Chapter two: Mistakes

“Anna, come downstairs, the lesson’s about to start!” Bree shouted.

I rushed down because if we didn’t secure seats early, we’d be standing for four hours straight. We got there just in time and slid into seats beside Stephen. I froze for a second when I saw him. He never came to these lessons. It didn’t make sense, but I didn’t question it. I just kept my head down and minded my business.

After the first two periods, Bree and I were starving. We went out to grab something to eat, and by the time we came back, our seats were gone.

“Let’s just go to one of the empty classes and eat, I’m starving,” I said.

Bree gave me that look like she was about to faint. “I could literally eat a whole person right now.”

I laughed because she always said dramatic things like that but still barely ate. We found an empty classroom and went in. That’s where we saw Debbie, one of our classmates, and Stephen.

Stephen was asleep, his head resting on Debbie’s lap. He was out cold. From the smell and the way he was slumped, it was obvious he was drunk.

Debbie said she needed to leave and asked one of us to take her place. Before I could even process it, Bree pushed me forward.

“Go,” she whispered.

As usual, I couldn’t say no. I just sat down and let him rest on my lap.

A few minutes later he woke up, confused. His eyes flicked up at me, then around the room. He realized he wasn’t with Debbie anymore.

Without saying a word, he stood up and left.

Bree immediately started laughing. “Looks like you made him angry.”

I shrugged. I didn’t care. Stephen was always angry about something anyway.

But after that day, something changed.

He started talking to me.

At first it was small things. Teasing. Random comments. Smirks in passing. Then it became constant. Somehow, I became the person he always found a reason to approach.

And like it always happens with people like him, I started noticing him differently.

I started liking him.

I told Bree, and she warned me immediately.

“Be careful,” she said. “Stephen is Stephen. He doesn’t change. Everyone knows the kind of guy he is.”

And she was right. Everyone knew him as that guy. The bad boy type. The one who didn’t care. The one who used girls and moved on like it meant nothing. I even heard rumors about him recording things he shouldn’t have. Things that made my stomach turn.

But I didn’t listen. I never do when I want something badly enough.

We went from talking at school to hanging out outside. Then I started going to his house. At first it was casual—just talking, laughing, passing time. But over time, it became deeper.

One day, it was just the two of us.

I don’t even know how the conversation shifted, but we ended up talking about real things. Life. Family. The parts of ourselves we don’t show anyone.

And that was when I saw a different version of him.

The “Stephen” everyone talked about didn’t exist in that moment. He wasn’t the loud, untouchable guy anymore. He was just… a boy trying too hard to look strong so nobody would see how much he wasn’t.

He told me about his background. About not having money. About how people treated him differently when they thought he had nothing. The whole “bad guy” act wasn’t just personality—it was protection. A mask.

I didn’t know what to say. I just listened.

Then he asked me if I had a boyfriend.

I panicked a little and said no. That part was true.

Then he asked if I had ever been kissed before.

That was where I lied.

I said yes.

I don’t even know why. Maybe I didn’t want him to think I was inexperienced. Maybe I just wanted to feel… equal. Like I wasn’t behind everyone else.

But I wasn’t.

Because the next thing that happened was my first kiss.

It was simple, but it changed something in me. My heart raced in a way I couldn’t explain. Warm, overwhelming, unfamiliar. I hugged him after, trying to hide how much I was shaking, how obvious everything probably was.

And I think he knew.

After that, everything escalated.

We started dating.

And eventually, things went further between us. I didn’t understand what I was stepping into back then. I just knew I liked him, and I trusted what I felt more than what people were warning me about.

But looking back now, I realize that was the beginning of something I didn’t know how to control.

And once it started, there was no easy way to undo it.