Aria Collins believes in rules, personal space, and emotional boundaries. Ethan Carter believes in keeping things simple-and never letting anyone get too close. When a housing mix-up forces them to share an apartment in the heart of the city, they agree on one thing: this arrangement is temporary. No questions. No attachments. No complications. But as late-night conversations turn into shared silences on the sofa, and comfort slowly becomes intimacy, cracks begin to show. Small inconsistencies. Half-truths. Things Ethan avoids talking about-and things Aria pretends not to notice. The closer they grow, the more dangerous their connection becomes. Because both of them are hiding something, and the city has a way of exposing secrets that were meant to stay buried. Caught between trust and fear, attraction and suspicion, Aria and Ethan must decide whether love is worth uncovering the truths that could tear them apart. Some secrets don't stay hidden forever. And some feelings are far too close for comfort.

I walk with friends, sit beside them in class, laugh at the same jokes... but when it matters, I am never their first choice. My best friend has other friends who always come first. I am noticed only when I am needed, never when I am wanted. I smile, I stay quiet, and I pretend it doesn't hurt. But every ignored message, every forgotten plan, and every time I'm left behind reminds me of the painful truth - I am always the second choice. This is my story of unspoken pain, quiet resilience, and learning that sometimes the hardest lesson isn't fitting in... it's choosing myself. --------Drisana