Mia had liked Daniel for years. Ever since freshman year, when he had lent her his jacket during a fire drill, she had harbored a quiet, persistent crush on him. But Daniel? He had no idea. To him, she was just Mia—his lab partner, his occasional lunch buddy, the girl he texted when he forgot his homework. And Mia was okay with that. Mostly. But then came senior year, and everything changed. Daniel started dating Ava Sinclair. Ava was perfect—captain of the cheer team, straight-A student, effortlessly cool. Mia had always admired her from a distance, but now that distance felt suffocating. Watching Daniel and Ava together, laughing in the hallways, holding hands in the cafeteria, made something heavy settle in Mia’s chest. She had missed her chance. Maybe she never really had one. Then, one rainy afternoon, fate—or bad luck—intervened. Mia was hurrying across the parking lot when she saw Daniel standing by his car, shoulders tense, phone pressed to his ear. Even from a few feet away, she could hear the frustration in his voice. "Ava, can we not do this right now?" A pause. "I told you, I wasn’t flirting with her—" Mia slowed her steps. "You know what? Fine," Daniel said sharply. "If you don’t trust me, maybe this isn’t working." Mia’s heart pounded. She wasn’t trying to eavesdrop, but she couldn’t seem to move. Daniel ran a hand through his hair, then turned and met Mia’s wide eyes. For a second, they just stared at each other. "Mia," he said, his voice softer now. "Hey." "Hey," she managed. "Uh—bad time?" He let out a humorless laugh. "You could say that." Mia hesitated. Then, against her better judgment, she said, "Want to talk about it?" To her surprise, he nodded. They sat in his car, the rain tapping against the windshield. Daniel told her everything—how Ava had become jealous lately, how every little thing turned into an argument, how he was tired of constantly trying to prove himself. "I don’t know," he sighed. "Maybe we’re just not meant to work." Mia swallowed the lump in her throat. "Sometimes… people aren’t who we think they are," she said carefully. "Or maybe they change." Daniel glanced at her, something unreadable in his expression. "Yeah. Maybe." Silence settled between them, but it wasn’t uncomfortable. It felt like something shifting, something new unfolding. And for the first time in years, Mia wondered if maybe, just maybe, her crush wasn’t as impossible as she thought.
For @Amyyy13 enjoy !
