LOGINDELUSIONS OF GRANDEUR{Playlist Suggestion: "Blank Space" by Taylor Swift / "High School Sweethearts" by Olivia Rodrigo}~VALERIE POV~I was sitting at the absolute best table in the senior courtyard, swirling an iced matcha latte around in its plastic cup and pretending to listen to Brittany complain about her terrible eyelash extensions.But my eyes were completely locked on Kade and his little charity case standing over by the library doors, And honestly, it was so pathetic it was almost painful to watch.Anyone with functioning eyeballs could see that their little fairytale romance was completely and utterly falling apart.Kade was hovering over her, leaning on his black cane—which he had upgraded to from the crutches—trying to hold her hand and talk to her with this intense, desperate look on his face, but Chelsea looked like she was literally standing in front of a firing squad.She kept pulling her hand away, avoiding his eyes, her shoulders hiked up to her ears looking absolut
NORMALCY{Playlist Suggestion: "Until I Found You" by Stephen Sanchez / "Lover" by Taylor Swift}~CHASE POV~I was sitting across from Emma Chen in a cracked red vinyl booth at this cheap retro diner that smelled heavily of fried onions and vanilla milkshakes.My brain was basically malfunctioning because I had absolutely no idea how normal teenagers were actually supposed to do this dating thing without a nurse coming in to check my vitals every fifteen minutes.We had just gotten out of the movie theater where we watched the absolute worst, most predictably terrible horror movie ever made, and I was so hyper-aware of everything my body was doing that I felt like I was vibrating out of my skin.I was trying so hard to make sure I wasn't breathing weird, or looking too pale, or acting like the fragile sick kid, but Emma wasn't even treating me like that—she was just sitting there stealing my french fries one by one, dragging them through a puddle of ketchup and smiling at me like I wa
RAIN AND LEATHER{Playlist Suggestion: "Earned It" by The Weeknd / "I See Red" by Everybody Loves An Outlaw}~CHELSEA POV~The storm hit the city less than an hour after he hung up the phone on me, the thunder banging the thin, cheap windows of my apartment so hard I thought the glass was going to shatter inward.I couldn't sleep, I couldn't even close my eyes because my blood was practically boiling under my skin, buzzing with the echo of his voice and the dark, terrifying promise he had made right before the line went dead. I threw the thin blanket off my legs and walked over to the window, wrapping my arms around my chest as I stared out at the torrential downpour flooding the cracked streets of my neighborhood.And then I saw it.Parked halfway down the block, sitting under a flickering orange streetlight like a shadow that didn't belong, was a huge, sleek black car that cost more than this entire zip code.My heart literally stopped beating in my chest.He hadn't stayed at his p
LATE NIGHT STATIC{Playlist Suggestion: "I Wanna Be Yours" by Arctic Monkeys / "Call Out My Name" by The Weeknd}~CHELSEA POV~The glowing red numbers on my cheap digital alarm clock said it was 2:14 AM, but it felt like I had been staring at the cracked paint on my bedroom ceiling for a hundred years.The apartment was completely dead silent, except for the faint, steady sound of Chase's breathing coming from the other room.Which should have been comforting to me since he was finally home and actually healthy, but instead the quiet was just leaving too much room for the thoughts I was desperately trying to run away from.I rolled onto my side, tangling my legs in the thin bedsheets, and stared at my cell phone resting on the floor next to my mattress.I was supposed to be a good person. I was supposed to be the loyal, loving girlfriend who was standing by Kade while he recovered from a devastating surgery that was basically my fault, but every time I closed my eyes, I didn't see Ka
THE PULL{Playlist Suggestion: "traitor" by Olivia Rodrigo / "Glimpse of Us" by Joji}~CHELSEA POV~I was sitting on the edge of Kade's bed in Knox's townhouse, staring at the black brace locking his leg in place, and I felt like the absolute worst human being to ever walk the earth.He was tracing the knuckles of my right hand with his thumb, his green eyes looking at me with this soft, completely unguarded adoration that made me want to throw up from the sheer, crushing guilt of it all. I was trying so hard to be the perfect girlfriend, nodding and smiling while he talked about his physical therapy schedule and how Denver was holding the team together, but my brain was just screaming at me the entire time.Liar. Fraud. Traitor."You know, once I get this brace downgraded to a sleeve, we should actually go somewhere," Kade was saying, his voice raspy but hopeful, completely oblivious to the war going on inside my head."Just you and me, Chels. Maybe drive up the coast for a weekend.
CODE RED{Playlist Suggestion: "Monster" by Starset / "Let Me Down Slowly" by Alec Benjamin}~KOLT POV~I wasn't even supposed to be looking at the security feeds because I had spent the last two days trying to convince myself that I could actually operate like a normal human being and keep my distance from her. But my eyes automatically flicked to the monitor for the main floor just out of habit, and the second I registered who was standing by the bar, the blood in my veins literally turned to ice.Reed Mitchell.Antonio was giving him a walkthrough because my father was still trying to appease the Mitchell family for some upcoming real estate merger, but that wasn't what made my heart completely stop beating in my chest.It was the girl standing ten feet away from him, squeezing a plastic bag like a shield, her face draining of color so fast she looked like a ghost on the grainy black-and-white camera feed.Chelsea wasn't supposed to be here during the day, she was supposed to be s
OVERLOOK 1(Playlist: "Somebody Else" by The 1975)~CHELSEA POV~The bus ride to Highway 9 took forty minutes that felt like hours. I sat in the back with my phone clutched in my hand, staring at the dark windows and trying not to imagine what Kade looked like right now. His voice on the phone had
OVERLOOKED 2~CHELSEA POV~The kiss started gently. Hesitant. His lips were soft against mine, moving slowly like he was afraid I might break or disappear. One hand stayed on my face, thumb brushing my cheekbone, while the other found my hip, fingers curling into the fabric of my jacket.I kissed h
THE OFFER(Playlist: 'The other side" by Ruelle)~CHELSEA POV~The diner smelled like burnt coffee and broken dreams.I had been here since six in the morning, refilling cups for truckers who didn't tip and businessmen who snapped their fingers like I was furniture with legs. My feet ached in the c
PRETENDING(Playlist: "Bad Ideas" by Dove Cameron)~DENVER POV~ I saw it happen from across the quad.Valerie walked up to Kade by the practice field, standing tall with a big smile. From where he was, she looked just like a princess, confident and unbothered, dressed nicely with her hair done per







