"I warned you once not to look back... But here you are, tempting me again to ruin your happily ever after with her."
My words hung heavy between us, but his smirk only deepened as he leaned in, so close our lips nearly touched.
"Maybe I like the r...
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Friday's soft morning sunlight spilled over the grounds as I walked toward the gate, mentally bracing myself for another day of keeping up appearances.
Usually, I had my driver drop me off right in front of the gate. But just this once, I asked him to stop a few minutes away. I wanted the brief silence, the space between the car and the school, where I could delay the inevitable drama and headaches this place brought me.
My shoes clicked softly against the pavement, the rhythm a small comfort in the quiet. But then something cut through the mundane, the faint, high-pitched sound.
A meow.
I froze mid-step, ears straining to locate the sound. Another meow followed, this one more insistent. I glanced around and finally spotted it, a chunky, gray-and-white cat nestled in the bushes by the campus wall. Its bright eyes locked onto mine, curious and unafraid.
I hesitated, my instincts screaming at me to walk away. This wasn't me. Petting a stray? That's something a normal person would do, someone who didn't have a mother who would raise a perfectly sculpted brow and ask why I was wasting my time on something so meaningless.
But then, before I knew it, I crouched down. The cat padded closer, brushing its soft fur against my legs. It didn't run away. Instead, it looked up at me with wide, trusting eyes, as if it somehow sensed something in me, some hidden loneliness that matched its own.
I lifted my hand, hovering it awkwardly in the air before slowly lowering it to touch the cat's fur. The warmth of its body against my palm, the quiet purring that followed, sparked a forgotten feeling deep inside me. I hadn't realized just how numb I had become.
For the first time in forever, I smiled. A real smile. Not the fake one I plastered on my face for everyone else. This one was a small, unfiltered reaction I hadn't even known I was capable of anymore.
As I continued petting the cat, memories of my childhood flickered to life, back when I had Coco, my dog. Back when I could still be myself, back when things were simpler. Before my mother twisted my world to revolve around her ambitions. Before I had to become her perfect heir.
The warmth in my chest bloomed, one I hadn't felt in years. It was more real than any fleeting moment of approval I'd gotten from my mother. It felt...like me.
But reality quickly nudged back in. The time. The day ahead. The version of me I had to be once I stepped through those gates. Reluctantly, I stood, giving the cat one last gentle pat. It meowed again as if to say goodbye before it wandered back into the bushes.
I brushed off my hands and continued walking toward the gate, but the smile lingered, a secret I wasn't ready to let go of just yet.
๋࣭ °࣪ ִ⭑․𓃠⭒˚.• ݁
The cafeteria buzzed with the usual chatter, the scrape of chairs, and the clatter of trays. I sat at my table near the back, taking small sips of iced tea as I scrolled through my phone, pretending to be immersed in the latest social updates. I had a reputation to maintain, after all.
