After the Heartbreak

Chapter 3: Old Crush, New Chapter

"Gino," I said aloud, testing the name on my lips like it was a forgotten song. It had been years since I'd seriously thought about him-years since high school. But here I was, his name lingering in my mind, dragging me back to memories I thought I'd tucked away for good.

I leaned back on the couch, pulling my knees to my chest. The last time I'd seen Gino, he was just a high school crush-a boy with sharp eyes and a quiet smile. Back then, he'd seemed untouchable. He was always so distant, wrapped up in his own world, yet somehow that only made him more intriguing.

"I can't believe you still like him," Claire had teased me once, back in those innocent school days, her voice full of mischief as we huddled together over lunch.

I had laughed then, though it had been more of a nervous chuckle. "I'm over him. Seriously."

"Uh-huh, sure," she had said, narrowing her eyes in that playful way of hers. "You've only been crushing on him for, what, three years?"

"It's not like that," I had lied. The truth was, it had hurt too much to admit how much I still liked him-liked him even though he had never really noticed me the way I'd wanted him to. And the more I denied my feelings, the more I buried them.

For a while, I thought I had convinced myself that it was over, that it was just a silly teenage crush. But the heart doesn't forget that easily.

I ran a hand through my hair, feeling the weight of nostalgia pressing down on me. Back in high school, my feelings for Gino had felt like the world to me. My friends teased me mercilessly when they found out, but I didn't care. I was shy, sure, but I wasn't going to let their teasing make me feel embarrassed.

"Everyone knows you like him," my friend Sarah had laughed once, during gym class. "Honestly, you're terrible at hiding it."

I had shrugged. "So what if I do? It's not like he even knows I exist."

"Are you kidding?" Sarah had said, looking at me like I was crazy. "He totally knows. The whole school knows."

And that had been true. By the time I was in my third year of high school, everyone in our class knew about my crush on Gino. At first, the attention had been embarrassing, but I learned to shrug it off. What was the point of denying something that obvious?

Then Claire had entered the picture.

We met during our senior year. She transferred to our school and quickly became my best friend. She was bubbly, outgoing, and the kind of person who always seemed to know how to make me laugh. We shared everything, like soulmates. She was like a sister to me.

It was Claire who had asked me one day, out of the blue, "Do you still like Gino?"

I remember freezing for a second, her question catching me off guard. "Uh... no, not really," I had lied, forcing a casual shrug. "I'm over it."

But the truth was, I wasn't over him at all. I just didn't want to admit it-not to her, not to myself. Because admitting that I still liked him felt like admitting defeat. He didn't like me back, and that hurt. So I buried it.

But Claire wasn't one to let things go so easily. She was the kind of person who wanted to get to the heart of things, and, unfortunately for me, she got curious about Gino too.

A few months into the school year, she came up to me with wide eyes and a breathless smile.

"I think I like him," she'd said, her voice filled with excitement. "Gino. He's... I don't know, there's something about him."

I remember my heart sinking in that moment, like someone had pulled the ground out from under me. But what could I say? She was my best friend. How could I tell her to stay away from him, especially when I had already pretended that I didn't care?

"Oh," I had managed to say, forcing a smile. "That's... cool."

"You don't mind, right?" she'd asked, her eyes searching mine. "I mean, I know you used to like him, but..."

"Of course not," I had said quickly, shaking my head. "It's not like we were ever together or anything. I'm totally fine with it."

And so, I did what I thought I had to do. I supported her. I listened as she gushed about Gino, watched as she tried to get his attention. Unlike me, she wasn't shy about her feelings. She was bold, always making it clear that she liked him, always making sure everyone else knew too.

It hurt, of course. Every time I saw her talking to him, laughing with him, I felt a sharp pang of jealousy, but I kept it buried. After all, what right did I have to be upset? I had told her I didn't like him anymore. I had lied.