"Claire! Hey Claire!" The voice was familiar, but I continued walking. Then it hit me, and I hoped it wasn't him; the guy who had abandoned me for three years, not bothering to leave a note or even call. I was three feet away from my car when I felt his hand wrap around my arm. "Hey! Slow down, what’s the rush?" He said. Dante Night. I blinked a few times shaking out of my haze, and wrenched my arm out of his grip and snapped, "The rush is I have better things to do than talking to you, like picking up my brother." "What happened to the nice girl I-" "The nice girl you left behind three years ago? She's gone Dante, this is what's left of her." I said gesturing at myself, before turning back around, trying to make it to my car. "What the hell?!?" He yelled. "Do you think I wanted to leave you? I tried Claire, I tried, but-" "But what Dante?!? You left me for three years, never once did I get anything-" “I tried, Claire I tri-” "How?!? How Dante?!? Trying would have been a call, trying would have been an email, trying would have been a text, trying would have been anything! But instead you left me with nothing!" I could feel people staring I knew I was causing a scene but I didn't care anymore, if he thought just because he showed up, and I was going to magically fall back into his arms he had another thing coming. "I tried Baby, I-"I wouldn't let him hurt me again. So I said the words that would break him and broke me to say them, "I'm not yours anymore Dante, and I won't ever be again." I told him Everyone has secrets and everyone has a past. High school senior Claire Sae has plenty of her own, the fact that her mother is nowhere to be found and more than likely high off her ass, and her other secret well she doesn't know about that one yet, but her missing boyfriend, Dante, might know. So what happens when Dante comes back three years later? Completely changed and bearing his own secrets, secrets that will change Claire's life completely.
An internal voice whispered, "Call him."
But I chose not to.
I dismissed it once more, saying, "He never liked me anyway."
Yet the dilemma lingered.
"But maybe he does. The way he looks at you... it's different."
Out of nowhere, he glanced my way. My heartbeat quickened, sending shivers down my spine.
I averted my gaze, pretending to look around.
"Has he noticed me? No, wait-oh my god."
---
After switching high schools, Nina discovered a new way of life. She fell in love, made wonderful friends, and everything seemed perfect.
But Ethan-a popular boy who never focused on anyone but her-was the object of her hatred.
He was always there, always keeping her safe.
He used to annoy her endlessly.
She hated him deeply. Until she didn't.
For a while, she was content with her high school experience. That is, until something mysterious turned her world upside down.
Forced to move to a new city, Nina had to cut ties with everyone she once knew.
Eight years later, fate brings her face-to-face with him again.
"Ethan..."
He's the key to everything-the truths she never knew.
When she was lost in the dark, he always held the light.
But now, things are different.
She despises him.
He's colder than ever.
Or perhaps she fears him.
Fears that he'll leave her again.
Will their lives ever return to normal after everything they've endured?
"Maybe?"
"Maybe yes. Maybe no?"
---
Started: 8 November 2021
Ended: 19 December 2022
Rewritten: December 2024
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### Rankings Goals So Far:
#1 Adolescente
#1 given up
#1 blinddates
#1 pretend
#10 twistedromance
#50 high school romance
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### Notice:
This is my first published story, and it contains numerous grammatical errors and bad editing. If you're interested in the storyline, please don't judge me too harshly based on this book. Better stories are on the way-I'm still learning and improving every day.
Enjoy! ✨