Ice & Prejudice

Chapter 80

Ria's POV:

It all felt painfully familiar, like some cruel déjà vu. The isolation, the whispers, the constant barrage of insults. It was Oregon all over again-just on a larger, more relentless scale. My room became my sanctuary, the four walls closing in around me like a protective cocoon. I used "finals" as an excuse to avoid everyone, to not have to explain why I couldn't bear to step outside. Layla, of course, saw right through it. She always did. But even she couldn't pull me out of the downward spiral I'd been sinking into.

I quit working at The Ruby. I didn't even tell my boss in person; I just sent an email saying I couldn't do it anymore. It was too much-the snide remarks, the side-eyes from students who made a point to come in just to watch me suffer. Obviously I explained how it was just the stress of finals. And I mean it probably wasn't such a surprise. I was graduating in less than two weeks, after all. Every shift had felt like a spotlight was on me, and I was the main attraction of some twisted circus. I wasn't about to let them have that satisfaction.

It felt like the world had shrunk to the size of my bedroom, and I was suffocating inside it. I spent hours just... doing things. Anything to stay productive. Anything to distract from the mess in my head. Cleaning became my new coping mechanism. One evening, I cleaned the kitchen eight times. Eight. Every time I finished, I'd find something else that was slightly out of place. And each time, the space looked exactly the same-but at least it felt like I had control over something.

Blake and I have officially been dating for a little over a month now. He was... different from Nikolai in every possible way. Kind, caring, a total green flag. The kind of guy who would hold the door open for you and mean it, not out of obligation but because he genuinely cared. And it wasn't just his actions; it was his energy. He was funny in this effortless, goofy way that made me smile even when I thought I'd forgotten how. He didn't argue would me, we barely ever fought. And when we did you could barely even call it a fight. There was no biting sarcasm or playful bickering.

I knew Blake was into me. He wasn't shy about it either. He'd text me good morning every day, always with some ridiculous meme or a picture of him as he just woke up with his hair messy, eyes barely open. They were quite funny, especially when he just woke up, took a selfie and realized his flash was on, blinding him. Those were the best pictures. And then there was the way he'd look at me-like I was the only person in the room, even when the room was full of people. I should've been blushing constantly, and a part of me was. He was everything I was supposed to want in a boyfriend.

But something was just...missing.

He was obsessed with me in a way that should've been flattering, should've made me feel whole again. He cared. And he made me laugh, even when I didn't feel like laughing. But there was this weight inside me that wouldn't go away, no matter how much I tried to push it down. Blake would tell me about his day, his hockey games before he had met me, his plans for summer, and I'd nod along, but my mind was always elsewhere.

It was exhausting. All of it. The public humiliation, the whispers on campus, in the grocery store, the library, everywhere, the weight of Nikolai's betrayal. Seeing him around was like a punch to the gut every time. He didn't even have to say anything-just passing him in the hallway was enough. I'd be in my dark, baggy clothes, earbuds in, drowning out the world, and he'd be there, surrounded by people, laughing, joking, like nothing ever happened between us.

The last time I saw him, he didn't even look at me. Not really. Just a passing glance, like I was a stranger. Cold. Distant. It was worse than the glares, worse than the dirty jokes. Because in that moment, I realized he wasn't just avoiding me-he had erased me.