Three years into my life on the run with a baby. My son, Leo, has yet to blossom into the genius hacker from the novels, the kind who crashes stock markets from his high chair. I finally caved, cupping his chubby cheeks in my hands. “Listen, you’re drinking the most expensive organic formula on the market. When are you going to make your mom rich so we can go home in style?” Leo just blinked his big, innocent eyes. “Mommy… what’s a hacker?” Right on cue, the comments started scrolling across my vision. [LOL, the villainess is really dreaming big, huh.] [You know exactly how you got that kid, sweetie. Don't play dumb.] [Seriously shameless. The girl tried to trap the male lead and still thinks she deserves a happy ending.] The live-chat was a waterfall of hate. They blamed me. Because of me, their precious male lead was no longer the “pure, untouched hero” reserved only for the female lead. I sighed and rubbed my forehead. But a second later, the chat exploded for a completely different reason. [OMG?? WHO is that gorgeous guy in the black trench coat at the door?!] [What is HE doing here?] [No way… don’t tell me he’s here for her.] 1 During the peak of my obsessive teenage crush phase, I fell for Ethan Hayes. I did this knowing full well that he was the Male Lead of our story, and I was just the Side Character. I was seventeen the first time the live-chat appeared. It happened on the basketball court, right after Ethan took the water bottle I offered him. The words just materialized in the air, a transparent overlay on reality. And they were all aimed at me. [Great, just my luck. The first thing I see today is the annoying side chick sucking up to the male lead.] [And he actually took the water from her… gross.] [He was probably just swarmed and didn't see who handed it to him.] [God, I can’t stand this girl. So shameless.] [Always hanging around him just because they grew up next door.] [Too bad our female lead doesn't show up for another two years.] [It's fine. He’ll never fall for anyone but her.] [The female lead is his first love, after all.] [He’s going to be completely, 100% pure for her, body and soul.] [This girl can hang around him for ten years and it won't compare to the female lead showing up for one day.] 2 That was how I learned. The world I lived in wasn’t real. It was a story with a fixed plot. Ethan Hayes, the boy who lived next door, was the hero of this story. And I, Avery, was the designated tragic side character. The one who would waste her time and love on him, only to get absolutely nothing in return. Worse, once the female lead arrived, I was scripted to become a jealous monster and do a bunch of horrible things. The year I found all this out was the same year I realized I was starting to have a major crush on Ethan. 3 Knowing the script, any normal person would have backed off. They’d have cut their losses, gotten over the crush, and stayed far, far away from the main couple to avoid their own miserable ending. But my teenage brain was full of romance novels and a stubborn, rebellious streak. I was going to like him anyway. I even had the ridiculous idea that I could win him over completely before the “real” heroine ever showed up. So, I started showing up in his life even more. I stopped hiding how much I liked him. When he played basketball, I brought him water. When he studied, I sat with him. I even made sure to grab the seat directly across from him at lunch every day. In the cafeteria, Ethan once again picked up the piece of fried chicken I’d put on his tray and placed it back on mine. “What is your deal lately, Avery?” he asked, his brow furrowed. “Are you broke again?” I looked him straight in the eye. “You really haven’t figured it out yet?” Without waiting for an answer, I said it, loud enough for half the cafeteria to hear. “I’m trying to ask you out, dummy.” The words dropped. The noisy cafeteria went silent for a beat. Ethan, sitting across from me, actually froze. And the live-chat came roaring to life, a tidal wave of comments calling me shameless and delusional. 4 Back then, I didn’t understand the power of the plot. I stared at the screen full of angry text and felt a smug sense of victory. I didn't believe in love at first sight. Ethan and I had known each other for over a decade. How could that lose to some "destined glance" with a girl he hadn't even met? And yet, for the next two years, I pursued him relentlessly. He never said yes. Ethan wasn’t mean to me. In fact, he had this weirdly patient, tolerant attitude towards my antics, which always seemed to drive the live-chat insane. But after nearly 600 days of very public pursuit, I still couldn’t figure out where I stood with him. 5 I asked him countless times, “So, when are you finally going to be my boyfriend?” Before senior year finals, he’d just push my head towards my textbook. “Focus on your grades first.” “Do you really want to get another lecture from the principal about being a distraction before graduation?” he’d say. I’d grumble, frustrated. “I’m getting all the grief for being your girlfriend without any of the benefits.” I’d pout. “It would be better if it were official, you know.” For a second, I thought I saw him smile. A faint, warm curve on that perpetually cool, unreadable face. He gently patted the back of my neck. “Wait until after graduation,” he said softly. But after graduation, he changed his story. He said the promise was just a way to keep me calm and focused on my exams. It was a rainy night when he told me. I was on my tiptoes, holding my umbrella over both of us to keep him dry. His words were so casual, so devoid of emotion. Suddenly, my arm felt too heavy to even hold the umbrella. 6 I looked up, staring at him. “What did you just say?” “The rain’s too loud,” I lied. “I didn’t hear you.” Ethan looked down at me, his gaze cool, but mixed with a strange, distant pity. He took the umbrella from my hand. “You heard me,” he said. “I’m not going to be with you, Avery.” I just stared at him, my mind blank. “Why?” The live-chat was laughing at me. [I have never seen someone so shameless in my life.] [The male lead is a class act. He’s trying to let her down easy.] [But you can’t fix someone who has zero self-respect.] [Is it really that hard to guess why he won’t date you?] [IT’S BECAUSE HE DOESN’T LIKE YOU.] [If he was into you, do you really think you’d have to chase him this hard?] [Just stop embarrassing yourself already.] 7 Ethan’s next words came at the same time as the comments. His dark eyes were fixed on mine, his expression serious. But what he said was, “Avery, because I don’t like you.” And then, the day after he rejected me, the female lead arrived. Right on schedule. She just appeared in his life, without giving me any time to brace myself. I suddenly realized that two years had gone by in a flash. My defiant plan to win Ethan before she showed up had ended in total failure, just one day before her grand entrance. From there, the story of Ethan and the female lead—Lily—unfolded like a speed-run. Their first meeting was a clumsy, cute mix-up. Their “coincidental” run-ins were frequent and romantic. Their connection deepened at an impossible pace. It wasn't just the live-chat that kept me updated on their progress. My own friends, the people around me, were suddenly all buzzing about Lily. About her, and her budding romance with Ethan.

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