The Song She Stole for Him

Ethan and Nora have been rivals since childhood: she was the effortless straight-A prodigy who couldn't carry a tune, he the failing student with perfect pitch. When they began dating three years ago, his petty revenge for her endless fights was to demand she sing him a love song, and every time she refused. So he kept the songs he wrote for her locked in a desk drawer.

Before their anniversary, Nora claims a compulsory university showcase has trapped her three states away. Ethan flies out unannounced with hydrangeas and finds her onstage in a flawless, tender duet with Tristan Hayes, the campus forum's "Moonlight Duo," their photos captioned as a summer romance blooming into autumn. Her text afterward insists the performance was garbage and off-key. Confronted, she calls the photos promo shots and the host's hype meaningless, while Tristan quietly corrects her. A pair of interlocking crescent-moon brooches and a forum timeline stretching back to July leave Ethan weighing her explanations against what he has seen.