Chapter 1: The Day It All Fell Apart

The day I broke up with my online boyfriend, the campus heartthrob was drowning his sorrows in a back alley with a bottle of whiskey.

It was the kind of moment straight out of a movie—Caleb Jennings, usually the definition of untouchable cool, slumped on cracked pavement behind some nameless building, nursing his heartbreak like some country song come to life—raw, messy, and way too public. The alley’s security light flickered, catching the amber whiskey and making it look almost beautiful. If I'd known then what I know now... I almost paused my music, thumb hovering over the pause button, but instead I shoved my hands deeper into my hoodie pocket, pretending I didn’t notice—wrapped up in my own drama, not his.

I thought we were both lost souls, fallen from grace and wandering aimlessly.

That sense of being adrift was something I wore like a faded varsity jacket—everyone saw it, but nobody asked. Some days it felt like I was walking through fog, headphones blasting sad-girl playlists just to drown out my own thoughts. Caleb, with his icy eyes and half-smirk, looked like he belonged on the cover of a romance novel or a Nike ad. But on that day, he was just another college kid trying to outrun his loneliness.

Never did I expect that I was actually the main culprit.

It didn’t hit me until later—way later—how much my choices tangled up with his. Turns out, sometimes you’re the villain in someone else’s story without ever meaning to be.

The day my secret was exposed, Caleb Jennings cornered me and kissed me.

No warning, no chance to pull my hoodie up and disappear. He just backed me against the brick wall by the campus art building, his breath smelling faintly of cinnamon gum and pure defiance, and before I could process, his lips crashed onto mine. Like he was both furious and relieved at the same time.

"So, Maddie likes cosplay, huh?"

His voice was low—a dare and a tease all at once, like he was challenging me to lie. My face went up in flames. I wanted to shove him away—or maybe pull him closer. It was that kind of college mess that makes your heart race and your brain stutter.