Ivy never planned to fall, literally, into Liam’s arms. But the day she bumped into him in the hallway, everything changed. His girlfriend noticed. The school noticed. At first, it was side eyes and some attitude. Then came the rumors. Just as the drama became unbearable, her world crashed, her parents died on the same day. She had to move in with an aunt who she barely knew. She stopped going to school, because the pain became unbearable. When she finally returned to school, the tone changed. There were new whispers, but only about her. To the girls like Claire and her group, Ivy was a pity seeker. She was beautiful, quiet, soft, so obviously, they thought she was faking it. Especially when the boys, including Liam, started being nice to her. Even her best friend, Sophia, changed after a new girl, Maya, showed up. Soon, Sophia turned against her, started acting mean. Another betrayal. Ivy was losing people faster than she could have ever imagined. And when her aunt suggested going to therapy, Ivy finally cracked. Ivy didn’t ask to be strong, she was shoved into it. She wasn’t eased into being strong, wasn’t given the time to learn, or grow into it. She learned to talk back. She learned to slap back, literally. When Sophia humiliated her in public, Ivy hit back without apology. But that didn’t mean Ivy was suddenly strong on the inside. She still cried when she was alone. Still felt broken. This isn’t some perfect girl story. Ivy’s not a superhero. She’s just trying to make it through each day without falling apart. She’s just trying to breathe without breaking. And maybe, somewhere in all that mess, she’ll find her own kind of peace.
view moreIVY
Mondays were simply the worst. As I walked through the hallway, I sighed, wishing that the weekend had been twice longer. My legs felt too heavy, I honestly could have used another twenty-four hours to sleep. Dragging my tired self along, I rounded a corner without thinking and bumped into someone, smacking my face hard against what felt like a rock, or maybe a chest, I staggered back, totally ready to fall. Strong hands caught me stopping me from hitting the floor. I gasped, half in shock. “Oh my God,” I whispered, cheeks burning, wishing I could just melt into the floor. I shut my eyes for a second, sending a desperate little prayer up , thanks for not letting me totally crash and die. I looked up to apologize, and my words got stuck. Because staring back at me were the most breathtaking sea-green eyes I had ever seen. Eyes that belonged to someone I least expected to see. Liam. The star quarterback of our school football team. For a second, I swear I forgot how to breathe, as if air had become foreign to me. My whole body became tensed as I realized what I had done. I had just bumped into our school’s golden boy. I was panicking but frozen in place. I forced myself to look up to gauge his reaction. Oh, boy. My head had to go through a long journey to meet his gaze. He was tall , one tall glass of wine, towering over me. I already felt small. Now, I felt invisible, or maybe even worse, exposed. He stared at me like he could see right through me, I looked away avoiding his eyes as much as I could, though our position comprised my efforts, and he was too close, and I could feel his eyes anyway. His hands brushed against my bare skin as he held me up, my whole body felt the warmth of his hands and instantly goosebumps covered my arm. I snuck a glance at him, peeking through my lashes to see if he’d caught on how his touch made me feel. But his face was totally blank, his eyes giving away nothing. I was so caught up, I forgot to breathe. “Careful, little one,” he said, his voice low, almost rough. “You’re too tiny, we wouldn’t want any crushing, would we?” I almost swooned, my cheeks instantly blazed hot. I hastily untangled myself from his hold, skittering back a few feet away from him, nearly tripping over my own feet in the process. unconsciously wrapping my hands around myself, as if that would somehow protect me. His lips twitched. He kept staring at me and I felt so uncomfortable. Unable to withstand his gaze any longer, I bent my head and used the leverage of few loose hairs to shield my face from his view. I completely missed the moment he moved. Large hands swept across my face, tucking my loose hairs behind my ear. I froze. My eyes went wide open, jaws dropped open in disbelief. I lost all trains of thought, and just stood there gaping like a fish. I couldn’t even move. What was happening? Why was I freaking out? I stood there, brain still scrambled. I barely noticed Sophia, running toward me. Her gaze flickered between me and Liam, her face a look of confusion mixed with questions. But underneath that look, I saw something else in my friend’s eyes. Longing. It clicked. Her eyes lingered on Liam a second too long before finally settling on me. Sophia had always had a thing for him, even with his cold, mysterious nature. “Ivy, are you okay?” She asked softly, almost pulling me from Liam’s arms, which I hadn’t even realized held onto me. I nodded, and tried stepping back, only to realize Liam’s hands still held onto mine. I could have sworn I was a few feet away from Liam, how on earth had he gotten a hold of me, again. I hadn’t realized I had gone mute, staring confusedly at Liam, until Sophia shook me. I looked to her. ‘What’s wrong?’ She subtly nodded to Liam’s direction. ‘What happened?’ “I…… just tripped.” I glanced over at Liam, instead of looking away, he took a few steps back but kept on staring as if to make sure I was really alright. His actions confused me. A hidden part of me actually warmed up, to think that he was not as bad as he portrayed to be, and I felt bad for judging him otherwise. I looked back at Sophia, and caught her straight up staring at him like he was some kind of movie star, well just the way I stare at Taehyung, V, from BTS . I nudged her with my elbow, already grinning, ready to tease her. But when she turned to me, her smile slipped. She winced, and something in her eyes just… hurt. The amusement vanished. Why the sudden change? “Was it jealousy? Regret? Why did she suddenly look like I had done something wrong?” I made a move to hug her, but in the process and misstep and almost landed on my butt for the second time that day. Liam’s hand immediately shot out to hold me steady. “Careful,” he said, steadying me like it was no big deal. “Seriously, you’re gonna knock someone out one day.” My eyes immediately went to Sophia, mortified. She froze in place, her hands extended and her mouth slightly open. I yelped, darting away from Liam and hid behind Sophia. Oh, Lord! I peeked at Liam from Sophia’s shoulders. Liam’s face relaxed, just a little, and for a second, just one damn second, I could swear I saw it. There was a tiny bit of amusement in his eyes, like he was fighting a smile and losing. Before I had time to figure out what that his look meant, Claire showed up out of nowhere. The head cheerleader. Liam’s“supposed”girlfriend. She walked up to Liam, but her eyes occasionally moved between Liam and me, like she was trying to figure out why I was even standing there with him. She put her arms around Liam but kept staring at me. It felt weird. Like she was expecting something. I didn't know what to say. My brain just…. blanked. So I just looked away. I could feel her still staring at me, so I avoided eye contact. Liam finally looked away from me. His expression went blank. “Hey Claire”. The shift in tone was immediate. Sophia snorted. Claire turned to glare at us before facing Liam again. I panicked. Should I leave? “Was this the moment I was supposed to walk away or what?” My heart skipped. I looked up and there were those sea green eyes, locked onto mine once again. “What was with the constant eye contact?” I wondered. From everything I’d heard about Liam, he was the cold, mysterious, no nonsense type. He was never for once classified chatty or caring, he really gave off that vibe. I’ve only seen him talk to the A-listers as we call them, they were the trendsetters, the populars. But he had just stared at me like I was the only person in the hallway. Claire whispered something to him. I had no idea what she said to him, It didn’t matter. Whatever it was she had said to him, pulled his attention away from me, just like that. That’s when I noticed, people were watching. Whispers filled the air. Claire’s hand grazed his arm as she smiled, like I wasn’t there. “Coming , Liam?” Sophia yanked my arm. “Hurry, Ivy. We’ve got class.” I nodded, turning back to Liam. I lifted a hand in a small, quiet wave. His expression didn’t change, but he gave a small stiff nod and looked away. My hand dropped immediately. Sophia elbowed me and leaned in, whispering. “What was that about?” I shook my head, still puzzled. I didn’t say anything. What was there to say? I turned to look back, just to take a peek, just a small peek. His eyes were on me once again. His lips moved. He was saying something. My heart skipped. “Run” I blinked. Sophia pulled harder. “Ivy, come on!” I turned away. Run? I didn’t imagine that. I couldn’t have imagined that. Right?Ivy’s POV I didn’t want to see either of them. Not Zane. Not Liam. I didn’t even want to be in school. I was nervous from the second I woke up. I got ready slower than usual. Tried changing up my route to class. Walked through school like I was trying to disappear. I kept my head down, took different hallways, skipped my locker. Just wanted space. Quiet. Time to think. My brain wouldn’t stop. Zane liked me. Liam liked me. What the hell was I supposed to do with that? Why now? Why this? My brain was still fried from the cafeteria mess. Or the stares. Or everything else. And of course, avoiding people at school? That’s a joke. Zane kept showing up. Like literally just... appearing. I’d turn a corner—there. Walk out of class—he’d be leaning against the wall like he just happened to be there. Hands in his pockets. Smiling like it was normal. He asked how I was. Walked me to class. Twice. Even when I said I was okay. I appreciated it. I really did. But I didn’t know
Ivy’s POV I shut the door and leaned on it. My hands wouldn’t stop shaking. My chest felt tight. I couldn’t think straight. I’d take two steps, stop, then start pacing again. Over and over. Zane. Now Liam. What the hell. I dropped to the floor, still pressed against the door. Wait—what? I didn’t get it. At all. Why me? What was I doing wrong? What was I doing at all? I don’t even know how to look them in the eye now. Or talk. Or exist, honestly. And if anyone at school finds out... No. No way. They’d eat me alive. I can already hear the crap they’d say. The looks. The whispers. Like it isn’t bad enough already. I thought about texting Diane. Or Nola. Just to talk. But what if they told someone by accident? Just in passing. And then it’s out. Everyone knows. I sat there for a while. No idea how long. Then I stood up and went to my room.My sketchbook was on the floor. Weird. I didn't even remember dropping it. I sat on the bed and tried drawing something. A window. A t
Liam’s POV After I told Elda off, I couldn’t stand still. I needed to see Ivy. I looked everywhere—hallways, gym hallway, art block, even that stupid quiet corner near the old lockers. Nothing. Zane found me pacing. “We have to get back to practice,” he said. I didn’t argue. My head was a mess. My hands were clenched, like I needed to hit a wall or something. We got back to the field. Coach yelled at us for being late. I didn’t even hear half of it. Practice ended. Zane and I were the last ones off the field. “You good?” he asked, walking beside me. I didn’t answer. “Because you’ve been a wreck lately,” he added, not even trying to sugarcoat it. “You always look like you’re ready to swing at something.” I stopped walking. “I like her.” Zane blinked. “Who?” I looked him dead in the eye. “Ivy.” He didn’t say anything. I swallowed. “I didn’t even know when it started. I just… I care. I think about her. All the time. The way she talks. How she keeps everything bottled up. I
Ivy’s POV I was already drained before I even walked through the doors. I knew today would suck. I just didn’t think it’d be this quiet. No one said anything. People just looked the other way when I walked past. Like I wasn’t there. Like I didn’t even exist. And Sophia wasn’t at school. I checked. Not at her locker. Not in class. I even looked around the library. Nothing. I almost texted her. My fingers hovered over the screen. But Nola saw me. “Don’t,” she said, sharp. “I just want to know if she’s okay—” “Ivy, stop. “She was the jerk. Why are you the one feeling bad?” "I know. It still feels like I made it worse somehow.” “No. You didn't.” Nola looked straight at me. “She said awful stuff and walked away. She’s not the one crying herself to sleep.” I didn’t say anything. My throat burned. But something else felt weird too. Maya wasn’t with Sophia anymore. She was suddenly hanging out with Elda now. Laughing with her. Like nothing ever happened. Last w
Ivy’s POV It was the weekend, thank God. No school today, which meant no weird hallway stares or drama or any of that stuff. The morning was quiet. Weirdly, I didn’t totally hate the idea of going to therapy today. Not exactly fun, but not scary either. The chairs didn’t feel so stiff anymore. Ms. Kay’s voice didn’t annoy me like it used to. I still got nervous, yeah. Just not the kind that made me feel like I was gonna throw up or pass out. I got there early. The windows were all open, which was weird. Maybe someone finally complained. My arms were cold, but whatever. Better than sweating through another group. A few were already in the circle, chatting like it wasn’t weird being here. It always felt weird to me. That’s when I saw Derek. Back row. Hoodie up. Legs stretched like he owned the place. Head down like he couldn’t care less. He looked half asleep. Or like he wanted to disappear. I sat a few chairs away from him. Tried not to stare, which obviously meant I stared. I
Ivy’s POV We walked down the hall, still holding hands. No one said anything to us. No one dared. I kept my head down. I didn’t even want to know who was looking. My face was probably still red. My eyes felt heavy from crying. My nose was stuffy too, which was just great. He didn’t let go of my hand. Not once. When we got to the back exit, the one near the field, he opened a door, and I knew where that passage led to. It ran down straight to the A-listers’ room. I didn’t even question it this time. I just followed. He pushed the door open. The room was empty. Just the sound of the AC humming. He walked over to the shelf at the back, grabbed a bottle of juice and two packs of cookies, then came back with some kind of sour candy I didn’t recognize. He dropped them on the table in front of me and sat down. “Eat something,” he said. I just stared at him. “I’m fine.” “You’re not.” Right after he said that, my stomach made this tiny growl. I saw the smirk creep onto
Welcome to GoodNovel world of fiction. If you like this novel, or you are an idealist hoping to explore a perfect world, and also want to become an original novel author online to increase income, you can join our family to read or create various types of books, such as romance novel, epic reading, werewolf novel, fantasy novel, history novel and so on. If you are a reader, high quality novels can be selected here. If you are an author, you can obtain more inspiration from others to create more brilliant works, what's more, your works on our platform will catch more attention and win more admiration from readers.
Mga Comments