I can still hear the echo of the music behind us. Laughter. The soft clink of glasses. The blur of gowns twirling under fairy lights. But it all feels like a distant dream now — like something from a world I no longer belong to.
Because Liam is pulling me away from it.
Without a word, he grabs my hand and pulls me away from the noise.
I stumble after him, confused. His grip is warm, firm, but he isn't saying anything, and the further we move from the dance floor, the faster my heart starts to beat — not from excitement, but from a feeling I can't name.
We walk past decorated lockers and through empty corridors until he stops in front of the boys' changing room.
He pushes the door open.
The air inside is cooler. Still. And suddenly, I'm breathless.
Why here?
Before I speak, he gently cups my face. His forehead is touching mine as his eyes flash in the evening light. My heart races and I look away shyly, but he lifts my chin up with his finger.
I admire his beauty, drowning in the rush of love and awaiting another toe-curling kiss. I've never felt more vulnerable, never felt more seen. I feel like I could melt into him. Like everything I am — every wall I've built — is dissolving.
His lips part.
And then I hear his words:
"Don't be silly. You'll never be my type."
Followed by a chuckle.
I blink.
Everything stops.
The floor feels like it disappears beneath me, like I've fallen through the earth in a single breath. My smile dies.
"W-What?" I whisper. My voice doesn't sound like mine. It sounds like someone who's just been punched in the chest.
He steps back, his smirk faint, almost bitter.
"That's the line," he mutters, and for a moment, I don't understand.
Then I hear it.
A click. A muffled laugh. Movement.
I turn toward the row of lockers, heart hammering, ears ringing. There's no one in sight. But I know. I know.
They're watching.
Recording.
Laughing.
The realization slams into me like a truck. My breath catches in my throat.
"You're joking," I whisper. "You brought me here to—" I choke on the words. "To humiliate me?"
He looks away. Just for a second. But it's enough.
"Liam," I plead, even though I don't know why. Even though something inside me already knows the answer. "Tell me it's not true. Tell me this is some messed up joke. Tell me you didn't—"
"I didn't want it to go like this," he says softly, like that changes anything.
"You didn't want it to go like this?" I repeat, tears stinging my eyes. "You planned this." My voice breaks. "You knew what you were doing. You made me feel safe. You made me fall for you!"
He takes a step forward, but I back away like I've been burned.
"You kissed me. You told me I meant something to you. You made me think… I mattered."
I feel my heart collapse under the weight of it. I want to scream. I want to break something. I want to run and never look back.
But I don't.
I stand there, swallowing the storm inside me, as every memory plays in my head like a cruel movie.
"You don't get to look at me like that," I say, voice shaking. "Like this hurts you too."
He runs a hand through his hair and looks like he's about to say something. Maybe even apologize. Maybe even beg. But he doesn't.
He just stands there. Silent.
And silence, I've learned, is the worst kind of answer.
I turn away and shove the door open, the hallway lights blinding me after the dim shadows of the locker room. My feet move before my brain can catch up, before the tears can start falling.
I hear his footsteps behind me. He doesn't call after me.
He doesn't stop me.
He just lets me go.
And that hurts more than anything else.
When I finally push open the side door to the building, the cold night air bites into my skin, mixing with the burn on my cheeks. I look up at the stars, and all I can think about is how they're still shining — like the world isn't breaking in half right now.
I walk past the edge of the parking lot, past groups of people laughing, unaware of what's just happened. I see Kaylee in the distance, still talking to someone, and for a moment I consider going to her.
But I don't. Not tonight.
Because I don't want anyone to see the cracks in me.
Because tonight, I let my heart believe in something it never should have trusted.
Because tonight… Liam Hunter didn't just break my heart.
He proved that love — at least for me — might just be a beautiful, brutal lie.