CHAPTER SEVEN
594 Words
It didn’t start immediately.
Lily was nice.
At least… in the beginning.
She smiled at me.
Talked to me.
Thanked me.
But something changed.
Maybe she noticed the way I looked at Ethan.
Maybe someone told her.
Or maybe…
She just decided I didn’t belong.
“Blue, right?”
I looked up from my desk.
Lily stood there, arms crossed lightly, her smile… different.
Not warm.
Not kind.
Just… polite.
“Yes?” I replied softly.
She tilted her head. “You’re pretty quiet.”
I nodded. “I guess.”
“That’s not always a good thing, you know,” she said.
I didn’t understand what she meant.
Not yet.
“I see you around Ethan a lot,” she continued casually. “It’s a little… weird.”
The word hit instantly.
Weird.
Again.
“I’m not—” I started.
“I mean,” she cut in, still smiling, “I get it. But you should know your place.”
My chest tightened.
“My place?” I repeated quietly.
She leaned slightly closer.
“He has a girlfriend now.”
Her voice dropped just enough.
“And it’s not you.”
I couldn’t speak.
“I’m just saying it nicely,” she added, straightening up. “Some girls wouldn’t be.”
Then she walked away.
Like nothing happened.
Like she hadn’t just crushed something inside me.
After that, it got worse.
Little things.
Whispers when I passed by.
Soft laughter behind my back.
Comments that sounded harmless—but weren’t.
“Why is she always alone?”
“Does she even have friends?”
“Maybe she thinks she still has a chance…”
I heard everything.
Even when I pretended not to.
One afternoon, it happened in front of him.
I was at my locker when Lily and her friends walked up.
“Oh look,” one of them said. “It’s her.”
I froze.
Lily sighed softly, like she was tired.
“Blue,” she said, “don’t you get it?”
My hands trembled slightly.
“Get what?” I asked.
“That he doesn’t like you.”
Her friends chuckled quietly.
“I know,” I said.
“Then why are you still… around?” she pressed.
“I’m not doing anything,” I whispered.
Lily laughed softly.
“That’s exactly the problem.”
The words stung.
“Just stop making things uncomfortable,” she added.
Uncomfortable.
Another word.
Another wound.
And then—
Ethan walked up.
My heart reacted instantly.
It always did.
“Hey,” he said, wrapping an arm loosely around Lily.
She leaned into him.
Like she belonged there.
Like she always had.
“Hey,” she replied sweetly.
“Everything okay?” he asked.
There was a pause.
A small one.
The kind where everything could change.
Lily glanced at me.
Then smiled.
“Yeah,” she said. “We’re just talking.”
Ethan looked at me.
For a moment, our eyes met.
And I waited.
I don’t know why.
But I did.
I waited for him to say something.
Anything.
To ask.
To notice.
To care.
But he didn’t.
He just looked away.
“Let’s go,” he said to Lily.
And that was it.
No questions.
No concern.
No defense.
Nothing.
Silence.
And in that moment…
I understood something clearly.
Being hurt by him was one thing.
But watching him stand there—
Seeing everything—
And still choosing to do nothing?
That hurt more than anything else.
Because silence…
Silence means sides.
And he had already chosen his.
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