"She knows all my secrets, Except one: That I'm in love with her"
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The noise inside was deafening, the kind of chaotic hum that could either drown out your thoughts or amplify them tenfold.
I leaned back in the booth, the cold rim of the beer bottle pressed against my lips as Cameron animatedly recounted some ridiculous story from high school.
The table erupted into a mix of hoots and clinking glasses, and I felt the tension of the past week slowly ebbing away.
School had been a nightmare recently, but tonight? Tonight was a breather.
Just as I tilted my head back for another sip, a shift in the room's atmosphere caught my attention. Like the air had turned electric.
A figure stood near the entrance, a stark contrast to the dim haze of the bar. My whisky froze mid-air as I recognized her-Rose.
No. Bloody. Way.
I blinked hard, wondering if the alcohol was playing tricks on me.
Rose, my Rose, in a place like this?
It didn't add up. She wasn't the type to wade through a sea of drunk students, let alone step foot in a bar.
But there she was, her dress clinging to her frame like it had been painted on, streaks running down her cheeks like fragile black vines, her lips trembling, her eyes-God, her eyes-were burning holes into me and I swear the temperature around me dropped.
Why does she look like that?
I shot up from the booth so fast that I nearly knocked over my glass. Cameron's head snapped up. "What's up?" he asked, but I didn't stop to answer.
He turned to see what had caught my attention, his drunken grin faltering when he saw her. "Whoa, is that Renna?"
My legs carried me toward her, weaving through the crowd as her glare stayed locked on me like a heat-seeking missile.
"Rose?" I called as I reached her, my voice laced with confusion. She didn't answer, just crossed her arms tightly across her chest, her expression hard as stone.
Her eyes raked over me, taking in the beer in my hand, the loosened buttons of my shirt, the carefree grin that had been on my face just moments ago. She looked disgusted.
"What are you doing here, sweetheart?" I tried to keep my tone light, teasing even, but she wasn't biting.
Her glare intensified. "What am I doing here? You really have the audacity to ask me that?" she hissed through gritted teeth, her voice barely audible over the pounding music. "What are you doing here, Aadam?"
