The story's male lead, Blake Sterling, had just woken up.
Blake was once the only light in my bleak life. He protected me, cherished me, and treated me like I was precious.
Everyone knew that Blake, the star captain of the school's hockey team, cared about me more than anyone else.
But then Blake discovered their story was just that—a story. Written in a book.
And the boy whose world once revolved around me decided he didn't want me anymore.
————————
1
A photo of Blake and me at our high school prom went viral on Instagram.
In the picture, Blake stood tall and striking, his jawline sharply defined. As he leaned in to kiss me, his sapphire-blue eyes were breathtaking. But this charming boy was holding a girl with a sprawling, port-wine stain birthmark across her cheek. The girl’s eyes were downcast, the angry red mark on her skin especially stark under the camera's flash.
Our stark contrast caught the eye of a reporter from the school paper.
The reporter shoved through the crowd, hungry for a story. Blake immediately shielded me behind him, his hand tightening around my waist as he blocked the camera flashes.
He stared directly into the lens, his gaze firm, and declared, "She's important to me. And while she's not my girlfriend yet, I plan on spending the whole summer changing that."
His sincerity was undeniable. The reporter stared, incredulous; after all, to anyone with eyes, Blake and I were an impossible match.
Noticing the reporter's doubt, Blake's smile was both doting and warm. "You might see flaws, but when I look at her, I see my whole world."
The boy in the photo was passionate and fearless, his gaze fixed on me with an almost reverent sincerity. Once published, the picture ignited a firestorm, and the internet went wild.
【OMG, young love is the sweetest. My faith in romance is restored.】
【Is this real-life 'beauty is in the eye of the beholder'? But this girl is just so plain.】
【That's our school's hockey captain and some scholarship kid. The guy's a legend, he just... has a very specific type.】
The online buzz was intense. If the Sterling family hadn't stepped in, using their PR team to pull the post to avoid overexposure, that photo likely would have stayed trending until the new school year.
After all, Blake was so perfect he could have stepped right out of a movie, utterly flawless. Compared to him, all I had to offer was a perfect report card.
How could someone like him ever fall for someone as broken as me?
