Chapter 1
After dating my childhood friend for a month, I stumbled upon a post on Facebook.
[My crush’s parents absolutely adore his childhood female friend. Any suggestions on how to drive them apart?]
In the pinned reply, the poster was adamantly justifying herself:
[We’re totally into each other, we just haven’t made it official yet.]
[He literally changed his college application choices just to go to the same university as me, and even agreed to get bumped to a different major.]
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[He straight-up told me his thing with his childhood friend was just an experiment, and they’re completely wrong for each other.]
What sent ice through my veins was the photo she attached.
The picture showed two pairs of feet side by side, with hand-drawn Snoopy characters on their sneakers making heart shapes toward each other.
4
A
I stared at that photo, examining every detail, until the devastating truth hit me.
So it turns out, the “crush” the poster was talking about wasn’t just anyone-it was MY boyfriend-Jackson!
The comments under the post kept rolling in:
[I’m so sick of these self-centered parents who just care about their own social convenience without giving a damn about their kids’
happiness.]
[I never even consider guys with female childhood friends. Who knows what hidden feelings might have developed between them at
some point?]
[God, I’m so jealous. My crush is totally hung up on his childhood friend.]
مه
The poster replied to each comment, clearly enjoying the attention:
[Who cares what his parents want? Parents should support their kids’ choices, not the other way around. As long as he’s into ME, nothing else matters.]
[Calling her his “childhood friend” is just being nice. Let’s be real-she’s basically trying to snake someone else’s man.]
Someone challenged her:
[Wait, isn’t your crush already “experimenting” with his childhood friend? That means they’re dating, right? If anything, YOU’RE the one stealing someone’s boyfriend!]
The poster responded with an eye-roll emoji:
[Look, there’s no such thing as stealing someone’s man before there’s a ring on it. Whoever ends up with the wedding ring wins. Besides, he likes me better!]
Finally, she posted a screenshot of their conversation:
[StarGazer: Not my call. Just parents doing dinner. I’m basically just there for show.]
[DewGirl: But I’m having the worst cramps right now. I’m sitting alone at the mall rn feeling like I might pass out.]
[StarGazer: Drop your location! Hang tight, I’ll be there ASAP.]
[See? One text from me and he drops everything.]
I stared blankly at that familiar username, stunned to realize that Jackson had described our relationship to someone else as just an “experiment.”
After spacing out for a while, I finally noticed my phone vibrating.
“Ava, something came up. Can’t make it to dinner. Could you make up some excuse to the parents for me?”
After a few seconds of silence, I asked:
“What kind of excuse did you have in mind?”
#
Jackson made an impatient “hmm” sound before saying:
“Just tell them I’m dealing with some stuff at the store about your back-to-school gift.”
When I didn’t respond, Jackson clicked his tongue:
“Is it really that big a deal to cover for me? I’ve got a real emergency here. Don’t worry, I’ll totally make it up to you tomorrow.”
As he hung up, a strange calm washed over me.
After years of secretly crushing on him, I’d spent two weeks planning my confession after our final exams.
When he said yes, I excitedly told my best friend that Jackson and I were finally together.
But she frowned, clearly disapproving:
“If you had to be the one to make the first move, I’m not sure he’s that into you.”
“If you hadn’t told me, who would even know you’re dating? There’s zero evidence of it anywhere.”
She opened Jackson’s Facebook page, sighing as she scrolled through it.
“Video games, basketball, hanging with the guys… wait, what’s this?”
My friend pointed at a group photo on Jackson’s page.
“See this girl? That’s that transfer student, Morgan Dew, the one I told you about. They were always super close at school.”
“Get it now? He’d rather post about this side chick than his actual girlfriend!”
As I thought about it now, I couldn’t help but laugh bitterly.
“DewGirl” – of course that was Morgan Dew.
But Jackson…
We grew up together. If you didn’t like me, you could have just said so.
Why play with my feelings like this?
