Chapter 1Is It My Turn Now?

The day I arrived on campus for my freshman year, I was practically buzzing with excitement. I clutched my acceptance letter—same major as Nate—and planned the perfect surprise.

I found him leaning against a brick pillar outside the women’s dorms, phone pressed to his ear, his voice a low, casual murmur.

“Sera has severe anxiety. She only talks to me, she can’t handle being alone. You have to find a way to get her into my program,” he was saying, his tone smooth and commanding.

He paused, then added, “And Ava… yeah, switch her to the International Relations department. Her temper’s bad and she gets jealous. I don’t want her stressing Sera out.”

He glanced up at the dorm windows, a soft, almost tender smile gracing his lips.

I couldn't hear the other side of the conversation, but when the topic shifted back to me, his brow furrowed in annoyance. “Just forget about her. She’s been stuck to me for years. I need some damn breathing room.”

So that was it. More than a decade of my life, a constant presence by his side, had been reduced to a burden.

This time, I didn't scream or cry. I just walked up to him and calmly ended it.

A second after I said the words, a friend request popped up on my phone. It was from the Student Body President. The message read: “So… is it my turn now?”

* * *

“Break up?”

The impatience in Nate’s eyes was so thick I could practically feel it. “Seriously? Just because I got here a day early and didn’t text you?”

“Yes,” I said, my voice steady.

“Fine,” he sighed, the sound heavy with theatrical exasperation, as if I were the most unreasonable person on the planet. “When you’ve cooled off, I’ll win you back.”

But even as he spoke, his gaze drifted past me, locking onto a girl who had just stepped out of the dorm.

“Nate, I mean it. We’re really…”

My words trailed off. The lazy, arrogant slouch he always had was gone. He stood up straight, instinctively smoothing the wrinkles on his shirt.

“Sera! You all settled in? Need help with anything else?” His voice was suddenly bright and eager, completely drowning out the rest of my sentence.

Seraphina, or Sera, just nodded. She didn’t have to say a word. The way she stood there, biting her lip and staring up at him, was more powerful than anything I could have ever screamed.

“I… I need you to introduce me to everyone at orientation… There are so many people… I’m scared…” she whispered, tugging on his sleeve and leaning in so close her lips brushed his ear.

“Of course,” he agreed instantly. It was only then that he turned and seemed to remember I was still standing there. He cleared his throat, offering a half-hearted olive branch. “Ava, after I help Sera out, I’ll give you a tour of the campus, okay?”

He didn’t even realize it. From the moment she appeared, I had become an afterthought.

“Don’t bother,” I said, my voice dripping with ice. “You should stick close to your helpless little baby. I’m afraid she might have a meltdown and run home on her first day without you.”

“Ava, what the hell is your problem? You know her situation!” he snapped, his brows crashing together. It was the first time he’d ever used my full name, and it was to defend someone else.

A bitter laugh escaped my lips, but it was followed by a sharp sting in my nose.

Nate and I had been childhood sweethearts. It was the kind of storybook romance everyone envied. Then, in our senior year of high school, a transfer student arrived. Seraphina. The whole school buzzed with whispers about the new girl with crippling social anxiety.

Our boring, test-filled senior year suddenly had a new drama. Nate, ever the hero, decided he needed to be the one to “bring her out of her shell.” I thought it was pathetic, but he became obsessed.

Soon enough, he was the only person at school she would speak to. He took it upon himself to be her guardian. He tutored her, took her on the Ferris wheel at the state fair, and bought her cupcakes from the bakery we used to love. He re-created every single one of our special moments, but with her.

We fought. We screamed. We broke up a thousand times, and every single time, he would come back, head hung low, begging for forgiveness. But he never stopped “taking care” of Sera; he just got better at hiding it.

When it was time to apply for college, I couldn’t let go of a decade’s worth of history. I chose the same university, the same niche major, just to be with him. Sera’s grades weren’t good enough, so she was waitlisted and then shunted into a less competitive program. I thought college would be a clean slate.

But now I saw the truth. He wasn't hiding his obsession anymore. He was flaunting it.

“Oh, I know her situation,” I retorted, my voice sharp. “One’s a basket case and the other’s a fool. You’re both sick in the head. You two deserve each other. Do the world a favor and stay off the market.”

I shoved down the flicker of pain and watched with grim satisfaction as his face darkened and Sera’s eyes filled with tears. Then, I turned on my heel and walked away.

I checked my new schedule. International Relations. It seemed like a random, difficult pivot, but it was a perfect fit. My mother was a diplomat, my father a top-tier translator. I had always planned on following in their footsteps, but I’d thrown it all away for Nate, choosing a major I hated just to be near him.

In a way, he’d put me back on the right track.

And from now on, every step I took would be loud, brilliant, and on my own terms. I wouldn’t be his shadow anymore. I would become someone he could only ever look up to.