CHAPTER 5: “Everybody’s Version of Me”
1280 Words
ANICA’S POV
The next day didn’t feel different.
Campus moved the way it always did—predictable noise, familiar faces, routines repeating without effort.
Ethan was already waiting outside the building, half-asleep, coffee in hand.
Marco waved from a distance like he never ran out of energy.
“Good morning!” Marco called, like last night hadn’t drained him at all.
“Morning,” I answered.
Ethan stepped closer and handed me a cup.
“Tea,” he said.
I looked at it.
“You made this?”
“Yeah.”
I took it. Warm. Familiar.
“Hangover?”
“Not really.”
“Good.”
That was it. No follow-up. No insistence.
We started walking.
Adrian’s group was already ahead, Mia beside him again like she had always been there.
Ethan didn’t even look her way.
That was new.
Usually, he did.
Now it was like she wasn’t part of the same space anymore.
I couldn’t tell why, but it felt like someone was watching.
Not loudly.
Not directly.
Just there.
I kept walking anyway.
***
By lunch, everything was the same again.
Or tried to be.
“Ethan, aren’t you going to follow Mia anymore?”
Marco’s voice cut through lunch casually, like he was talking about the weather.
I glanced at Ethan.
His expression already answered before he spoke.
“She doesn’t need me anymore,” he said quietly.
Marco leaned back in his chair.
“You’ve liked her for too long. Isn’t it time to move on?”
Ethan let out a breath that sounded almost like a laugh.
“Maybe.”
Then his gaze shifted to me.
“Anica,” he said, “should we move on together?”
I paused.
Marco nearly choked on his drink.
“Wait, what?”
Ethan ignored him.
“You know me. I know you. Everyone already thinks we fit.”
Silence settled over the table.
Not awkward.
Just unexpected.
Marco frowned.
“Bro, what are you talking about? Anica has a boyfriend.”
Ethan finally looked away.
“They broke up yesterday.”
Marco blinked.
“What?”
“Wait,” he said, turning to me. “You broke up with Kai?”
I nodded once.
His eyes widened.
“But he literally messaged me earlier asking where you were.”
“That i***t still had the nerve to ask that?” Ethan muttered.
I looked at Marco.
“Did you tell him?”
Marco scratched the back of his neck.
“…Yeah.”
The guilt on his face answered before the words did.
“Oh.”
“Sorry.”
I sighed.
“It doesn’t matter.”
Marco pointed between Ethan and me.
“Okay, but what was that whole move-on-together thing?”
“He’s joking.”
Then I looked at Ethan.
“I don’t date friends.”
Simple.
Direct.
Final.
Ethan held my gaze for a second before nodding.
“Yeah,” he said quietly.
“I know.”
***
“Anica.”
A familiar voice interrupted us.
I looked up.
Kai.
Of course.
He stood beside our table, breathing harder than necessary.
Like he’d been searching for me.
Around us, conversations gradually slowed.
People always loved drama.
“Can we talk?” he asked.
“No.”
His jaw tightened.
“Just five minutes.”
“I said no.”
Before Kai could respond, Ethan pushed his chair back and stood.
“Dude, she already answered.”
Kai looked at him.
Annoyance flashed across his face.
“This doesn’t concern you.”
“It concerns me when you’re bothering my friend.”
Kai laughed without humor.
“There you go again.”
His eyes moved between Ethan and me.
Then back to me.
“You won’t even listen to me, Anica.”
“I already did.”
“No, you didn’t.”
My patience snapped.
“Kai, I heard enough of your excuses.”
“No, you didn’t.”
A few heads turned.
The cafeteria was getting quieter.
“You didn’t even let me explain.”
“I saw you sleeping with another girl with my own eyes. What more do I need to know?”
“I told you she drugged me.”
I looked away.
For a second, I was just tired.
Tired of hearing it.
Tired of him.
Tired of all of this.
“Kai,” I said quietly, “there was nothing left to explain.”
His expression hardened.
“Of course.”
I frowned.
“What is that supposed to mean?”
His eyes flickered toward Ethan.
Then back to me.
“Maybe you just didn’t want to listen because you already had someone else to run to.”
The entire table went still.
Marco stood immediately.
“What the hell is that supposed to mean?”
Kai ignored him.
His gaze stayed on me.
Then on Ethan.
“Funny how fast he stepped in.”
Ethan’s expression darkened.
“Watch yourself.”
“Why?” Kai shot back. “Everybody else is already thinking it.”
That was the mistake.
Ethan moved first.
His fist slammed into Kai’s jaw.
The impact echoed through the cafeteria.
“f**k you.”
Gasps erupted around us.
Kai stumbled backward and nearly crashed into a table.
For a second, nobody moved.
Then Kai wiped blood from the corner of his mouth.
His expression darkened.
“You son of a—”
He lunged.
And everything exploded.
His fist connected with Ethan’s cheek.
A chair toppled over.
Students scrambled out of the way.
Marco cursed loudly.
“Ethan! Kai! What the hell are you doing?!”
Neither of them listened.
Another punch.
Another shove.
Someone screamed.
Phones immediately rose into the air.
Within seconds, the cafeteria had turned into a spectacle.
“Ethan.”
I grabbed his arm before he could charge at Kai again.
He tried to pull away.
I held on.
“Enough.”
Blood trickled from a cut above his eyebrow.
Without thinking, I pressed my sleeve against it.
“Stop.”
My voice wasn’t loud.
It didn’t need to be.
Ethan looked at me.
For a second, the anger left his face.
Just enough.
Security arrived before either of them could start again.
Marco immediately moved between them, helping hold Kai back while the guards separated everyone.
The noise slowly returned afterward.
Not normal noise.
The kind that follows something entertaining.
Whispers spread.
Phones moved.
Rumors traveled faster than facts.
Ethan and Kai were escorted away before another fight could start.
Marco followed behind them, already arguing with one of the security guards.
Which left me standing there.
Alone.
Again.
I looked down at my unfinished lunch.
Suddenly, I wasn’t hungry anymore.
So I grabbed my bag.
Turned around.
And nearly stopped.
Adrian Vale stood a few feet away.
Not blocking my path.
Not approaching.
Just there.
Like he’d watched the entire aftermath unfold.
Our eyes met briefly.
Neither of us spoke.
Then his gaze shifted downward.
To my sleeve.
Ethan’s blood stained the fabric.
Not mine.
His eyes lingered there for half a second before looking back at me.
“Your friend hits hard.”
That was the first thing he said.
I glanced down at the blood staining my sleeve.
“Apparently.”
Neither of us said anything after that.
There wasn’t much to say.
So I stepped past him.
The whispers in the cafeteria followed behind me.
Kai.
The fight.
The breakup.
The rumors were already spreading.
By tomorrow, everyone would have their own version of what happened.
I didn’t care enough to correct any of them.
For background characters, people always preferred writing their own stories anyway.
And I had spent most of my life letting them.
- Writer
