Chapter 5
The days that followed were like living in a dream. For the first time in her life, she felt seen, cherished—even loved. He began walking her home almost every day, sometimes carrying her books, sometimes teasing her just enough to make her cheeks flush.
She treasured every small gesture. A smile when their eyes met across the classroom. A text that simply said "Did you eat?" A casual brush of his hand against hers that left her heart racing for hours.
Her world, once gray and lonely, now burst with color.
One afternoon, he surprised her with a small box of chocolates. Her eyes widened as he handed it to her.
"For me?" she asked, voice trembling.
"Who else?" he said with a lazy grin, slipping his hands into his pockets. "Don't overthink it. Just… take it."
She held the gift as if it were the most precious treasure in the world. That night, she placed the box carefully inside her drawer, whispering to herself, My first gift from him.
At school, however, shadows lingered. Whenever she wasn't looking, his friends exchanged knowing glances and smirked at the way she lit up around him. Her sister, too, played her part perfectly—acting kind in public, but smirking behind closed doors.
"She's so pathetic," her sister whispered once to her friends. "Look at her. Falling for every little word."
But she never heard. She was too busy memorizing his every smile, too busy convincing herself that maybe fate had given her this miracle.
Yet behind his confident façade, cracks began to form. He told himself this was just a game, just a bet. But when she looked at him with such unguarded trust, he felt something twist inside his chest.
At night, when he lay awake, her gentle smile haunted him.
Why does it feel wrong? he thought. Why does it feel like I'm the one being played?
But the next day, in front of his friends, he brushed the thought aside. He laughed, joked, acted like the arrogant boy they expected him to be. Because admitting otherwise would mean admitting weakness.
And so, the lie continued.
She, too, had doubts. Sometimes his words felt distant, as though they carried weight she couldn't quite understand. But each time doubt crept in, she silenced it.
Because for someone who had known nothing but rejection and loneliness, his love—whether real or fake—was the only light she had.
And she clung to it with everything she had.