Chapter 1The second Nathon's words sank in, it was like someone ripped the ground out from under me.
My chest went tight. My hands went numb. It felt like drowning—but worse, because I was still standing there, still breathing, still forced to hear him.
No wonder he'd been dodging my eyes all damn day.
After I kept pushing—demanding answers—he finally cracked and admitted it. He'd lied. Straight to my face. And then he had the audacity to stand there and justify it like it was no big deal.
But Common App had locked an hour ago. There was no fixing this. No going back.
I still couldn't process it. My voice came out shaky, barely holding together:
"Even if Harper didn't want us at the same school—why couldn't she change her application?
"If she wanted to stay in New York so bad, there are dozens of other schools. Why the hell did you have to trick me into going to Miami?"
Nathon's face twitched. He shifted his weight—still in his grass-stained practice jersey, his duffel bag slung over one shoulder like he'd just come from the field. Out of habit, he reached out to mess with my hair, that stupid move he always pulled when he thought I was overreacting.
I slapped his hand away.
His jaw tightened. He pulled back, rubbing the back of his neck like I was the one being difficult.
"Alina, come on. Don't blow this out of proportion.
"Everyone knows Harper's had her heart set on NYU since forever. She's not giving that up.
"So why are you being so stubborn about this? You spent days going back and forth on your decision anyway—it's not like you were dead set on NYU."
I laughed. A harsh, bitter sound that didn't even sound like me.
Oh, so my dream doesn't matter?
"I worked my ass off for that score. I earned it. Why shouldn't I apply to NYU?
"Does her family own the damn school? Is NYU only accepting one student this year?
"If she's so special, maybe she should get them to close applications to everyone but her!"
Nathon's expression darkened. His fingers drummed impatiently against his gym bag strap—the same restless tic he had before a big game. But this wasn't a game. This was my life.
"Alina, stop twisting this into something it's not.
"She was trying to avoid drama, okay? NYU's campus is tiny. She didn't want you two running into each other constantly and making things worse. I figured this way, everyone wins.
"And anyway, she applied first. You were still waffling about it for days, so clearly you weren't that sure.
"But Harper? She only applied to one school. She didn't have a backup. You really gonna tank her shot at college over this?"
Something inside me snapped.
My voice cracked, louder than I meant it to—almost hysterical:
"I was being careful because I was weighing all my options! That doesn't mean I didn't want it!
"And who the hell gets into NYU and just—doesn't go?!
"And you, Nathon—"
My hands were shaking now. I could barely get the words out.
"Last night you sat there and convinced me we'd both switch to Miami. Together. You watched me submit it. You promised we'd go together.
"But then this morning you switched yours back to NYU and didn't say a word to me. Do you have any idea how that feels?!"
He exhaled sharply, like I was exhausting him. Like this whole conversation was cutting into his evening workout or something.
"I told you—I didn't plan that. My parents found out and lost their minds. They said I'm not leaving New York, especially not with a football scholarship on the table here. They switched it back before I could stop them.
"I was gonna tell you, I just—"
"But you didn't!" My voice cracked again, embarrassingly close to breaking. "You let the deadline pass. You let me sit there thinking we were in this together while you—"
I couldn't finish. My throat was too tight.
The silence between us felt suffocating.
Finally, Nathon let out this long, frustrated sigh—like I was the problem here. He adjusted the strap on his gym bag, glancing toward the parking lot like he had somewhere better to be.
"Alina, look. Harper doesn't have your grades. She barely scraped by with cheer captain bonus points to get into NYU. Without that, she wouldn't have made it at all.
"Can't you just... let her have this?"
There it was.
Let her have this.
That phrase. Again.
My heart shattered.
I stared at him—this guy I'd known since we were kids, who I thought had my back no matter what—and realized he didn't see me at all.
He saw an inconvenience. A problem. Someone making a fuss over nothing.
He saw her—Harper, in her cheer uniform, laughing at his jokes after practice, always there on the sidelines cheering him on.
And me? I was just... in the way.
My voice came out barely above a whisper, but it cut through the air like glass:
"You're seriously telling me to throw away my future because you don't want to upset your girlfriend's best friend?
"You lied to me, Nathon. You manipulated me. You gambled with my entire future like it was some kind of joke—and you don't even think you did anything wrong."
He opened his mouth to argue, but I didn't let him.
"Fifteen years, Nathon. Fifteen years I thought you'd always have my back.
"But I guess I was wrong."
Chapter 2
The past two years ever since Harper Parker showed up, everything between Nathon and me had crumbled.
Every inside joke we used to have. Every comfortable silence. Every moment where I thought we just got each other—gone.
And the thing he said most, over and over, until I could recite it in my sleep?
"Just let her have this."
It started small.
"Harper just transferred into our class. She doesn't have many friends yet. You should cut her some slack."
Then it escalated.
"Harper's scared to walk home alone after study hall. We're heading that way anyway—can't you just deal with the detour?"
And then it got ridiculous.
"Harper didn't understand this problem during class. She just needs to sit at your desk for one study period. Is that really something to get mad about?"
...
Every. Single. Time.
And I tried—God, I tried—to be reasonable about it.
But here's the thing:
Harper had plenty of friends. Her cheer squad practically worshipped her. I couldn't walk past them in the hallway without getting ice-cold stares and whispered comments I wasn't supposed to hear.
Her family had a driver who picked her up and dropped her off every single day. She didn't even need anyone to walk her home.
And her desk partner? She hated me. So whenever Harper decided she needed Nathon's help during study hall, she'd slide into my seat like she owned it—leaving me standing there like an idiot with nowhere to sit.
I'd end up squeezed awkwardly at my best friend's desk, trying to study while they laughed and whispered two feet away. Her perfume would still be lingering at my desk when I finally got it back.
But every time I tried to bring any of this up—calmly, rationally—Nathon made me feel like I was the one being unreasonable.
His tone would shift. From casual and dismissive, to serious and patronizing, to outright irritated.
"Alina, I'm not your personal property. You need to stop being so possessive."
And the worst part?
After hearing it enough times, I started believing him.
Maybe I was too sensitive. Too jealous. Too selfish.
Maybe he really was just being a good class president—helping out a teammate who needed support.
Maybe the problem wasn't him.
Maybe it was me.
I started second-guessing every feeling I had. Every time my chest tightened when he laughed at one of Harper's jokes. Every time my stomach dropped when he chose to sit with her at lunch instead of me.
I told myself I was overreacting. That I needed to grow up.
But now?
Now my entire future—my dream school, the one I'd sacrificed sleep and sanity for—had been ripped away from me because of her.
Because Nathon decided her happiness mattered more than mine.
Because apparently, fifteen years of friendship meant nothing compared to keeping Harper Parker comfortable.
My throat burned. My vision blurred.
I thought about all the late nights we'd spent studying together. All the times he'd walked me home when I was scared. All the promises we'd made about sticking together no matter what.
And he'd thrown it all away.
For her.
Not even for her, really—for the idea of her. For the way she looked at him after practice. For the way she made him feel like a hero.
I wasn't worth that.
My dreams? My future? My feelings?
None of it mattered.
The realization hit me like a physical blow.
I'd been so stupid.
All this time, I thought we were best friends. I thought he cared about me the way I cared about him.
But I was just... there. Convenient. Familiar.
And the second someone more interesting came along, I became disposable.
My hands were shaking. My chest ached so badly I could barely breathe.
I wanted to scream. I wanted to cry. I wanted to grab him by the shoulders and make him see what he'd done.
But what would be the point?
He didn't think he'd done anything wrong.
He still thought I was overreacting. That I'd calm down in a few days and everything would go back to normal.
That I'd forgive him. Again.
Like I always did.
But not this time.
This time, something inside me had broken. And I didn't think it could be fixed.
I took a shaky breath, forcing myself to steady.
I didn't look at Nathon. Didn't give him the satisfaction of seeing how much this hurt.
I just turned around and walked out of the school.
Chapter 3
I couldn't stop crying the whole way home.
Fifteen years. I'd known Nathon for fifteen years.
And never ever did I think he'd lie to me for someone else.
Especially not about something that would destroy my entire future.
My phone buzzed. A string of frantic messages from my best friend, Bonnie Clark.
【What the hell? Did your boy Nathon just go official with that Miss Cheerleader??】
My heart stopped.
Before I could even process it, another message popped up.
A screenshot. From Harper's Instagram.
Posted fifteen minutes ago—right after Common App locked.
【The school I've dreamed about since I was ten... and someone who moved mountains to make sure we'd get there together. 】
The post had three pictures.
One was Harper in her cheer uniform, all glowing skin and perfect beach waves.
The other two were cropped screenshots of acceptance letters—carefully framed so you could see the NYU logo but not the full names.
Except I didn't need to see the names.
I recognized the major on one of them immediately.
It was Nathon's.
The post was dripping with that coy, look-at-us energy—the kind where she wanted everyone to know without actually saying it outright.
And the comments?
A flood of heart emojis and congratulations.
"OMG you two!! "
"Couple goals already and you're not even there yet."
"This is so cute I'm gonna CRY"
"You guys are gonna be THAT campus couple, I'm calling it now"
And Nathon?
He'd liked it.
Not just liked it—he'd commented too.
A single emoji. A smirking face.
Like this was all some fun little game.
Oh.
So that's how it was.
I was the joke. The punchline.
The girl who thought she mattered.
My chest caved in on itself. The pain was so sharp I had to stop walking, one hand pressed against a lamppost just to stay upright.
All this time I thought we were something.
Not dating, maybe. But something.
I thought the late-night study sessions meant something. The inside jokes. The way he'd text me first thing in the morning. The way he knew my coffee order by heart.
I thought when he said "we," he meant us.
But he didn't.
He never did.
I was just... there.
A placeholder.
The backup plan.
The safe option he kept around while he waited for someone better to notice him.
And the second Harper looked his way?
I became invisible.
No—worse than invisible.
I became the obstacle.
The annoying third wheel who didn't know when to leave.
My throat burned.
My vision blurred so badly I could barely see the street in front of me.
I thought back to last night.
The way Nathon had shown up at my door, eyes bright, practically vibrating with excitement.
He grabbed my hands and held them tight, looking at me like I was the only person in the world who could help him.
"Alina, listen. I need you to do this with me. I can't do it alone."
He said he wanted to be brave. To finally break free from his parents' suffocating expectations. That going far away—together—was the only way he'd have the guts to do it.
And I believed him.
God, I was so stupid.
I hesitated at first. Of course I did.
NYU was my dream too. I'd worked myself to exhaustion for that acceptance letter.
And staying local wasn't just convenient—it was necessary. My family couldn't afford out-of-state tuition. Staying in New York meant I could live at home, save money, maybe even help out with my little brother's expenses.
I'd never even considered leaving.
But Nathon wouldn't let it go.
He grabbed my hand tighter, his voice dropping to that soft, pleading tone that always made my defenses crumble.
"Please, Alina. I can't do this without you."
His eyes were so intense. So desperate.
And I—like the pathetic, lovesick idiot I was—couldn't say no.
So I broke.
I gave in.
I changed my application to Miami, thinking we'd be doing this together.
Thinking it meant something.
But it didn't.
It never did.
He just needed me out of the way so Harper could have her fairy-tale moment.
And I handed it to him on a silver platter.
My knees buckled. I sank down onto the curb, phone still clutched in my shaking hand.
The truth crashed over me in waves, each one more suffocating than the last.
Fifteen years of friendship.
Fifteen years of being there for him.
And all of it—all of it—had been one-sided.
I was never his best friend.
I was his entertainment. His ego boost. The girl who'd always be there, no questions asked, no matter how badly he treated me.
And the worst part?
I'd let him.
I'd spent years running toward him, thinking someday he'd see me the way I saw him.
But he never did.
And he never would.
I pressed my palms against my eyes, trying to stop the tears, but they just kept coming.
