I was the girl next door. Chloe Reed was the girl who fell from the sky. They say the girl next door never stands a chance against the one who comes out of nowhere. Not long after she transferred, someone saw them in the empty stairwell after school. They said that Jackson King—my Jax, the boy who bowed to no one—was standing there with his head down like a chastened puppy, listening to her lecture him. Later, when Chloe and I had a falling out, all it took was a quiet word from him: “I don’t want to see Aubrey Hale at this school again.” My parents, terrified of jeopardizing their business with the King family, had me transferred by the end of the week. After that, I vanished from his world. I didn’t dare even show my face where he might see it. But then, on his birthday, he showed up at my door, drenched by the rain, his face a wreck of misery and hurt. “Did you forget?” he asked, his voice cracking. “Did you forget it was my birthday?” 01 They say the girl who’s been there forever can’t compete with the girl who shows up out of the blue. I used to scoff at that. But then I sat in the school auditorium, watching Jackson’s eyes follow Chloe Reed as she danced across the stage, and I saw it. The unfiltered adoration. The love he couldn’t hide. In that moment, I believed it. And I finally believed the rumors, the ones about the untouchable Jax King, the king of Crestwood High, letting this new girl put him in his place in a deserted stairwell. The confession I’d held in my heart, the one I was always waiting for the right moment to share, would have to stay buried there forever. When the music ended, I applauded with the rest of the crowd, my hands moving mechanically as the girl on stage took a glittering bow. Jax stood up and headed for the wings, undoubtedly to find her. I stood up, too, and walked out of the auditorium. Outside, the evening air was cool. I raised my hand, letting the little wooden star charm he gave me years ago dance in the breeze. “Aubrey… for you.” I looked at the crudely carved star in his palm. “What is it?” Seven-year-old Jax had been watching some soap opera with his aunt and had learned a new phrase. “It’s a promise,” he’d said, his cheeks pink. “You have to wear it. It means you have to like me best, forever.” “And I’ll always protect you, Aubrey.” My eyes stung with the memory. I closed my fist around the charm. A kid’s promise. It’s not supposed to mean anything. But I’d let it mean everything. Jax King, the boy who broke rules and hearts with equal impunity, was the secret joy and the central truth of my entire youth. … Chloe Reed had transferred in at the start of the semester. She was beautiful, a trained dancer, and her arrival was an event. The girls in my class immediately cast her in their imaginary high school drama. She was the perfect transfer student protagonist—the quiet, talented girl who catches the eye of the school’s resident bad boy. The bad boy who would, inevitably, tame himself for her. A lot of guys tried to ask Chloe out. Someone even joked that the only one left was Jax. Jax, lounging at his desk, had stretched languidly and shot the guy a look of pure disdain. “Her? Is that a joke?” See? That’s how untouchable he’d seemed. I never really believed the rumors about them, because I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes. Because he’d never said the words to me, never told me he was with someone else. But now I knew. It was time to pull back, to put a real, measurable distance between us. For years, I’d always walked home with Jax. I can’t remember exactly when it started, but recently he always had some excuse for me to go on ahead. He could have just told me the truth. I wouldn’t have made a scene. I wouldn’t have clung to him. After all, we were never really together in the first place. 02 On Sunday evening, we had study hall, and homework was due. Jax was the kind of student who, when asked for his assignment, would just give the TA a blank look and say, “Didn’t do it.” He used to listen to me, though. Everyone knew it. So whenever he’d pull that stunt, they’d come and complain to me. That’s what happened tonight, except no one could even find him. He’d slipped out after the last bell, probably to find Chloe. “Aubrey, Jax didn’t turn in his homework again, and he’s not in his seat. Can you…” “Just hand in what you have,” I said, offering a small, tight smile. “From now on, you don’t need to tell me about his homework.” My classmate just nodded, his expression confirmation that the rumors about Jax having a girlfriend must be true. My detached tone was all the proof he needed. When class resumed, I bent over my test prep book. Before Chloe, my plan was for Jax and me to go to Northwood University together. Now, the plan was just for me to work my ass off and get into Northwood. For my own dream. Jax didn't come back for the entire period. The teacher on duty frowned from her desk at the front of the room and asked where he was. Every head in the classroom turned to look at me. I kept my eyes on my paper, refusing to acknowledge them. He finally reappeared during the second period, sliding into his seat without a word. A moment later, a classmate leaned over and told him the principal wanted to see him in his office. Jax seemed to snap out of a daze. As he walked past my desk, he paused for a fraction of a second. I didn’t look up. I was wrestling with the final problem on a math worksheet, the kind where I could solve the first part but my brain would freeze on the second. After I finally figured it out, my deskmate, Maya, leaned over. “Hey, is everything okay with you and Jax?” she whispered. “Everything’s fine.” “Really? Because you used to get more worked up than anyone when he skipped class or blew off his homework.” I flinched. She was right. “That was then,” I said, my voice flatter than I intended. “I’m not going to bother with his stuff anymore.” “Oh,” she said, her eyes wide as she put the pieces together. “So it’s true… about him and Chloe Reed?” I looked down, saying nothing. The final bell rang, and a few minutes later, Jax ambled back into the room. A folded piece of paper landed on my desk. I opened it. Go home without me. I stared at the familiar scrawl, then calmly folded the note and tucked it away before returning to my work. The classroom was a chaotic swirl of noise and motion as everyone packed up. I took my time, organizing my binder. Suddenly, a hush fell over the room. Maya gasped, and I followed her gaze to the doorway. Chloe Reed was standing there. She tilted her head, gave Jax a little come-hither crook of her finger, and then turned and walked away. I couldn’t stop myself from looking at Jax. A helpless, almost tender smile spread across his face as he grabbed his backpack and followed her out. The second he was gone, the classroom erupted. “Holy crap, so it’s real.” “Wow. I always thought he and Aubrey were endgame. You know, the bad boy and the good girl. But I guess the bad boy and the dancer… that kind of fits better, you know?” “Don’t be an ass. Does anyone else feel kind of bad for Aubrey?” “They’ve known each other their whole lives.” “See? The girl next door never wins.” … Maya was looking at me, her expression full of pity she was trying to hide. I slung my backpack over my shoulder. My heart felt like it was being squeezed in a vise, but I forced a smile. I would not cry. Not here. I couldn’t let them see how much it hurt. If I did, I’d be the butt of their jokes for the rest of the year. “I’m fine,” I told Maya, meeting her worried eyes. “Jax and I have only ever been friends. I’ll see you tomorrow.” “Okay… See you tomorrow. Get home safe.” Once I was out of the noisy school building, I gripped the straps of my backpack, my knuckles white. I bit down on my lip, hard. But the tears came anyway, hot and silent, blurring the streetlights. A heavy, aching pressure built in my chest. How could he just… start liking someone else? Out of nowhere? My vision swam. In my ears, I could hear a boy’s voice, clear and cocky, from a lifetime ago. “Don’t worry, Aubrey. I can do anything. And I’ve got you. For life.” 03 “Aubrey, why didn’t you wait for me this morning?” Jax had been late to school. He cornered me after first period, his tone laced with a playful grievance as he placed a carton of milk on my desk. My hand, busy scribbling vocabulary words, paused. I glanced at the milk. “I already had breakfast,” I said. “And I’m not going to walk with you anymore. I’m getting to school earlier from now on.” He slid into the empty seat beside me, looking genuinely confused. He propped his chin on his hand. “Did I do something to piss you off? We’ve always walked together.” “It’s different now.” I set down my pen and took a deep breath, forcing a small smile. “You have a girlfriend, Jax. We need some distance.” His expression froze for a second before realization dawned. “She won’t care. She knows about you…” “I care.” I enunciated each word clearly. “I don’t want to be the target when you two eventually have a fight about something. I don’t want to be the problem.” “Aubrey…” Jax King was not known for his patience. The fact that he’d even let the conversation go this long was a minor miracle. I could see his was running out. His face hardened. He shot up from the chair, the legs screeching against the linoleum, a sound that grated on my already raw nerves. “Fine,” he bit out. “Whatever you want.” Then he was gone. I lowered my head, closing my eyes against the sudden burn. I’d spent all of last night on my balcony, letting the cold air whip at me, debating what to do. Should I keep playing the fool, pretending I was just his friend while hiding this suffocating crush? Or was it time to let our lifelong connection finally fracture? They say you can’t hide the way you look at someone you love. If I kept following him around, it wouldn’t be fair to me, and it wouldn’t be fair to Chloe. No girlfriend on earth wants her boyfriend’s overly close “girl-best-friend” hanging around. From that day on, Jax didn’t speak to me. If we passed in the hall, his eyes slid right over me as if I were a stranger. The girl by his side was no longer me; it was Chloe. He introduced her to his entire circle of friends, the world that had once been ours. She was his first love. The girl he was crazy about. I focused on my studies. Like everyone else, I heard the stories of their epic romance through the grapevine. Chloe was starving herself for a dance competition, and Jax had his family’s personal chef make her low-fat, high-protein meals to bring to school. A jock from a rival school wouldn’t stop harassing Chloe, cornering her in an alley after school. Rumor was, Jax beat him so badly he ended up in the hospital. On the next monthly exams, I reclaimed my spot as first in our class. My guidance counselor once told me to stop worrying so much about Jax, that he was dragging down my academic potential. The Kings had more money than God; it didn’t matter if Jax graduated or not. That afternoon, I stared out the window at the spectacular sunset. “Aubrey, where do you want to go for college?” It was a hot evening last summer. Jax was sitting next to me, idly twirling a strand of my hair around his long finger. “Northwood University,” I’d said without hesitation. “That’s so far.” I never told him the real reason. It wasn’t just because Northwood was a top-tier school. It was because I had to get away from here. Away from that house. My father was a cliché. The second he made money, he found a new woman. My mother refused to divorce him, convinced it was her fault for not giving him a son. In the dead of night, she would sometimes break down, pointing a shaking finger at me and screaming, asking why I couldn't have been a boy, then her husband would have stayed faithful. She finally did have a son. My father’s return to the family was brief. And once my little brother was born, my mother poured every ounce of herself into him. She had her son now, her security for old age. “Okay… then I’ll go to Northwood too,” the boy beside me had boasted. “You’re such a klutz, you’ll be a mess without me there to look out for you.” That cocky, grinning boy was the only light in my broken world. I was desperate to hold onto him. I was willing to waste all my time on him, to sacrifice my own ambitions. Even if I didn't get into Northwood, as long as I got into whatever school he did, that would be enough. 04 A rumor started spreading that Chloe was a homewrecker who had stolen Jax from me. Coming back from the restroom with Maya, I saw Chloe run past me down the stairs, her face buried in her hands, sobbing. A second later, Jax came storming up the steps. He saw me, and his face contorted with rage. He lunged forward and slammed me against the wall, his hand closing around my throat. “I thought you wanted to stay away from me, Aubrey,” he snarled, his face inches from mine. “What the hell is this?” I clawed at his hand, my lungs burning. Maya rushed forward, trying to push him off. “Are you insane? We were just in the bathroom! Let her go, you’re choking her!” Jax flinched back as if he’d been burned, snatching his hand away. I slid down the wall, gasping, sucking in ragged breaths of air. “You’re pathetic, Aubrey,” he spat down at me. “Aubrey, are you okay?” I stayed crouched on the floor, coughing, tears streaming down my face. Maya wrapped an arm around me, rubbing my back. “It’s okay, Aubrey. I don’t know what’s wrong with him and his crazy girlfriend.” I wiped my eyes, biting my lip to keep from sobbing aloud. The look on his face… it was pure hatred. For a second, I thought he was actually going to kill me. The boy I knew was gone. Completely and utterly gone. Later, a classmate cautiously slid a phone under my desk. Someone had posted an anonymous message on the Crestwood Confessions page, accusing Chloe of being the “other woman” who broke up Jax and me. Everyone believed it. The comment section was a cesspool of slut-shaming, each insult more vicious than the last. When I got home that evening, I planned to immediately send a message to the page administrator to clear Chloe’s name. The red marks on my neck were already bruising. But I never got the chance. I walked into my house to find my parents sitting on the living room sofa, their faces like thunder. They were waiting for me. My stomach dropped. I knew this wasn't good. A glass flew past my head and shattered against the wall behind me. “What did you do to piss off Jackson King?” my father roared, slamming his fist on the coffee table. “Do you have any idea how much of our business depends on the Kings? Are you trying to ruin me?” I just stood there as my mother’s shrill voice joined in, calling me a useless, money-draining curse. My father told me I was going to go over there and apologize to Jax. Right now. The house was cold, but I was shivering from a chill that came from deep inside. I don’t remember how the screaming match ended, only that I was bundled out the door and marched to the Kings’ front porch. I had a speech prepared. I was going to tell him I didn’t write the post, but that I would get it taken down. But the door swung open, and he was standing there, looking down at me from the top of the steps, his eyes like chips of ice. The words died in my throat. I lowered my head. I bowed. And I apologized. He just stared at me blankly, leaning against the doorframe. “I don’t want to see you at school anymore, Aubrey.”
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