Lahat ng Kabanata ng CRAVING THE BAD BOY: Kabanata 151 - Kabanata 160

Ariana POVThe words stayed between us long after Nick said them. "I choose you."My chest tightened so hard it almost hurt. For months, I had wanted clarity from him. Something real. Something solid enough to hold onto whenever things became confusing between us. Now I finally had it, yet instead of relief, all I felt was panic.Because choosing me was not the same thing as things magically becoming easy. Nick stepped closer carefully, his eyes still locked on mine. The hallway had mostly emptied now, but a few students still lingered nearby pretending not to stare at us. "I mean it," he said quietly.I swallowed hard. "You just broke someone’s heart."Pain flickered across his face immediately. "I know."The honesty in his voice made this harder. If he had sounded cold or careless, maybe I could have stayed angry. But Nick looked miserable, like he hated himself for hurting Laura while still being unable to let me go.That was the problem with him. He felt too much. I leaned back li

Ariana POVThe next morning felt strangely quiet. Not around campus. Campus was louder than ever. Everywhere I turned, people whispered when they saw me. Some tried pretending they were not talking about me, but they were terrible at hiding it.No, the quiet was inside me. For the first time in weeks, Nick and I were not stuck in confusion anymore. Messy? Absolutely. Complicated? Definitely. But at least the truth was finally out. And somehow that scared me more than the secret ever did.I walked into my morning lecture a few minutes early hoping to avoid attention. That plan failed immediately. The second I stepped into the classroom, conversations lowered. Two girls near the front looked at me before whispering quickly to each other. A guy in the back openly checked his phone like he was comparing me to the videos online. Fantastic. I slid into my seat quietly and pulled out my notebook, pretending not to notice any of it. "You look like you want the floor to swallow you."I glance

Ariana POVThe rain became heavier by the time we left the diner. Water hit the pavement in soft steady drops while cold wind rushed through the parking lot. I pulled Nick’s hoodie tighter around myself as we walked toward his car, and he noticed immediately."You keeping that?" he asked."I’m considering it.""I knew trusting you was a mistake."I laughed softly before sliding into the passenger seat. The drive back felt quieter than before. Not uncomfortable. Just thoughtful. The diner had distracted me for a while, but now that we were alone again, reality slowly returned. Laura. The gossip. The mess waiting for us on campus tomorrow.None of it had disappeared. Nick rested one hand on the steering wheel while the other tapped lightly against his jeans. He looked calmer than yesterday, but I could still see tension sitting underneath it all. "You’re thinking too," I noticed.He glanced at me briefly. "You started it.""That’s not an answer."Nick sighed quietly before focusing back

Ariana POVI barely slept. Every time I closed my eyes, my brain replayed everything from the past two days like a badly edited movie. Laura crying in the hallway. Nick saying he chose me. Dinner in the rain. The way he looked at me before leaving last night.It was exhausting. By morning, I had officially decided emotions were terrible. I dragged myself out of bed while Maya sat cross legged on her own bed eating cereal and watching me with way too much interest. "You look suspiciously happy for someone in the middle of campus chaos," she said.I grabbed a hoodie from my chair. "I’m not happy." "You literally smiled while brushing your teeth."I froze briefly. "That proves nothing.""It proves everything."I threw a pillow at her. Maya dodged it easily. "Violence won’t save you from your feelings," she informed me dramatically."You are genuinely annoying before nine in the morning.""And yet you love me."Unfortunately true. My phone buzzed against the desk. Maya gasped loudly. "Sp

Ariana POVFor a second, I forgot how to breathe. The message from Maya blurred in my hand while noise exploded near the student center. More students crowded around the front steps, phones already raised, voices growing louder by the second.Someone leaked private pictures of you and Nick online. My stomach twisted violently. Laura grabbed my arm lightly. "Ariana."I looked up at her with panic already rising in my chest. "What pictures?"She frowned immediately. "You don’t know?"I shook my head quickly. My hands started trembling as I unlocked my phone again. Messages flooded the screen faster than I could read them. Maya. Unknown numbers. People I barely spoke to. Even classmates. Every notification felt like another wave of panic crashing into me. "Ariana, breathe," Laura said softly.But I barely heard her. Finally, I opened the campus gossip page everyone secretly followed but pretended to hate. And there it was. A blurry photo of me sitting in Nick’s car outside the diner last