Breaking Rule No.1 : Offside Heart.

SYDNEY.The first thing I did when Marcus sent that text was not cry, and it was not scream into my pillow either.The first thing I did was grab my keys and walk straight out of my dorm room, because the only place that ever made sense when nothing else did was Corbin's apartment.Corbin Stones stayed off campus because he had money, the kind that meant he never had to share a bathroom wall with a stranger or eat dining hall pasta on a Tuesday if he didn't want to.Trust me, he never wanted to.He was also, objectively, the most attractive man I had ever seen in my entire life.Not that I had ever once felt anything about that beyond mild acknowledgement.We grew up together.I watched this boy eat sand at age four and cry because a butterfly touched his ear at age seven.There was simply no universe where I, Sydney Sharma, looked at Corbin Stones and felt anything other than the very specific fondness you feel for someone who already knows every single one of your embarrassing stori

SYDNEY.The car pulled up and I could already hear the music from inside.That low steady bass that moved through walls before you even opened the door.I sat in the car for just a second because this was actually happening now.Fiona had spent two hours on my face and another hour fighting me about the heels, and somehow I ended up here, outside an actual party, in an actual dress, looking like a version of myself I did not fully recognize yet.Corbin got out first, he came around and opened my door.I stepped out into the night air, looked at him, and smiled. "Look who's being a gentleman."But when I looked at his face there was nothing there.No smile, no warmth, just that flat expression he had been carrying since our last conversation.I felt my own smile fall because I already knew I had pushed him into this.He did not want it.He was still here anyway, standing outside a party in a fitted shirt looking like he belonged on a billboard, doing me a favor he never signed up for.

SYDNEY.I stood in the doorway for one long second, looking at Corbin with his shirt half open and Sasha standing close enough that I already understood everything.Then I turned around and walked out.It was not my business.Whatever Corbin wanted to do with his body and whoever he wanted to do it with had nothing to do with me.We were friends, we had always been friends, and friends did not get to be angry about things like this, not even fake girlfriends.My real problem was waiting for me outside that room.Marcus had asked me to dance earlier and I had said yes, because some stupid part of me still wanted to feel his hand on my waist one more time.While we moved together he had leaned in close and told me that if I wanted him back I needed to prove it, that we needed to have sex first, and that he had already booked a room and I should come find him whenever I was ready.I had walked away from him without a single word because what exactly was I supposed to say to that.I was a

CORBIN."What the fuck, Sydney!"I pushed her off and stood up fast.For one full second I just stood there trying to understand what had almost happened.Had she actually just tried to kiss me?!She stared up at me from the bed and I stared back down at her, waiting for some kind of explanation that made sense."Oh my god, I'm so sorry Corbin," she said, "I don't know what came over me, I promise it was unintentional."I rubbed my head in frustration because here we were again.She had done this exact thing once before, back in high school, and the only reason I ever let it go was because I told myself she had been drunk, we were at a prom party, everyone was drunk, it did not mean anything.But she was not drunk right now.She was not even close to it, and that made this whole thing so much worse.I turned to her, and I did not even try to hide the anger in my voice. "Sydney, I hate liars. You wanted to kiss me, there was nothing unintentional about it! You wanted this! What the hel

SYDNEY.I looked at Marcus for a long moment before I swallowed hard and reached for the phone in his hand.Sasha wasn't the kind of lady to be played with, and she had sent something to everyone's phone without even flinching.My heart was already slamming against my ribs before the video even finished loading.Then it was right there in front of me, a video of myself in nothing but my bra and pants, dancing, laughing at the camera, showing off in a way I only ever let myself do when I thought nobody but one person would ever see it.It was not a sex tape.I had never even slept with anyone in my life.But this was worse in its own way, because I remembered exactly when I made it, back in our first year, right when Marcus and I started dating, when I wanted proof for myself more than for him that I was not the plain, boring girl he assumed I was.I had meant to send it to Marcus.I had sent it to Corbin instead, by mistake, and I had begged him to delete it which he claimed he did, l