Loyalty test
987 Words
It started with the DM.
Just when I thought the worst had passed… another message came in. From a private account. No bio. No followers.
UNKNOWN:
“You should know what he did to me too.”
Attached?
Screenshots.
And not the flirty kind.
These were raw. Ugly.
A thread of DMs from Wavy… and a girl named Misha.
They started sweet.
Then steamy.
Then toxic.
And then—ghosted.
Just like that. No explanation. Just gone.
At the end of the thread, one message stood out:
WAVY (to Misha):
“Don’t catch feelings. You’ll regret it.”
My stomach flipped.
I stared at the screen for what felt like an hour.
This couldn’t be real.
But deep down, I knew it was.
The way he moved. The way he always almost said the right thing. The way he kissed me like a promise but never stayed long enough to explain.
I dropped my phone onto my bed like it was poisoned.
Then I got angry.
Like really angry.
Because the thing is? I was already in too deep.
⸻
I pulled up to the one place I knew he’d be: the empty basketball court behind the rec center. It was his hideout. His little ghost town.
He wasn’t there.
But I waited.
And waited.
I was about to leave when I heard footsteps.
He walked up from the side entrance, hoodie soaked from the drizzle, jaw clenched like he already knew why I was there.
“Zara.”
“Don’t.”
“What happened?”
I held up my phone. “You want to explain this?”
He didn’t even flinch. Just stared at the screen like it meant nothing.
That made it worse.
“You think this is funny?” I snapped.
“No.”
“So what? I’m just your new toy?”
His eyes darkened. “You think I planned that post going viral? You think I wanted this mess?”
“I think you knew exactly what you were doing with me.”
He stepped forward. “You think I meant for people to find out?”
“I don’t care about the post,” I said. “I care about the lies.”
Silence.
Rain started to fall harder, soaking my hoodie. My curls clung to my cheeks. My heart was thudding so loud I could barely hear.
“Say something,” I whispered.
He exhaled, low and rough. “What do you want me to say? That I’ve messed up? I have. That I used people before? I did.”
“But what about me?”
“You’re not them,” he said quickly. “You’re different.”
“Then why does this feel the same?” My voice cracked. “Why does it feel like I’m just the next girl on your list?”
His silence hit harder than any insult.
I turned to walk away.
He grabbed my wrist—not rough, just enough to stop me.
“Zara, wait.”
I turned, eyes brimming.
And then—he stepped closer. Chest to chest. Rain dripping down both of us.
“I didn’t lie about how I feel about you.”
“Then why do you hide everything?”
“Because when people know the truth, they run.”
“I’m still here.”
He looked at me like he couldn’t believe that.
Then he whispered it.
“My ex set me up.”
My breath hitched. “What?”
“She gave my location to someone who wanted to jump me. I got ambushed outside my studio. That’s how I got the scar.” He pulled back his hoodie just enough to reveal a faint line on his shoulder. “I haven’t trusted anyone since.”
I was speechless.
“She smiled in my face and nearly got me killed,” he said quietly. “So yeah… maybe I flirt too much. Maybe I leave first. Because at least if I’m the one disappearing, no one gets the chance to do it first.”
I stood there, cold, wet, and confused.
And then I did the dumbest thing I could possibly do.
I pulled him into a hug.
Right there in the rain.
No words. Just arms. Just silence.
And he held me like he hadn’t been held in years.
⸻
We sat in his car after, parked in some random lot, heat blasting to dry us off. My hoodie clung to me like second skin. His shirt was off, resting on the dashboard. And the way he looked at me?
Like I was both salvation and danger.
“You wanna know why I didn’t tell you before?” he asked softly.
I nodded.
“Because when you look at me, you don’t see the messed-up parts. You look at me like I’m more than my damage. And I didn’t wanna ruin that.”
“You didn’t.”
His brows lifted. “No?”
I leaned in and kissed him—slow, deep, and full of everything I couldn’t say yet.
“You’re still dangerous,” I whispered.
He grinned. “And you still want me?”
“I think I hate you a little.”
“Cool,” he said. “Hate me while you’re kissing me.”
And just like that, we fell back into the fire.
My legs ended up on his lap. His hands ran up my thighs. His mouth on my neck again. Every kiss was a silent apology. Every breath was heavy with heat.
But just as things started to really heat up—again—my phone buzzed.
Another notification.
And this time, it wasn’t a DM.
It was a school alert.
FIGHT AT SCHOOL. WAVY INVOLVED. VIDEO PENDING REVIEW.
I looked up at him.
He cursed under his breath. “I told them to stop posting that verse.”
“What verse?”
“The one with your name
- Writer
