Torn Between My First Love and Arrogant Bully

KIARA'S POV. The loud beeping sound from my alarm woke me from my sleep, and when I sluggishly opened my tired eyes, the first sight they came into contact with was bold writing on the wallboard. Happy 23rd Birthday, Kiara. I instantly jerked them open fully, sitting upright on the bed once the realization hit that today was my birthday. I jerked myself out of bed, still in my nightwear, and rushed out of my room to Adrian's room. We had a tradition here—knock once and then force the door open if you're lucky enough to see it unlocked, so I did just that. I rapped a knock on the door before turning the knob, and stepped into the room. To my surprise, Adrian was already dressed up by 7:30 am, and it made me wonder if he was even more excited about my birthday than I was. “Somebody's all dressed up and ready to go shopping.” I teased, watching him put on his wrist watch and grab his car key. “I'm sorry, Kiara, but I can't celebrate with you today.” My heart froze, and my brows pinched as the excitement in my face suddenly vanished. “What…” I was yet to completely find my words when he continued, “Nicole woke up on the wrong side of the bed today, and she needs me by her side. I should go check up on her before she does something stupid to herself. You know how she gets whenever she's angry.” I swallowed the rest of my words down my already dry and hurting throat and nodded my head. As he walked towards me, I stepped aside and remained at my spot until I heard the door shut. Adrian and I grew up together as neighbors since we were both fourteen years old and since then, I never stopped loving the boy who showed me care and kept me company whenever I was alone, crying all by myself. After my parents' divorce, my mom got custody and moved us to Washington, and that was how my secret love story for Adrian began. I could never boldly express my feelings for Adrian back in junior high school because I was nothing like the girls he dated. I was petite, with dark brown eyes, 5’4 with blonde hair—which originally used to be raven, and when I realized all the girls Adrian dated in high school were nothing like me, I instantly knew I had no chance with him. So, I stayed by the sidelines, watching him, drooling, and hoping that one day, he would notice me or somehow figure out magically that I had feelings for him. There was a flicker of hope after college, when Adrian had invited me to live with him. His parents were filthy rich, unlike mine, so it was easy for him to buy an apartment after college, but all that hope was shattered when he met Nicole, one of his mates in college, and they immediately fell in love with each other. I found that a bit absurd, but she was pretty hot so it was enough reason for him to easily fall in love with her. She was the longest he ever kept by his side after graduation. Whenever he talked about her, his eyes glowed magically and I knew just how much he loved her. Truthfully, it was hurting but the last thing I wanted to do was ruin their relationship. 10 minutes later, my legs managed to move and I walked out of his room, heading back to mine. Throughout the day, it was just me in my room, a bag of potato chips, popcorn, some candy, and a glass of wine, celebrating the worst birthday of my life. At night, I received a call from Mom wishing me a happy birthday. I didn't blame her, she always had night shifts at the hospital she worked at, so she must have slept all day because she was tired. I had never bothered bringing up dad after their divorce since I was fourteen, but most of the time, I wanted to. The reason for their divorce was still unknown to me because mom never talked about it, but on several occasions while growing up, I would secretly walk in on her with his portrait crying herself to sleep. As I got prepared for bed, I decided to check in on my job application. Last year, I successfully passed my bar exams and was applying for a job at the Hawthorne and Locke law firm. It had always been my dream to work in a place like that, but I didn't have enough connections to get in so I was simply waiting for the longer route to get in. My results were really good, hopefully, they see that and consider me as one of theirs. When I didn't see any sign of acceptance but also no rejection yet, I knew I had to keep waiting. I tossed my phone gently under the pillow and lay my head on it, ready for a good night's sleep, when all of a sudden, it pinged, indicating a notification. At first, I wanted to ignore it but thinking it could be a message from Adrian, I slid my hand under the bed with a light groan and brought it out. I was right, it was a message from Adrian that got me excited. Well, that was the thing, it was hard to stay mad at Adrian. When I opened it, I was shocked to see so many photos of Adrian and Nicole. The last slide made my heart suddenly thump hard. She had a ring on her finger and whoever took the picture had made sure to zoom in on the big raw diamond. Wasn't it a bit too early for a proposal? They were barely six months together. There was a caption on the last slide, “My sweet man finally popped the question. Soon to be Mrs Thompson.” Then there was also a last message, giving me enough clarity on who had sent the photos, “Hi, Kiara, it's Nicole. I just thought I'd drop this here because of how cute they looked. Save it up will you? I broke my phone yesterday and Adrian's yet to get me a new one. Oh, I have no idea if Adrian told you yet, but I'll be moving in with him next week.” At this point, I didn't need anyone to tell me twice, I had to move out as soon as possible!