast?" 5 When Nate publicly humiliated me in front of our parents that day, I was truly devastated. When we were kids, we were inseparable best friends. He had even sent me mixed signals before. During high school, reading romance novels was a massive trend among the girls. The classic trope was always the childhood friends turning into lovers. Everyone who knew Nate and me teased us about it, because we fit the trope perfectly. And Nate never expressed any annoyance. He still walked me home from school, bought me hand warmers in the winter, and refilled my water bottle. I genuinely thought he liked me too. But then he delivered that fatal blow right in front of our parents. What was even more heartbreaking was what my desk-mate told me the very next day: "Did you hear Nate and Brooke got together?" Brooke was the undisputed most popular girl in our grade. She had openly crushed on Nate for three years, but he had never reciprocated. At the graduation party after finals, Brooke confessed to Nate again in front of all our teachers. Everyone cheered them on, even the teachers were smiling, but Nate didn't say yes then. Yet, someone just told me that the day after Nate humiliated me, they started dating. I thought about it and replied, "I know now. I have some stuff to do, talk to you later." I tried to distract myself by reading a book, but I couldn't resist opening Instagram. The first thing on my feed was Brooke's post announcing their relationship. In the photo, she and Nate were leaning their heads together, looking incredibly intimate. I didn't even have the courage to click on the picture to enlarge it. A few close friends messaged me asking what was going on. At that moment, I was glad I was naturally low-key on social media. Otherwise, as Nate's "rumored girlfriend" for all those years, I would have had to make some sort of public statement. But a few minutes later, I put my phone down. A single tear dropped onto the open page of the book in front of me. 6 I didn't have much time to grieve. I had originally promised Nate we would go to the same college on the East Coast, but I was breaking that promise. When applying, I chose a massive university out in California. That summer, encouraged by my parents, I got my driver's license, learned how to swim, and traveled to a few different states. When your schedule is packed, you realize you don't actually have time to be sad. My mom said Nate’s dad brought Nate over to our house a few times, but they never caught me. I was either traveling or taking a class. It wasn't until right before the fall semester, while I was packing my bags with my mom, that I saw Nate again. Nate's dad looked at me and said, "You got a tan." I smiled and nodded, saying I had traveled a lot. Nate stood to the side, saying nothing, just glancing at me every now and then. Maybe he was in a bad mood. He didn't speak the entire time, only giving me a deep, lingering look right before they left. I kept my head down and didn't look at him. Before going to bed, I opened Instagram and saw an update from Brooke. She posted: "The new girl can never beat the childhood friend. What you can't have becomes your white rose." A classmate commented below: "What happened?" Brooke replied: "We broke up." Seeing that, I finally understood why Nate had looked so miserable earlier that day. They had broken up. But Brooke's comment—"The new girl can never beat the childhood friend"—confused me. I didn't recall Nate having any other childhood friends besides me. If this was the past, I would have definitely gone to ask Nate about it. But during that summer, I had made peace with it. From now on, Nate and I would be friends, at best. I didn't care anymore. On the day I left for college, right before boarding my flight, I turned my phone off early, missing Nate's text: "Why did you choose to go to California?" 7 College life was incredibly busy. I picked up a minor and my weekends were completely packed. When Nate suddenly messaged me out of the blue, asking me to click a referral link for some sketchy shopping app, I realized how long it had been since I had even thought about him. I replied: "Sorry, I don't have that app downloaded." The "typing..." bubble showed up for a long time on his end before he finally sent: "It's fine." I had no desire to make small talk with him, so I put my phone down and went back to writing my essay. It wasn't until the library was closing that I saw he had sent another message: "When does your summer break start?" It was sent five hours ago. I didn't reply. And now, Nate was standing in front of me, asking how I could move on so fast. A ridiculous thought sprouted in my head, but I immediately squashed it. "I don't know what you're talking about," I said. Nate didn't say anything else, and I walked straight back to my room. 8 When I got back to campus, Connor came to the station to pick me up. The moment he saw me, he grabbed my suitcase. "You must be exhausted! I'll take you to get something good to eat." While walking, Connor looked a little uneasy. I asked him what was wrong. He mumbled for a bit before saying, "About biting your lip that day... I'm really sorry, I just..." He looked down. "I just felt so insecure." Connor and I had naturally talked about our past relationships once. I didn't hide anything and told him about my crush on Nate. At the time, Connor acted like it didn't bother him, but I caught the panic in his eyes. Just like now—looking wronged and panicked. He was worried I might still have feelings for Nate. So I grabbed his hand. "It's fine. Treat me to ramen and we'll call it even." 9 How Connor and I met was actually pretty magical. The library had closed early that afternoon for a holiday. While I was carrying my books back to my dorm, a small puppy suddenly darted out from the bushes. I made eye contact with it for a few seconds before it ran over and rubbed against my leg. I crouched down and pet its head. And then it just stuck to me. The puppy had a collar, so it clearly wasn't a stray. With no other choice, I sat there, waiting for its owner to find it. After a few minutes, the puppy started whining and burrowed into my arms. I held it, gently rubbing its belly, and it fell asleep almost instantly. A few minutes later, a guy came running over, looking frantic. He looked at me and the puppy in my arms, put his hands together in apology, and said it was his dog. To show his gratitude, he asked for my number. That guy was Connor. 10 Connor was two years older than me, currently in his first year of grad school. When we first met, he would always use "thanking me for finding his dog" as an excuse to bring me lunch at the library or help me organize my study notes for finals. He quietly and seamlessly infiltrated my life. Even my friends couldn't stop praising him. But I wasn't the type to be swayed just because the people around me approved. Nor did I treat Connor differently just because he was handsome. I had already learned my lesson with a pretty face when it came to Nate. What made my heart flutter was a tiny incident. Connor asked me to go to an amusement park. Honestly, this was the first time I had ever gone out alone with a guy. I used to ask Nate to go, but he would always verbally agree and then never actually follow through. When Connor brought me to the park that day, I was in a bit of a daze. In the past, I never would have imagined my first time at an amusement park would be with someone else. Seeing me space out, Connor waved his hand in front of my face. I snapped out of it and smiled at him, but accidentally bumped into a little girl wearing a princess dress. Her ice cream cone fell to the ground. Looking at the little girl's face, which was about to burst into tears, I panicked. Connor reacted faster than I did. He immediately crouched down to comfort her. "Oh no, where is this little princess from? Princesses don't cry so easily." He wiped away a tear that was about to fall with a tissue. "The big sister didn't bump into you on purpose. Big brother will buy you a brand-new ice cream to make up for it, okay?" Connor looked up and gave me a quick wink. I got the hint, crouched down, and started apologizing. "I'm so sorry, sweetheart! Sister didn't mean it." Connor used the distraction to run and buy the exact same ice cream. When he handed it to the little girl, her face lit up. He sweet-talked her a bit more, and she happily walked away. I instinctively froze in place, waiting for Connor to scold me for being clumsy. Because in the past, whenever something like this happened, Nate would always scold me, looking completely annoyed. Nate never seemed to have any patience for me. But Connor just smiled and patted my head. "The little princess is gone. Now, my lady, if we don't hurry, we're going to miss the fireworks." He gently grabbed my wrist and pulled me forward. He talked the whole way, mentioning he had already checked TikTok to find the best spot to watch the fireworks and take pictures. I stared at him and blurted out, "Why aren't you mad at me?" Connor stopped and looked at me, seemingly confused as to why I would even ask that. A second later, he flashed a bright smile. "Cinderella lost her glass slipper because she was nervous. It's actually really cute when Miss Avery is a little clumsy. On campus, you're always this serious, perfect academic. I never get to see this side of you." My nose suddenly stung. So, one day, when Connor came to the library to study with me, even though he was sitting right across the table, he slid a piece of paper over to me. It read: "Will you be my girlfriend?" Drawn at the bottom was a crying little puppy. I burst out laughing. I realized then that I had completely stepped out of the shadow Nate had cast over me. The man sitting across from me was emotionally stable and gave me so much security that I could throw myself wholeheartedly into a healthy relationship. So, I wrote "yes" on the paper. 11 Connor was incredibly thoughtful whenever he planned holiday surprises or gifts. He would always check my schedule in advance to make sure his plans wouldn't stress me out. He would randomly pull a flower out of his coat on the way back from a date, or plan fully-researched weekend getaways. During a long weekend, he took me to a coastal city nearby. We went to the beach I had been dying to visit, and he took a perfect polaroid of us. He placed that polaroid in the clear case on the back of his phone. He took care of everything; there wasn't a single detail he missed. Our three-day trip was perfect. If it weren't for the uninvited guest waiting for us when we got back, the joy would have lasted much longer. We were walking hand-in-hand back to my dorm when my roommate called. "Avery, your brother is on campus. The RA wouldn't let him into the building, so he's waiting for you downstairs." I was confused. "What brother?" "I don't know, he's tall and handsome. A bunch of girls already asked him for his number." As we approached my dorm. I spotted Nate in the crowd instantly. He looked over, about to call out to me, when his eyes locked onto our intertwined hands. Nate's eyes instantly turned red.
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