Jenny’s POVThe rose in my locker had been fresh—soft red petals, the kind that looked too perfect to be real. But it wasn’t the rose that made my hands tremble as I pulled it out. It was the folded piece of paper beneath it. Cream-colored, delicate edges, the same anonymous handwriting I was growing too familiar with.I glanced around the hallway, but no one was paying me any mind. Students passed by, laughing, chatting, glued to their phones. Whoever was doing this was careful.I opened the note.“It’s not just the way you smile, Or the way your eyes soften when you’re lost in thought. It’s the strength you carry in your silence, The fire you hide behind your calm. I see it. And I admire it… Every day.” —JI swallowed hard, reading the words again and again. How could someone who knew so little about me… write as if they knew everything?My heart fluttered and tightened all at once. Was it Zayn?It had to be.Unless…Unless someone else had been watching me long
Jenny's povIt had been a long week at Stanford.The lectures were dense, the reading assignments even denser. Yet, somehow, I was starting to breathe again. The California breeze felt different—new, promising, like it was whispering You’re safe now. I was slowly learning to believe it.My roommate Olivia burst through our shared dorm room with her usual energy, grinning like she’d just uncovered a secret. “Jenny,” she chirped, “you’re coming with me tonight.”I blinked up from my laptop. “Where?”“Basketball game. Campus team versus UCLA. It’s going to be insane.”I raised a brow. “You know I don’t do sports.”“Yes, but you also don’t do fun, and that’s about to change,” she teased, tugging on my hoodie playfully. “You’ve been stuck in that shell for way too long. Come on, it’s just one night. There’s pizza.”I sighed dramatically. “Pizza is persuasive.”“Thank you!” she said, grabbing my arm before I could change my mind.The gymnasium was already alive when we got there—cheers echo
Jenny's POVI thought moving far away from home would be like flipping a switch—leave the pain behind, pack up the memories, and start over somewhere new. But grief and betrayal are sneaky like that. They hide in your suitcase, slip into your pockets, and unpack themselves when you least expect it.Stanford was everything I dreamed of—ivy-covered buildings, passionate professors, driven students, and an atmosphere buzzing with opportunity. But some days, the silence in my dorm room screamed louder than the cheers from the football field. Some days, I'd forget how to breathe without the weight of the past pressing on my chest.My roommate, Olivia, was a bubbly, freckled girl from San Diego with a passion for film and a laugh that could light up the darkest corners of a room. She didn’t pry, but she knew something had shattered inside me. I didn’t talk much about high school, about Rex, or the storm I'd barely survived. But she noticed the way I clutched my phone like a lifeline or how
Jenny’s POVI stared out the window of the dorm room, watching as the sun dipped behind the tall trees lining the Stanford campus. It was beautiful here—clean air, new faces, a promising future. But even in this fresh start, my heart still carried the weight of everything I had left behind.Classes had started two days ago, and while I’d managed to find my way around the buildings and memorize my schedule, I still hadn’t found my footing emotionally. I told myself this was my chance to heal, to become the version of Jenny who didn’t cry herself to sleep at night or wake up from dreams of what could’ve been.Vanessa and I had spent the last few days texting, laughing over video calls, and sharing late-night tears about being apart. I missed her more than I thought I would—she had been my safety net through every storm, and now, I had to learn to stand alone.I was sitting on my bed, laptop open and textbooks spread out like a fortress around me, when my phone buzzed.Vanessa 💖: Hey
Rexford’s POVOxford University was everything I expected it to be—grand, competitive, filled with people who either wanted to prove themselves or prove they were better than everyone else.I didn’t care.Nothing mattered anymore.The moment I stepped onto campus, I shut myself off from the world. No more parties, no more unnecessary socializing, no more caring. I was here to study, to focus, to forget.But forgetting wasn’t as easy as I thought it would be.Jenny still haunted me.I’d see glimpses of her in crowded lecture halls, only to blink and realize it was just a stranger. I’d hear a laugh that sounded like hers and turn, only to be met with disappointment. At night, I’d lie in bed staring at my phone, fighting the urge to text her.I knew she wouldn’t reply.I had to move on.Or at least pretend to.—Girls tried.They always did.At first, it was subtle—sitting next to me in lectures, smiling at me in the hallways, “accidentally” bumping into me at the library. But when they
Chapter XRexford’s POVThe moment I saw the look in Jenny’s eyes at prom, I knew.I had lost her.It wasn’t just anger in her gaze—it was betrayal, heartbreak, and worst of all, disappointment.I had never cared about what people thought of me before. Never cared when teachers called me a troublemaker, when girls labeled me a player, when guys either wanted to be me or envied me. But standing there, in that crowded ballroom, with Jenny looking at me like I was the worst kind of person…That broke something inside me.I had never wanted to hurt her. Not her.But I did.And now, no matter what I said, she wouldn’t believe me.She had already made up her mind.When she stormed out of the venue, my body reacted before my mind did. I followed her to Vanessa's house, hoping to explain to her.Jenny. Jenny.. i called, but there was no answer. I tried to enter the house when I saw her at the entrance of the house but her friend Vanessa blocked my path."Don’t," she said coldly, her eyes burn