CLAIMING HER BACK.

Bryan’s POV

“Something tells me this is Liana at work,” she said, still staring at the message.

I took the phone and stared too, as if I could find the answer to her worries just by looking at the screen. I dropped the phone on the bed when the incident that had just occurred flashed through my mind.

“But Ava, what happened earlier today? Where did you go, and why were you bleeding?”

Her face saddened immediately as she clenched her tummy. “I went to discuss the accommodation issue with Doctor Dane, and he blatantly refused to help me, saying it was risky on his end since he doesn’t know my parents or relatives—and that if anything happened to me in his house, it might lead to big problems he was trying to avoid for the sake of his career. When he said all this, my heart bled and my chest became heavy again. I googled some abortion pills and bought them at a pharmacy on my way home with a fake doctor’s prescription. I took them in a serene place and boarded a taxi home. I’m sorry, Bryan—it was from the money for the operation that I used to get the drugs, and I am only left with a hundred dollars as I speak.”

I was utterly speechless.

“Bryan, you have been a good friend to me, and I do not know how to repay you,” she continued, unable to look me in the eyes. “I have something to say,” she added, piquing my curiosity.

“It’s about you and Tessa.”

My ears pricked. “That girl’s a spoiled brat. A wicked, spoiled brat,” I said, showing I was less interested—but she wanted me to really listen.

“Please, do this for me. Date her for my sake. Tessa is a good girl, Bryan—she’s just being pushed by peer pressure. If she wasn’t, she would have dragged me in school for taking her boyfriend away from her. Date her, please. She could also give us some money to solve problems—like my tuition fees, which will be due next week,” she said, rushing her last hopes into me and my possible new relationship with Tessa.

“But we already broke up,” I blurted out, weighing in my mind whether this could possibly work again.

I grabbed my phone from the corner of my bed and dialed Tessa’s number. It rang only once before she picked up. “What is it?” she asked, her voice laced with annoyance.

“I just want to say I am sorry about what happened back then at the hotel—how I spoke to you and all that. I… I just—” The phone beeped in my ear. She had ended the call on me. I stared at the screen for a moment, then turned to Ava. “Do you think she’ll want me again?”

“Yes, I think she will, because she has ulterior motives. Didn’t you say she wanted to host a birthday party in a rented hall and wanted you to come along with me?” Ava asked, trying to make a point. I nodded in agreement.

“Should I call her again?” I asked.

“Don’t. What you need to do is get flowers for her and present them to her in school tomorrow. Tell her you didn’t mean anything you said and that you just realized how much you love her too.”

A knowing smile lifted my chin, making me look like one of the clowns I had watched on TV.

Dad had called Mom earlier, saying he had an urgent business trip, so he hadn’t returned home. But ever since Mom complained about Ava and me, we had been trying not to step on her toes again by keeping late nights. Ava had nowhere to go if she got thrown out by Mom. But before it ever got that bad, we would have already rented an apartment for her with Tessa’s money.

I got the flowers on my way to school and put them in my bag. Ava and I had decided not to be seen together often in school so that Tessa wouldn’t suspect anything. We said we wanted to do things differently—enter school separately and leave separately.

When I got to school, the hallways buzzed with gossip as usual. People’s eyes followed me—some whispering, some pretending not to look. I heard Ava’s name and the gossip about her shameful pregnancy. I kept my head low, my bag heavy on my shoulder, the flowers hidden inside like some kind of secret weapon.

Tessa was standing by her locker with two girls from another class—new friends, I guessed—her hair styled to perfection, her nails painted in a fresh, glossy red. She looked like she’d just stepped out of one of those high-end fashion magazines she loved to show off. I could feel my heartbeat thudding in my ears as I walked over.

She noticed me approaching, her smirk curling like smoke. “What do you want, Bryan?” she asked before I could even speak, her friends exchanging knowing glances.

Without a word, I pulled the flowers from my bag and held them out to her. A few students slowed down to watch, their phones in their hands as they recorded. Steve walked past as if nothing was happening. I hated the attention, but Ava’s words echoed in my mind: Tell her you just realized how much you love her.

“I didn’t mean the things I said that day,” I said, my voice low but steady. “I just… didn’t know how to deal with everything. I was stupid. And I realized I don’t want to lose you.”

Sophie hurried off as if she had forgotten to call her friends to come and film the scene.

Tessa’s eyes flicked to the flowers, then back to me. She didn’t take them right away. Instead, she folded her arms, tilting her head like she was calculating something. “You just realized?” she asked, her tone dripping with skepticism.

“Yes,” I said firmly, holding her gaze. “I mean it, Tessa.”

There was a pause, then her fingers slowly reached out and took the bouquet. A faint smile tugged at her lips, but it didn’t quite reach her eyes. “We’ll talk later,” she said, turning to her friends. “Come on, girls.”

And just like that, she walked off—but Sophie returned with Chris trailing behind her like a self-appointed protector.

Tessa, who was already walking away, stopped at the sight of Chris. The look on her face said it all—that she only wanted to use me to get back at Chris.

Chris snatched the flowers and hurled them at the wall, littering the floor with red roses.

“I still love you, Tessa! Stop trying to bring yourself down with people who aren’t even up to your standard!”

His voice was deep and quivering with pain.

The school gasped, and Kia—who had just resumed school after a few days of absence—cried aloud.

“But you said you loved me, Chris!”

The school shook with shock and whispers.