𝙇𝙤𝙫𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙈𝙧. 𝙈𝙖𝙣𝙝𝙞𝙙

14. Unnoticed Love

Dear Diary,

I saw Zayne today at the basketball court. I thought I was going to faint when he smiled at me. He’s so handsome! I’m still giddy about it.

🐬🐬🐬🐬

Dear Diary,

Ouch, I could feel his pain when he fell on the court. Hahaha, it was funny, but I didn’t dare laugh. I didn’t want to embarrass him. Still, he looked cute even when he fell. Ayyiehh. Oh, I hate those girls who flirt with him after the game. They shouldn’t be flirting with my Zayne!

🐬🐬🐬🐬

Dear Diary,

I just came from their house. His dad made fun of him because he didn’t know how to cook rice. Hahaha. He looked so cute getting annoyed. But don’t worry; I taught him how to cook it.

🐬🐬🐬🐬

I was only a few pages in, but I couldn't stop smiling. She really wrote about me.

My heart started to melt with every word I read in her diary.

Even in the simple details of our daily interactions, she had captured everything.

I continued reading.

🐬🐬🐬🐬

Dear Diary,

I’m too young to admit that I have a crush on him. So for now, only you and I will know this. I’ll wait until my eighteenth birthday to tell him. Surely, Mom won’t laugh at me, right? Just three more years.

🐬🐬🐬🐬

Dear Diary,

My feelings for Zayne are deepening. I keep dreaming about him. I can’t tell him yet, and I can’t tell Hailey either. This morning, we went to church together, and I’m sorry, Papa Jesus, but I imagined our wedding.

🐬🐬🐬🐬

Aww, she imagined our wedding. How did I not notice?

With every laugh, I thought it was just her bubbly character. Now I realize she was always happy when she was with me.

But she changed when Hailey and I became a couple.

I never saw her laugh like that again. Her happy smile disappeared. It wasn’t because I took Hailey from her; it was because I hurt her by dating Hailey.

The reason is clear to me now.

I flipped to the last page of her diary.

The date was the day I proposed to Hailey.

🐬🐬🐬🐬

It hurts like hell. It feels like I’m dying. I’m still wearing my red dress that was meant to impress him, but he laughed at me, and that hurts more than the cut on my hand. I threw away the roses I was supposed to give him. Dear diary, why does it have to be this way? I was ready to tell him how I felt. Why did I have to witness him propose to someone else?

I prepared for so long to confess my feelings to him. The pain is unbearable, especially since it’s to my best friend. I can’t even tell anyone how hurt I am right now. Oh God, please help me. I can barely breathe. It hurts so much.

🐬🐬🐬🐬

Tears streamed down my face as I read.

I didn’t know I had hurt her this badly. I could feel her pain in her words.

No wonder she didn’t want to face us the next day. She probably looked like a mess after crying all night.

I glanced at the box at my feet.

A black sketchbook caught my attention.

I wiped my tears and picked up the book.

My Dream Boy:

That’s what was written on the first page.

The next page had my face sketched on it.

I knew she loved art, but I had never seen her sketch someone’s face before—especially not mine.

Every page of the book had my face drawn on it.

I couldn’t believe how stupid I had been for not noticing Bella's feelings for me.

I wished she were here to hear my apology for hurting her in the past.

But what could I say other than “I’m sorry”?

Bella was a different person now. She wasn’t the Bella I once knew.

No, I didn’t really know her. If I had, I would have recognized her true feelings long ago.