CHAPTER -1
912 Words
"You're five minutes late, Hart," Lucian muttered without looking up from his notebook as Evelyn slipped into the seat next to him.
She huffed, dropping her bag onto the desk with zero grace. “Wow, you timing my entry now? Should I be flattered or creeped out?”
Lucian finally glanced sideways, his brown eyes as cold and unreadable as ever. “Neither. I just like to keep track of when chaos walks in.”
Evelyn gave him a sugary smile. “Aww, that’s cute. You memorized my schedule. Must be hard having no life of your own.”
“Harder to pretend I care,” he replied smoothly, turning a page.
She scoffed. “Your personality really screams fun at parties, you know?”
Lucian didn’t flinch. “And yours screams loud without substance.”
That earned a dramatic gasp from Evelyn. “You really think you’re better than everyone just because you’re the class topper?”
“I don’t think,” he said calmly. “I know.”
“Oh, right. The Lucian Blackwood™ logic. Emotionless, arrogant, and raised on a diet of ego.”
He tilted his head just slightly. “And you were raised on sarcasm, bad choices, and caffeine.”
“Funny. Coming from the guy who treats smiling like a mortal sin.”
“I smile,” Lucian said flatly.
She blinked. “Really? When? In your sleep?”
Lucy, who had just walked in and overheard, winced from a few seats away. “Please tell me you two aren’t starting again.”
Lucian ignored her. “Just trying to have a quiet morning before the circus showed up.”
Evelyn shot him a glare. “And I was just trying to learn something before the robot next to me powered on.”
Lucian leaned slightly closer, voice cold and quiet. “You’d learn faster if you spent less time talking and more time listening.”
She smiled sweetly. “And you’d be less hated if you spent less time talking and more time shutting the hell up.”
The professor walked in at that moment, slapping a book down on the desk, completely unfazed.
“Glad to see the usual suspects at it again,” he said dryly. “Blackwood. Hart. Sit. Down. Shut. Up.”
Lucian didn’t move. Evelyn leaned back in her chair, arms folded, still glaring at him.
He finally looked at her and muttered, “Try not to trip on your ego again on the way out.”
She smirked. “Only if you try not to fall in love with yourself before the class ends.”
They turned away from each other at the same time, but not before Lucy whispered from across the room:
“I swear, if you two don’t end up married, the universe wasted a perfectly good enemies-to-lovers setup.”
Lucian’s jaw clenched. Evelyn’s heart skipped.
If only they knew.
In the evening.
The cafe was cozy, dimly lit, and smelled like vanilla and burnt coffee beans. Evelyn sat near the window, watching the raindrops trickle down the glass as she waited.
Her phone buzzed.
Lily: You need to see this.
A single video file followed.
Confused, Evelyn clicked on it—expecting maybe a funny meme or something stupid from their group chat.
But her heart dropped before her mind could process it.
There he was.
Noah.
Her boyfriend.
Kissing another girl.
Not just any kiss—handsy, intimate, way-too-familiar. Like they’d done it a hundred times.
The video was barely twenty seconds long, but her world tilted with every second.
Her fingers trembled.
Noah. The same boy who texted her "I love you, baby" two nights ago. The one who promised she was the only one. The one who’d made her feel like she was hard to love, like he was doing her a favor by staying.
The door to the café opened—and speak of the devil.
Noah walked in like nothing happened, smiling that same manipulative smile.
“There’s my girl,” he said, sitting across from her. “Sorry I’m late, babe. Traffic.”
Evelyn stared at him.
Silent. Cold.
He frowned. “You okay?”
She slid the phone across the table. “Play the video.”
He blinked. Picked it up. Played it.
And froze.
His smirk faded. “Evie, I—”
“Save it.” Her voice cracked. “Was she the only one? Or just the one you got caught with?”
“Babe, I swear, it didn’t mean anything—”
“You told me you loved me,” she whispered, eyes burning. “Was that before or after you were in her bed?”
“I made a mistake—”
“No. You are the mistake.”
She stood up. Her legs felt like jelly. Her heart? That wasn’t beating anymore—it was breaking.
“I gave you my heart, and you turned it into a game.”
“Evelyn, please—don’t make this a big thing. You’re overreacting.”
She laughed—a bitter, hollow sound. “Overreacting? You cheated on me, gaslighted me, and made me feel like I wasn’t good enough.”
She leaned down, locking eyes with him one last time. “I may not be perfect, Noah. But at least I’m not a liar who confuses love with lust.”
And with that, she walked out into the rain.
No umbrella. No direction.
Just heartbreak.
- Writer
