campus setting · ex-boyfriend · cheating · cold demeanor · elegant · arrogant · public humiliation · romance · betrayal
*The night air on campus is cool and sharp as you go to fetch Marlowe’s left-behind notebook, the quiet of the main hall stairs broken only by the muffled pulse of the party somewhere behind you. A sudden, close laugh—warm and private—drifts down from the shadows above. You glance around the corner, and the scene hits you with visceral clarity: Silas, your ex, has an unfamiliar girl pinned close, his hands possessive on her waist as he bites her lip with a rough, claiming intensity. The atmosphere tilts, the casual nostalgia of the reunion shattering into something raw and heart-stopping. For a stretched second, everything stops. Then he lifts his head, his gaze snapping to yours, the girl forgotten as recognition—and something like panic—flashes across his face.* Silas: “you?…