She'd sneak into the classroom when he wasn't around and slip on his uniform jacket, drink from his water bottle, then come parade in front of me to brag that they'd had an indirect kiss.
She'd even tried to tear Alden and me apart, hiring people to spread filthy rumors that I was tangled up with some street thugs.
Every time, sure, Alden would put on a cold face and warn her off. But which of those times did he ever truly stop her?
Every line Louisa crossed, every provocation she aimed at me,
he'd brush aside with a weightless little "Then I won't talk to you anymore,"
and somehow that was supposed to sound like a threat?
I pushed open the door to the private room of the graduation dinner,
and the moment everyone saw Alden and me walk in shoulder to shoulder, they broke into one collective cheer.
"Finally! Alden! Grace! Kiss already!"
Three years of pent-up energy let loose all at once.
Even our homeroom teacher laughed and shook his head.
"All right, all right, leave the two of them alone."
Through the laughter, someone suddenly spotted Louisa hovering behind us,
and their expression curdled instantly. They curled their lip in contempt.
"I knew Louisa would shamelessly tag along no matter what."
"Honestly, I give up. No shame at all. What's the point of fawning over him like that? They've already gone public."
"Alden and Grace are headed to the same Ivy as a couple. With her grades, what's she looking at, some second-tier state school?"
The room erupted in laughter,
and Louisa went white in a heartbeat, her eyes snapping to Alden on instinct.
Alden frowned and spoke up, almost reflexively.
"Enough. Don't say things like that."
"Don't drag Louisa and me together in front of Grace."
There was even a thread of displeasure in his voice when he said it.
But I saw it clearly.
The flicker of reluctance in his eyes when he looked at Louisa.
At the table, Alden orbited me nearly the entire meal.
Wiping my hands for me, placing food on my plate.
The girls beside us were green with envy.
"Alden's just too sweet to her…"
Right. Alden had always been everyone's idea of the perfect boyfriend.
He'd remember my period and have a cup of brown-sugar ginger tea waiting for me.
And once, because I said I was feeling down, he'd skipped evening study hall and driven all over the city through the night just to find me a cake.
Who could have imagined that a man like that, in my last life,
could watch me, pregnant, collapse in the smoke and get crushed into pulp under a falling beam.
…
A few rounds of drinks in, one of the guys got hammered.
He looked over at Louisa, bleary-eyed, and suddenly laughed.
"Hey, no, seriously, Louisa, the stuff you used to do chasing Alden was actually wild."
"I even heard that when the classroom was empty and Alden was asleep at his desk, you snuck a kiss on his lips."
"And that you cornered Alden in the equipment room, pulled your uniform zipper down to your chest, and asked if he'd go out with you."
"Best part was senior year, that one party. You got wasted and crawled right into Alden's lap, said you'd do anything if he'd just like you back."
The whole table burst out laughing.
Louisa bit down hard on her lip, her face ghost-pale,
but Max Lambert, riding the liquor, kept going with the crude talk.
"Alden's not into you, so why not give me a look? You're so pretty, I've wanted you for a long time."
"You like fawning over people, don't you? Fawn over me. I wouldn't say no."
And with that, his hand actually slid right onto Louisa's thigh.
"Get off me!"
Louisa's eyes flooded red in an instant, and she turned to Alden, tears welling.
But Alden acted as if he saw nothing at all.
Head down, he kept peeling shrimp for me, focused.
The light in Louisa's eyes guttered out. She shoved Max away hard.
"Don't touch me!"
Max stumbled into the corner of the table, and the wine splashed across the hem of my dress.
Alden's face changed in a flash. He was on his feet almost before the words registered.
