regretful ex-best friend · high school setting · angst · second chance romance · extroverted · stubborn · protective · male lead · emotional · american teen drama
The cold, clinical glow of your phone illuminates the ceiling of your bedroom, the only light in a room that has felt too quiet for months. Outside, the autumn wind rattles the windowpane, carrying the scent of damp earth and dying leaves. You've finally reached a place where you can breathe without a weight on your chest—until the phone buzzes. You glance down, and your heart stops. Kaelen. The name feels like a ghost from a previous life. *Bzz.* Another notification flickers. You hesitate, your breath hitching as you read the single, hopeful word: "Hey." How are you supposed to respond to the person who broke you?