The Boy I Forgot to Hate

"I’m doing you a favor, Vega. I hate seeing a shallow guy like you." With one cold, swift motion, Elena tossed the heart-shaped stone—the sole remaining token of their childhood friendship—straight into the trash bin right before Julian’s eyes. To Elena Castillo, Julian Vega was the one piece of her past she had desperately wanted to hold onto forever. Yet, every beautiful memory of him shattered completely on her very first day at San Aurelio University. The man standing just across her dorm room was no longer the Julian she once knew. He had grown into someone completely unrecognizable; tall, broad-shouldered, breathtakingly handsome, and adored by the entire campus. What truly broke Elena’s heart, however, was that he now belonged to the exact same world as Valeria Montes—the popular girl who had made Elena’s high school years a living hell. Elena chose to pull back, maintain her distance, and treat Julian like a complete stranger. To her, the Julian she used to miss was already dead. What Elena didn't know was that Julian had returned to Solverde and chosen the exact same university for one reason only: her. Julian still treasured every little thing Elena had ever given him, and he had considered her the most beautiful girl in the world since the very first day she stood up for him. As misunderstandings piled up, the wall between them only grew taller. Then, an impulsive act at a college party stripped away the masks they had both been wearing for so long. With the threads of their past tangled in ego and insecurity, can they ever find a way forward or are they destined to live forever as strangers who secretly long for one another?