𝐷𝑅𝐸𝐴𝑀𝐼𝑁𝐺 𝑂𝐹 𝑌𝑂𝑈 | 𝐽. 𝑃𝑂𝑂𝐿𝐸

𝐶𝐻𝐴𝑃𝑇𝐸𝑅 𝑇𝐸𝑁

Lana's POV.

The shrill sound of my phone ringing pierced through my thoughts, each ring a stark reminder of the turmoil churning inside me.

As I lay there, tangled in a web of my own making, I couldn't help but wonder who deserved the brunt of my resentment more: Luna or her extremely smart, tight-knit, annoying family? It was a torturous game, pretending to be Luna's friend. To smile and nod, all the while knowing she was living the life I had planned for myself.

Everything I had ever wanted, everything I had worked tirelessly for, seemed to just fall into Luna's lap as if by some kind of magic. All she had to do was sing in that ridiculous restaurant her parents owned, and she was handed my dreams on a silver platter. The injustice of it all gnawed at me, fueling a fire of resentment that I struggled to contain.

And as if stealing my dreams wasn't enough, Luna had to take Jordan too. Jordan, who I had quietly adored from afar, who I had slowly been working up the courage to approach. It felt like a cruel joke that the moment I let Luna into my life under the guise of friendship, she would claim him as well—or she had already claimed him. It was as though she had a checklist of everything I ever wanted and took perverse pleasure in ticking off each item, leaving me empty-handed.

Walking into this facade of a friendship, I was blind to Luna's capacity to take not just one, but both pillars of my desires. A music career and Jordan. The realization was a bitter pill to swallow, a revelation that this was nowhere close to being a coincidence but a pattern of loss I couldn't ignore.

No, this was the final straw.

Something in me snapped, a resolve hardening. I couldn't let this go unchallenged. Luna may have thought she had won, but I was far from conceding. I was determined to reclaim what was mine, and I would go to any lengths to do so.

I grabbed my phone, steeling myself for the conversation as I answered, my voice deliberately cherry and friendly despite the tension coiling in my gut. "Hey, Lu! What's up? Are you okay?"

Luna's voice bubbled through the speaker, brimming with happiness. "Yes! Yes! I'm fine, but guess what?"

A frown crept over my face even as I maintained a cheerful tone. "What?!"

"Javiér has agreed to be my manager and we're going to meet with the record company to discuss the record deal!" Luna's excitement was palpable, a stark contrast to the dread slowly creeping into my heart.

My voice faltered, barely concealing the shock and hurt. "R-Really? Wow! That's...awesome."

"And, I'm also moving in with Jordan this week...tomorrow, actually," she continued, oblivious to the turmoil she was causing. At that moment, I froze, my blood boiling as my grip on the phone tightened to the point of pain. "I was wondering if you wanted to help me move in?"

Tears streamed down my cheeks, the anger slicing through me like a knife. Yet, I managed to keep my voice leveled, the facade of friendship firmly in place. "Sure, okay. Let's meet up and talk at the Navy Yard okay?"

"Okay! See you in 15!" Luna said cheerfully, hanging up the phone.

As I ended the call, a sense of loss enveloped me. The pain of Luna's obliviousness to my feelings, combined with the sting of her success and happiness with Jordan, was almost too much to bear. Yet, throughout  the swirling chaos of my emotions, a resolve took root. I would meet Luna, yes, but this encounter would be the beginning of something new. Something where I no longer played the passive role in my own life story.

****

But there was a darker undercurrent to my feelings for Luna, something that mingled with the resentment – an unsettling obsession.