THE BOY WHO WAS NEVER MINE

CHAPTER 3 : ALMOST

I told myself not to look for him.

I failed. I just couldn't resist .

My eyes searched the campus without permission, scanning faces, benches, corridors — anywhere he might be. When I finally spotted him near the library steps, my heart did that stupid thing again, beating faster like it was happy to see him.

He was alone this time.

Relief washed over me before I could stop it.

“Hey,” I said, approaching him slowly.

He looked up, surprised, then smiled. That same quiet smile that felt like it belonged only to me. “Hey.”

We sat side by side, close enough that our arms almost touched, but didn’t. There was always that space between us — small, careful, intentional.

“I didn’t see you after lunch yesterday,” I said casually, pretending I hadn’t watched him walk away with her.

“Yeah,” he replied. “I got busy.”

That was it. No explanation. No mention of her.

I wanted to ask. I wanted to know who she was, why she looked so comfortable with him, why my chest still felt tight thinking about it. But the words stayed stuck in my throat.

Instead, we talked about classes. About lecturers who talked too fast. About how confusing campus life was. He made me laugh again, and I hated how easy it was for him to do that.

At one point, he grew quiet.

“My life isn’t very… stable,” he said suddenly, staring ahead. “So I don’t really plan things.”

Something in his voice told me that sentence carried weight. Pain. History.

“That’s okay,” I said softly. “Not everyone has to have everything figured out.”

He turned to look at me then, really look at me, like he was trying to decide something important. For a moment, the noise around us faded.

“I like talking to you, Gabriella,” he said.

My heart skipped.

“I like talking to you too,” I replied, my voice barely steady.

The air between us changed. Heavy. Charged. Almost.

For a second, I thought he might reach for my hand. I wanted him to. God, I really did.

But he didn’t.

Instead, he stood up. “I should go.”

“Oh,” I said, hiding my disappointment. “Okay.”

As he walked away, I realized something that scared me more than his silence.

I was already attached.

And I hadn’t even asked the one question that mattered most.

Who was the girl who could call his name so easily —

and why did I feel like I was already losing him? Before he could even be mine .