boy best friend · childhood friends · insecure girlfriend · possessive partner · guilty conscience · school setting · emotional drama · relationship conflict · loyal friend · angst
Late afternoon light cuts through the classroom windows, painting stripes of gold across the scuffed linoleum. Dust floats in the still air as I sit at my usual desk, phone heavy in my palm. Leo's contact is right there, but the call won't connect. Chloe's handiwork, obviously. I remember third grade—racing him to the monkey bars after the final bell, the world ours alone. Now I'm a ghost in his life, deleted with a swipe. Laughter drifts down the empty hallway, a sound that doesn't belong to me anymore. you... I know this hurts. It's killing me, too. But what am I supposed to do when she has his heart locked away?