Chapter 2

By the time I packed everything away by myself, an entire hour had passed.

I took out my phone and dialed Logan's number.

After a few rings, he hung up on me. Staring at the darkened screen, I refused to give up and dialed again.

This time, an automated voice told me the phone was switched off.

I sent him several messages on SnapChat, but they vanished into the void with zero reply.

When I got back to the dorm, my roommates weren't around. I washed my face and collapsed onto my bed.

A while later, Chloe came back.

Seeing me lying there, she asked tentatively, "Mandy... did you and Logan get into a fight?"

I lifted my head. "What do you mean? Why do you ask?"

She unzipped her bag, pulled out her phone, and scrolled through it. "I went to the city aquarium with my boyfriend today, and I saw Logan there with a girl. They looked really intimate. I even took a picture... here, let me find it."

She handed me her phone. The moment my eyes landed on the photo, my heart shattered.

In the picture, Logan was tilting his head, staring at the girl beside him with nothing but pure tenderness.

The girl wore an airy blue sundress. One of her hands was looped snugly around Logan's arm, while the other pointed toward the jellyfish tank. They looked like a picture-perfect couple.

I recognized her. She was a sophomore in Logan's computer science department named Serena.

Logan had mentioned her before. He said she was exceptionally bright, and that he admired her drive.

Back then, I hadn't paid attention to the fondness in his eyes. Turns out, the signs were there all along.

I handed the phone back to Chloe. She took it with a worried frown. "Mandy... are you okay?"

My mouth moved, my voice trembling. "I'm fine, Chloe. Around what time did you see them?"

Chloe thought for a moment. "The aquarium opens at eight-thirty. I think it was around nine-thirty when we bumped into them. Why?"

Nine-thirty. Logan got that call at nine sharp. That meant the caller was Serena. His so-called "emergency" was nothing more than keeping her company on a date to the aquarium.

Tears spilled over my cheeks. Chloe gently wiped them away, pity in her eyes.

Once I finally choked back the sobs, I looked at her. "Chloe, can I borrow your phone for a second? I need to make a call."

She handed it to me without hesitation.

I dialed the number burned into my memory. This time, it connected almost instantly.

"Hello? Who is this?"

Logan's voice came through crisp and clear.

"Logan."

I pretended I didn't know a thing. "I called earlier and you hung up, then your phone went straight to voicemail. Maybe I was being impulsive earlier. I'm sorry. You don't have to take it seriously. Are you... done with your emergency?"

I gripped the phone, desperately clinging to hope. If he gave me an explanation, any half-decent reason, I would have believed him.

Silence stretched on before he finally stammered.

"Uh, Mandy... my battery died. I just plugged it in. Um..."

He stumbled over his words, sounding guilty and awkward.

"Logan! Hurry up! The dolphin show is about to start!"

A sweet, girly voice echoed cleanly through the speaker, destroying the very last shred of hope in my chest.

"Mandy, I gotta go, I'm busy. Talk later."

*Click.*

He hung up mercilessly. Staring at the blank screen, my heart plummeted into an icy abyss.

I forced a weak smile at Chloe, reassuring her that I was fine and she didn't need to worry.

The second she stepped out to give me space, I pulled the duvet over my head, curled into a tight ball, and broke down completely.

Waves of humiliation and betrayal crashed over me. If he didn't like me, or if he had fallen for someone else, why couldn't he just reject me to my face? Why did he have to humiliate me like this?

Eventually, I cried myself to sleep. When I woke up, the sky outside the window was dark.

Massaging my throbbing temples, I dragged myself out of bed.

The moment I looked up, I met the panicked eyes of my roommates.

I instantly sensed something was wrong. "What is it? What happened?"

They exchanged anxious glances before one pointed to her laptop. "Mandy... you need to check the pinned post on the campus forum. It's... about you."

A post? About me?

My stomach dropped. I rushed over and pulled up the campus forum.

The top pinned thread had been posted just two hours ago, but it already had over ten thousand upvotes and hundreds of comments.

I clicked on it. It was a video of me confessing to Logan this morning.

It had clearly been taken secretly.

Because I was naturally introverted and hated grand public displays, I had set everything up entirely by myself without inviting any friends.

The angle was hidden, but the footage was crystal clear.

Beneath the video, the anonymous poster had written a deeply manipulative caption:

*"Happened to stumble across computer science golden boy Logan getting confessed to today. The girl is Mandy from Business Management, his supposed childhood best friend. Looks like Logan shot her down, though. Guess the rumors are true—Logan already has a girlfriend, that adorable sophomore in his department..."*

Beneath the post lay an avalanche of vile, toxic comments. Every word felt like a slap in the face.

—"Confessing when she knows he has a girlfriend? What a desperate homewrecker."

—"Just because you grew up together doesn't mean you own him. Learn some boundaries!"

—"She's literally that classic pick-me snake from high school. Didn't say a word for years, but the second he finds happiness, she swoops in to ruin it."

—"Thank God Logan dodged that bullet. She looks toxic as hell."

Most of these commenters had never even met me, yet based on one out-of-context video, they ripped into me with pure venom.

I tried messaging the original poster to take it down, but the moment I identified myself, they blocked me.

Then I tried commenting on the thread to defend myself, only to be drowned in an even harsher wave of slurs and cyberbullying.

I had never had thick skin. Faced with this kind of unprovoked malice, panic completely consumed me.

And in that moment of terror, the only person I thought could save me was Logan.

All it would take was a few words from him to clear my name, and this nightmare would end.

Desperate, I dialed his number. Still unavailable.

Unable to sit still, I ran straight to his dorm building to confront him in person.