All Chapters of IF ONLY HE KNEW: Chapter 1 - Chapter 7

**CHLOE'S POV**On Thursday morning, I went to school as usual.Only this time, I wasn't the cheerful Chloe Bennett everyone knew. I was the girl who had watched her best friend receive the one thing she'd secretly wanted for ten years, and who now had to pretend it didn't hurt.The campus was bright and loud, full of people with nowhere to be but happy. I walked through it like someone wearing a coat two sizes too heavy."Chloe!"I barely had time to turn before Olivia came rushing toward me, her face glowing with the kind of happiness that made me want to look away."Hey," I said, forcing a smile.She stopped in front of me, practically bouncing on her toes. "Girl, you won't believe what happened."I already had a pretty good idea. "Tell me.""Ryan and I talked all night!"I swallowed the lump in my throat. "All night?""We started texting after dinner, and before I knew it, it was almost two in the morning. I couldn't even sleep afterward. I kept rereading our messages like an idio

**Chloe's POV**The knock came at exactly seven.I stared at my bedroom door, hoping that if I ignored it long enough, Caleb Walker would grow tired of waiting and go away.Another knock followed."Chloe!" my mother called from downstairs. "Your friend is here!""He's not my friend!" I shouted back.There was a brief silence. Then Caleb's voice floated up the stairs, rich with innocence."That's hurtful, Chloe. I even wore my good shoes."I closed my eyes. Of all the people in the world, why did it have to be him?I checked my reflection one last time. A simple black dress, small silver earrings, flat shoes. Nothing dramatic. I wasn't trying to impress anyone, least of all Caleb. I had changed my outfit twice, but that was only because the first two had looked like I was trying.I grabbed my phone and went downstairs.Caleb stood by the front door with his hands in his pockets. He wore a dark shirt with the sleeves rolled to his elbows, and black jeans. His hair looked annoyingly good

~~CHLOE'S POV~~ The drive home was unusually quiet. Caleb hadn't said a word since we left the bonfire, and for once, I wasn't complaining. The silence was a mercy after a night of his irritating commentary. The car hummed beneath us, streetlights sliding across the windshield in slow amber stripes, and I pressed my forehead lightly against the cool glass. It didn't help. My mind kept dragging me back to the three girls who had cornered me earlier, their smiles sweet, their words poisoned. They shouldn't have bothered me. I knew that. But there was something uniquely cruel about hearing strangers speak of my mother as though they knew her. They didn't know about the double shifts, or the winters she wore the same coat so I could have new shoes. They didn't know what it cost her to raise a child in the shadow of the man who had walked out and never looked back. And I had stood there, silent, my face burning, while they laughed. I hated that more than anything. My gaze drifted