Chapter 1

My phone fell off my hands involuntarily as I saw the sight before me. Locked between each other's arms were my own boyfriend, Evan and the person I called my best friend, Sai.

"Gal..." Sia stammered, unsure of what to say.

They probably didn't know they were going to get caught because my mum had initially refused to let me attend the party until my granny interfered.

“Evan, you son of a bitch!”

I stormed up and slapped him hard. “What are you doing with my friend?”

His arms were wrapped around the last person I expected him to cheat on me with; Sia, my best friend.

Their lips were locked in a kiss. Her hands were in his hair. His fingers dug into her waist like no other person existed.

“Oh my God, Gal,” Evan jumped like he’d touched an electric fence. Sai turned around, her face draining of color so fast it was almost funny.

“Gal…” she started, her voice all breath and guilt.

“No,” I snapped back at her. “You don’t get to say my name like that. Not after what I just saw.”

“It’s not what you think,” Evan mumbled, eyes wide, guilty.

“Oh, so you didn’t have your tongue down my best friend’s throat? Should I go back and get a replay? All because I told you I wouldn't be able to come to the party?”

Sai reached out for me. “It was a mistake…. please, please, Gal.”

“Don't touch me!” I flinched, taking a step back. “You don’t trip and fall into someone’s mouth, Sai. How long have both of you been sneaking around behind my back?”

“I'm so sorry, babe,” she begged, looking like she wanted to cry. Good. I hoped it burned.

“Pookie, please I can explain.” Evan tried to do that thing where he made his voice soft like it could calm me down. Not this time around.

“Don’t,” I said. “Don’t look at me like you’re the victim. I was such a fool to believe that you love me.”

Evan has the audacity to look guilty.

I laugh. Loud. Ugly.

People are looking now. The music feels quieter somehow. Sai’s mascara is running. Evan’s trying to reach for me.

I pushed him away with all my strength. “You don’t get to touch me. You don’t get to be sorry.”

I didn’t wait to see his reaction. Didn’t need to. I turned on my heel and walked straight through the party like I owned the damn place. People stared, whispers followed me like perfume, but I didn’t care. Let them talk. Let them watch, I didn't care.

I couldn't believe the two closest people to me had betrayed me. Evan was everything to me, we’d been together since ninth grade. We’d made it through awkward phases, bad grades, weekend fights, and even the weird two-week break last year where he thought we “needed space.”

And Sai? She had been my best friend before Evan even entered the picture. She knew what he meant to me. We’d stayed up on video calls, gossiping and giggling about him back when he barely knew my name.

I felt like such a fool, I grabbed the first drink I saw and drowned it. Then I drank another and another... And another. I didn’t ask what was in them. Didn’t care. My chest burned, I didn't want to go back home in that state, so I danced.

I didn’t care who it was with. I laughed too loudly, let my hair stick to my neck, let random guys spin me until the room tilted. Somewhere between tipsy and dizzy, I stumbled toward someone I didn’t know…just a vague face, a red hoodie, a grin that I didn’t trust but didn’t fear either.

His hand reached for my waist.

I didn’t get a chance to decide what I’d do next.

A hand yanked me back hard.

I nearly tripped, but another arm caught me, steady and firm.

Milo.

Milo; my arch enemy, was not just the annoying-classmate cum next door neighbor kind of worst to me. No. Ours was a rivalry forged in the fires of childhood betrayals over the years. A beef that had been marinated in petty sabotage and glitter since elementary school.

He stole my debate cards in sixth grade. Tripped me during the eighth-grade relay. And last year? Rigged my locker to explode with ping-pong balls and confetti.

Of course, no one ever believed me. Not when he smiled like some cologne-drenched choir boy. Milo Landry wore what I called ‘a fake charm’ like cologne. And every other person but me, fell for it.

But I knew better.

To me, he was a menace in angel’s clothing.

But now, he stood between me and the guy, eyes like ice shards. His chest rose and fell with slow, controlled breaths.

“She’s done dancing,” I heard him say coldly to the guy.

The guy raised his hands. “Chill, man. I didn’t know she was taken.”

“She’s not,” Milo said, voice even sharper now. “But she’s not yours, either.”

The guy slinked away. I stared at Milo, my vision swimming, trying to focus.

“Why are you even here?” I mumbled. “Came to gloat? To mock me?”

He didn’t answer. Just looked at me with this unreadable expression on his face.

“You’re all the same,” I whispered, throat closing. “You, Evan…every damn boy in the whole damn school…”

Just like that tears came rushing out of my eyes unexpectedly; hot and fast and humiliating. I tried to blink them away, but they wouldn’t stop.

“I hate you,” I sobbed, my voice breaking from despair. “I hate you, Milo…I hate you Evan…All of you!” I just couldn't stop myself.

Milo studied me for a while, his jaw tightened. Then he sighed, like someone who’d just taken on a burden they didn’t ask for and stepped closer to me.

“Time up,” he said. “You’ve had enough fun for one night.”

And the next thing I knew, he was lifting me off the ground.

“What the hell…” I slawed…”put me down…”

“Hell no,” he retorted. “We don't want you to be here anymore. Just keep quiet.”