Love me or Ruin Me

Chpt 1 — The Girl Everyone Wants There’s always that one girl. The one people notice without trying. The one boys talk about like she’s some kind of prize. The one girls watch a little too closely, even when they pretend not to care. In my school… that girl was me. I didn’t ask for it. I didn’t ask for the stares when I walked into class. Or the random “Hi” from boys who had never spoken to me before. Or the way my name somehow found its way into conversations I wasn’t even part of. But attention is a funny thing. Once people decide who you are, they don’t really care about the truth anymore. “See the way Daniel was looking at you today?” Amara said, dropping her bag on the desk beside mine. I didn’t even look up. “I didn’t notice.” She laughed. “You never ‘notice.’ That’s your problem.” Or maybe it was my strategy. I finally raised my head, meeting her eyes. “Not everything needs attention, Amara.” “Easy for you to say,” she muttered, rolling her eyes slightly. I caught it. Amara had been my best friend for years. I knew her moods, her expressions, the small changes in her tone. And just now… there was something there. Something sharp. Something that didn’t feel like a joke. Before I could say anything, a shadow fell across our desk. “Hey.” I didn’t need to look up to know it was Daniel. His voice had that confident, slightly annoying edge to it. “Hi,” I replied, calm as always. “Can I talk to you after school?” Straightforward. Bold. Expected. I shrugged lightly. “About what?” He smiled like he already knew the answer. “You know.” I didn’t. And even if I did, I wouldn’t have admitted it. “I’m busy after school,” I said, picking up my pen again. A lie? Maybe. Necessary? Definitely. There was a brief pause before he chuckled. “You’re always busy.” “Then you already have your answer.” Amara snorted beside me, clearly entertained. Daniel shook his head like I was some kind of challenge he hadn’t figured out yet. “One day, you’ll stop saying no.” I finally looked at him properly. “Don’t wait for that day.” He smiled again, but this time it didn’t quite reach his eyes. Then he walked away. Silence settled between Amara and me. Then— “You’re so wicked.” I frowned. “How?” “You just turned him down like that? Do you know how many girls would literally beg for that kind of attention?” I leaned back slightly. “Then he should ask them.” She stared at me for a second… then laughed. But again, it didn’t feel real. “Sometimes I don’t understand you,” she said. I didn’t respond. Because if I’m being honest… There was nothing to understand. I didn’t like Daniel. I didn’t like most of them. Not when I already knew what came after the attention. Confessions. Expectations. Disappointment. I had seen it happen too many times. I had watched my friends cry over boys who swore they cared. Watched feelings turn into arguments, then silence, then strangers. Love wasn’t soft. It was messy. Complicated. Temporary. And I wanted no part in it. At least… that’s what I told myself. Because the truth? The truth was a little more complicated than that. There was someone. Someone I never talked about. Someone no one would ever suspect. Someone I wasn’t supposed to want. I didn’t look at him often. Didn’t speak to him. Didn’t give anything away. But somehow… my eyes still found him. Across the classroom. In the middle of the noise. In moments I didn’t even realise I was searching. And today was no different. My gaze lifted slightly— And there he was. Sitting at the back of the class, like always. Quiet. Unbothered. Like none of this mattered. Like I didn’t exist. Our eyes almost met. Almost. I looked away first. Like I always did. Because some feelings are easier to hide… when no one knows they exist. TBC...... please engage 🙏.