Tiana spent the next two days avoiding everybody.
She skipped lunch.
Ignored Dare's messages.
Pretended she did not notice when people stopped talking every time she walked past.
Because now everyone knew.
The rich boy.
The business family.
The girl his parents wanted.
And somehow, she had become the embarrassing little side story in the middle of it.
By Saturday night, there was a campus party.
Too loud. Too crowded.
Exactly the kind of place she should not have gone.
But she went anyway.
Mostly because Nadia dragged her there.
"You are not staying in your room forever," Nadia said.
So Tiana stood near the drinks table, pretending she was fine.
Then she saw him.
Dare.
He looked terrible.
His hair was messy. His shirt sleeves were rolled up. He looked like he had not slept in days.
"Tiana."
She turned away.
"Please."
"No."
He caught her hand gently.
"Just listen to me."
She looked up at him.
And for a second, she hated that she still loved him.
"You should go back to your parents," she said quietly. "Or maybe to that girl."
"There is no girl."
"There is always a girl in stories like this."
Dare stepped closer.
"I do not even know her."
Tiana looked away.
"They chose her for me," he said. "Not because I love her. Not because I want her."
The music around them seemed far away now.
"They have been trying to control everything my whole life," he said softly. "What I wear. Where I go. Who I become."
His voice broke a little.
"But you are the first thing that has ever felt like mine."
Tiana stared at him.
"And you still hid it from me."
"I know."
He looked at her like it was killing him.
"I was trying to protect you."
"You do not protect people by shutting them out."
"I know," he whispered again.
For a second, neither of them moved.
Then, from somewhere across the room, Joshua laughed loudly.
Tiana turned.
He was standing with a group of people, watching them.
Smirking.
As if he had been waiting for this.
"You see?" Tiana said bitterly. "Everybody is laughing at me."
"No," Dare said.
He stepped between her and Joshua.
"Nobody gets to make you feel small."
Then he took her hand.
"Come with me."