Chapter 2

Ring. Ring. Ring.

The final bell echoed through the hallways, a chorus of slammed lockers and rushed footsteps following it. For everyone else, it meant freedom. For me, it meant another shift—the end of perfect Aeliana Laziel, model student, and the beginning of the work waiting for me behind a glowing screen.

I packed my books with precision, slipping each notebook neatly into my bag. Order, control, composure. That was my mask. If anyone noticed the way my hand trembled slightly, they’d never say it out loud.

“Aeliana!”

Lyra’s voice rang out, warm and familiar, pulling me from my thoughts. She skipped up beside me, her glossy black hair bouncing as she looped her arm through mine like she always did.

“You looked distracted in class,” she teased. “Don’t tell me the great Aeliana Laziel actually bombed a test.”

I forced a laugh, tucking a stray strand of hair behind my ear. “Hardly. Just… tired.”

Her sharp brown eyes studied me, but only for a second before she grinned. “Hmm. Well, I was distracted too. And it’s totally Darv Aeris’s fault.”

The name slammed into me harder than the bell had. “Darv…?” I repeated, careful to keep my voice even.

Lyra sighed dreamily, tugging me down the hallway. “Don’t you think he’s unfairly perfect? He’s hot, he’s smart without even trying, and he has that whole ‘I don’t care what anyone thinks’ vibe. Dangerous combination, right? Like… the kind you know is going to ruin you, but you fall anyway.”

My grip on my bag tightened. Lyra’s words replayed in my mind, a little too close to the anonymous confession sitting in my inbox.

By the time we reached the gates, she was still going on about Darv, spinning theories about what kind of girls he liked, whether he’d ever dated anyone seriously, whether she’d have a chance if she tried. I nodded in all the right places, smiled at all the right times—but inside, my chest felt tight.

Because Lyra didn’t know.

She couldn’t know.

That while she was falling headfirst for him… he had already whispered his fears to me.

That night, I tossed my blazer onto my chair, collapsed onto my bed, and unlocked my phone. The notifications hit instantly. My followers had been busy—thirty new messages, maybe more, each one a confession, a plea, a desperate scream into the void.

Some were shallow. Some cruel. Some heartbreakingly sincere.

And there, nestled among them, was the one I’d been avoiding all day.

> “What do you do if you like someone you’re not supposed to like?

And worse… what if your best friend likes them too?”

Darv Aeris.

I stared at the words until they blurred. My pulse was steady in my ears, a drum that matched the cursor blinking in the reply box. Love, Anonymous always had the answers. I had guided strangers through breakups, secrets, crushes, and heartbreaks.

But this? This was different.

This was dangerous.

Because this time, it wasn’t just an anonymous stranger asking me for advice.

It was him.

And for the first time since I created Love, Anonymous, I had no idea what to write back.

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