Chapter 3

Thanks to his dad's overly enthusiastic meddling, James and I got back together.

I don’t know what Joe said to James, but Mia started showing up less and less around us.

When Valentine’s Day rolled around, James surprised me with a big bouquet of roses.

“Thank you!”

I smiled shyly, leaning into his arms before planting a soft kiss on his cheek. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed Mia standing at a distance, staring at us.

Tears rolled down her face.

So, she cried when she thought no one was watching?

I glanced back at the bouquet of roses in my hands.

It was funny. I'd told James before that I didn’t like roses. So who suggested roses in the first place?

“Ames, I got us two tickets to the newest sci-fi blockbuster. Want to go see it?”

I lowered my gaze and answered softly, “Sure, whatever you want.”

James spun me around in excitement, smiling like a fool. “Ames, you’re the best!”

When I glanced back to where Mia had been standing, her eyes were red as she walked away.

At the dimly lit theater, James went to buy popcorn while I left the bouquet at the counter for safekeeping.

Turning a corner, I ran into Mia.

Well, what a coincidence, or maybe not.

She was with a group of guys who often hung out with James.

“So this is the girl James calls his girlfriend? Wow, she’s drop-dead gorgeous. A total goddess!”

The group burst into laughter, and Mia coolly brushed her bangs out of her face.

“Yeah, this is James’ girl. What movie are you two here to see?” she asked, her tone casual but her eyes sharp.

Before I could answer, James came back.

As luck would have it, we were seeing the same movie, with seats right next to each other.

Mia snatched the popcorn out of James’s hands and started dividing it among the other boys.

“Come on, James, share with us! We didn’t have time to grab snacks before the movie started.”

The group joked and nudged each other as they made their way into the theater, leaving James holding the one remaining box of popcorn.

He looked at me nervously.

“Why are you staring at me, James? Let’s go. The movie’s about to start.”

I took his hand and led him toward the theater, the dim glow of the hallway lights blurring the vision.