My crush of several years finally confessed his feelings to me. A week later, I found out it was all because he lost a game of Truth or Dare. He had to date me for a month to win. When I read that text message, I was holding the clothes I had hand-washed for him, feeling like an absolute idiot. Because he said the washing machine "didn't get them clean enough." 1 "Let's break up." I typed those three words into the text box, but before I could hit send, Caleb Hunt called me. I hesitated, then answered. His voice was lazy on the other end. "Mia, are the clothes done?" I went silent. Me, the girl who could debate the opposition into the ground during mock trials, was suddenly speechless. "Hello? Hello?" Caleb sounded impatient. "Maybe she's busy," a sickly-sweet voice chimed in. It was Lilly Porter. The freshman girl who was always hovering around Caleb. And the one who had "accidentally" let me know about the bet. I took a deep breath and said calmly, "They're done. I'm bringing them down now." Maybe my tone was too cold, because he paused for a second before saying, "Fine. See you downstairs." Then he hung up. I stared at our chat interface. The background was a candid photo I took of him looking out a window years ago. I only dared to set it as my background after we started dating. Right now, I wished desperately that Lilly was just trying to stir up trouble. No, I couldn't trust her completely. I closed my eyes and calmed myself down. No matter what, I had to confirm it myself. 2 "You washed them?" Caleb snatched the bag from my hand, glanced inside carelessly, then looked at me and frowned. "No makeup? You look exhausted." His tone was disdainful, his brow furrowed. But even like this, he was still handsome. Six-foot-one, chiseled features. He lived up to his reputation—wild, arrogant, untamable. Even in the few minutes we stood there, several girls had already turned to look at him. I gripped the empty bag tightly and forced a smile. "Debate club just finished, and I have finals coming up. Reviewing has been brutal." "Mia, girls need to take care of themselves even when they're busy. Look at you, you have dark circles." It was Lilly. I looked at her. Oval face with a hint of baby fat, flawless skin, smiling eyes—the standard "sweet girl." But she misunderstood something. I wasn't the type to suffer in silence. "Really? You should focus on your studies too. If you fail your English major exams, you can't graduate," I smiled sweetly. Her face stiffened for a second, then she pouted cutely. "Oh, I'm just so dumb. Not like you, Mia, you're so smart and capable. And you have such a handsome boyfriend like Caleb. I'm so envious." This "pick-me" act was making me nauseous. Just as I was about to roast her, Caleb interrupted: "Alright, I'm going back." He turned to walk toward the dorms. He didn't even look at me. I stood there like a clown. Apart from taking the clothes and roasting my appearance, he hadn't said a single unnecessary word to me. But the moment I was about to clap back at Lilly, he spoke up. In that instant, anger tore at my heart, burning and aching. I knew Caleb had a sharp tongue and a bad temper, but he had always been there when I needed him. But right now, I suddenly wondered: was the person I liked even real? Was someone who treated feelings like a game really the same person I thought was secretly kind-hearted? Looking at his back, I felt like someone was squeezing my heart. But then, Lilly trotted over and tugged on Caleb's sleeve, whining, "Caleb! You said you'd buy me boba!" Caleb paused, then nodded. "Wait a sec. Let me put these back." Lilly stuck her tongue out at him playfully. Caleb smiled lazily. But I knew Caleb hated sweets, and he especially hated sugary drinks like boba. He only drank water. But even so, seeing the provocative look in Lilly's eyes, I didn't want to admit defeat. "Caleb." I called out to him. He turned around. Sunlight filtered through the trees onto his face, like a chiaroscuro painting. "What?" He walked back, looking down at me. I bit my lip, looking straight into his eyes, wanting to ask if he confessed to me because of a dare. But suddenly, I thought: what if he did? Would I lose him then? "I'll go too. For boba." My voice was dry. He looked at me. "Didn't you say you were on a diet? Why are you drinking that stuff again?" In that moment, embarrassment and shame crushed me completely. My humility, my endurance—it was all worthless. Seeing my state, Lilly chided him playfully, "Caleb, chubby girls are cute too. How can you dislike her?" Caleb froze, looking at me, a bit uncomfortable. "That's not what I meant. It's just because you said..." "Forget it. I'm not going." I didn't look at his expression. I turned to leave, but he grabbed my wrist. "I really didn't mean it like that." I sneered. Was he that afraid of losing the game? Thinking of this, I turned back, tears pressing against my eyes, and choked out, "Whatever. You only confessed because of a stupid game anyway. Why pretend?" He froze, lips moving silently. But that was enough. I laughed bitterly, wiped my tears fiercely, and said word by word: "Let's break up." He looked at me in disbelief, wanting to say something. But I didn't want to hear it. I shook him off and ran back to my dorm, crying on my bed for a long time. He didn't know I had liked him for years but never dared to confess, only watching him silently. So when he confessed to me, I felt like the whole world belonged to me. But just a week later, reality slapped me in the face. Staring at the ceiling, I thought, forget it. Why make myself so pathetic? Maybe from the beginning, the Caleb I liked was just a fantasy. 3 The next day, I iced my eyes for a long time so they wouldn't be so swollen. I put on makeup and went to work at the bakery near campus. The bakery was opened by a recent grad, Evan. He was pretty chill and just loved making desserts. Unexpectedly, the place blew up as soon as it opened. I thought people came for his face. But after trying the cakes, I realized the taste was as good as his face. As a dessert lover, I was hooked. So, I boldly applied for a job, and surprisingly got hired. It covered my monthly living expenses. But today, as soon as I walked in, I saw an unwanted guest. "Oh? Mia? You work here?" It was Lilly again. So annoying. She was wearing a white shirt, pink skirt, and white sneakers—youthful and vibrant. I frowned and ignored her. Evan saw me and walked straight over, the usual smile on his face fading a bit. "You cried?" I shook my head with a smile. "Just didn't sleep well." He looked down at me for a while, then nodded gently. "Go get ready." "Okay." Just as I was about to leave, I heard Lilly say to Evan, "Evan, I really want to learn how to make cakes. I can work for free." I slowed down hearing this. Evan had a good temper and rarely rejected people. Plus, the shop was indeed short-staffed recently. I pursed my lips. If Lilly really came here, I would quit. I can't afford to provoke her, but I can hide, right? Evan spoke. I stopped, my heart inadvertently lifting, as his gentle voice said slowly: "No." 4 When Lilly left, she smiled at me. Weirdo. I withdrew my gaze and looked at Evan, who was piping a cake. I wanted to ask why he refused. But thinking about it, it didn't seem necessary. Anyway, no one annoying around on future shifts was a good thing. "Wrong ratio." Evan reminded me. But his eyes were still on the cake, not looking at me at all. I froze and stopped immediately. I had poured too much milk. "Oh... I'll add more low-gluten flour." He didn't speak, just put down the piping bag and started decorating the surface with fruit, bit by bit. I cursed myself silently and quickly gathered my scattered thoughts to work seriously. Evan was very chill. But when he made cakes, he was extremely serious, as if pouring his soul into the sculpting. I learned a lot from him in the past two years, almost enough to open a small shop myself. Bang! Something hit the glass window. I looked up in surprise and saw Caleb staring at me through the window, suppressing sparks of anger in his eyes. "Come out!" He mouthed. Lilly stood beside him, looking worried and guilty, saying something to him. But obviously, hearing those words, he got angrier. I frowned, getting a bit angry too, but mostly feeling baffled and powerless. "I'm going out for a sec." "Okay." Evan nodded, looking a bit worried. I took off my gloves. As soon as I pushed the door open, Caleb grabbed me and dragged me away. My wrist hurt from his grip. "Let go!" I tried to shake him off but failed. He gripped tighter. "Let go of me! Are you crazy?!" I cursed loudly, eyes red. In the eyes of my parents and others, I had always been an easygoing, hardworking, obedient girl. Avoiding conflict whenever possible. Hiding if I couldn't handle it. But that didn't mean I had no temper. Caleb had never seen me like this. He was a bit surprised, then looked at my red wrist and quickly let go. "Mia, I didn't mean to. I just saw you and him..." At this point, his face darkened. "Don't do that part-time job anymore. I don't like him." I looked up at his sharp eyebrows and laughed. "Why?" He frowned, not understanding. "You and another guy cooped up in that small space making cakes every day... I'm... unhappy." I looked at him, finding him laughable for the first time. "I've been working here for a year. Now you're unhappy? Did Lilly say something to you?" Hearing my words, his expression hardened. "How much do you make a month? I'll transfer it to you." He picked up his phone and transferred three thousand dollars to me. Then he looked up, helpless. "Is that enough?" I bit my lip, nails digging into my palm. I took several deep breaths to suppress the urge to slap him. "Caleb, I recall we broke up yesterday." Caleb's face went cold. He stepped closer, his presence overwhelming. "You're throwing a tantrum, I know. Lilly told me girls love doing this. The game thing is true, but my... confession was sincere too." He looked uncomfortable, even anxious, and cursed. "Can't you just trust me for once?" I looked at him, not knowing what expression to make. "Then why do you trust Lilly and not me?" He couldn't understand. "She's timid and innocent, and has no conflict with you. Why would she lie? Mia, do you want to keep that crappy job so badly?" I laughed, feeling my heart being torn into strips. She's timid? She's innocent? I took a step back, wiped away the tears from laughing, and said coldly, "Caleb, we broke up. Don't come find me again." "F*ck! Who wants to find you anyway! Go be with that cake guy!" Caleb's anger finally exploded. He punched the wall next to the school gate hard and walked away. I turned around and saw Lilly's "innocent and beautiful" face. She smirked at me triumphantly and chased after Caleb. There weren't many people at the school gate right now, but there were still students passing by in twos and threes. Their gazes cut me like knives. Exhausted, I leaned against the wall and squatted down, hugging myself, burying my head in my knees, as if this could hide me from all the stares and hurt. So tired. Really so tired.
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