My Best Friend Stole My First Love

Eva’s POV

Suddenly, another set of lights came on, and the words lit up right in front of me: Will you be my girlfriend? My breath caught in my throat as I stared at them, spelled out in glowing letters so bold and bright that there was no way I could have missed them.

As I slowly walked toward the stage, a thought slipped into my head that I hadn’t expected at all. What if this is real? For once, I actually found myself hoping it wasn’t a prank, hoping that maybe, just maybe, there was really someone out there who liked me for me. A small, nervous smile crept onto my face before I could stop it.

I stepped up onto the stage, my heart beating a little too fast, and then I saw him, a tall figure walking out from the darkness into the light. My smile faded instantly.

“No way… is that Jason Blake?” The Jason Blake, the basketball team captain that everyone in school knew? I couldn’t understand this at all, not even a little. When had he started seeing me like this?

My thoughts were still spinning when I suddenly felt something cold hit my body, and I stood there completely frozen as it trickled down over me. For a second, I couldn’t even process what it was, and I simply looked down at myself, confused, trying to understand what they had poured on me. Before my brain could catch up, a bucket of feathers came crashing down on top of me as well.

Everything went quiet for half a second, and then laughter exploded around me from every direction. At the same time, all the lights in the hall came on at once, and the sudden brightness hit my eyes so hard that I flinched. My glasses caught the glare, making everything worse, too sharp, too bright, too overwhelming all at once, and I instinctively looked away, trying to shield my face as my vision slowly adjusted.

But I could already hear them clearly now, students from every grade, laughing like I was the joke of the year, and my chest tightened at the sound of it.

Then I saw him. Jason, the boy who had left the note in my locker, stepped forward, smirking like he had been waiting for this exact moment all along.

“You really thought I could like someone like you?” he said, loud enough for everyone to hear. “An ugly, nerdy lowlife like you?”

Something inside me cracked, and tears filled my eyes before I could stop them. I could hear whispers layering over each other now, repeating his words, laughing even harder as they stuck to me like they belonged there. Ugly. Nerd. Lowlife. I couldn’t breathe properly anymore.

Without thinking, I turned and ran, pushing through the crowd as my glasses slipped slightly out of place, my vision still half-blurred from the sudden light. I didn’t care anymore. I just needed to get out.

By the time I reached the entrance, I almost ran straight into someone, my best friend, and the moment she saw me, her face changed instantly, shock giving way to worry almost at once.

And that was it. That was all it took. I broke down completely.

She didn’t ask questions. She just pulled me in and quickly guided me toward the bathroom to clean me up.

We got to the bathroom, and she asked, “What happened? Why are you so sticky, and why do you look like a chicken?” She was almost chuckling while using her fingers to brush the feathers off me.

“It’s not funny,” I said, tears still in my eyes. Sticky? That was when I realized the white liquid on me was actually adhesive gum.

“Okay, sorry about that. What really happened?” she asked.

I calmed down enough to explain how everything had been a prank.

“Come on, Eva, you know things like this sometimes happen to nerdy girls like you, right? Don’t take it to heart, okay?” Nat said, rubbing my head pitifully.

“But I told you I felt weird about going there,” I said.

“I didn’t think it was going to turn out this way,” she replied, looking at the mirror while adjusting her shirt.

“It’s fine… now I have to face the whole school after that embarrassing moment,” I said.

“Don’t worry, I’ve got you,” Nat said.

I was mad at Nat for convincing me to go, but deep down I knew it wasn’t really her fault. She was just looking out for me, or so I told myself.

“Eva, I need to go now,” Nat said.

“Why? But you’re supposed to help me clean up properly,” I replied.

“Sorry, my darling. While I was waiting at the entrance, a student came and told me our math teacher was looking for me, so I have to go see him now,” Nat said.

“Oh, alright then. I’ll see you arou…”

Before I could finish my sentence, Nat was already out of the restroom, and I stood still for a moment, staring at the door she had just rushed out of.

I took a deep breath, trying to steady myself, but my reflection in the mirror didn’t even feel like me anymore, with feathers stuck in my hair, gum dried onto my clothes, and my eyes still red from crying. How was I supposed to walk out there and pretend that embarrassing moment hadn’t just happened?

I opened the restroom door slowly, and the hallway outside was busy, too busy. As soon as I stepped out, I felt it immediately, eyes turning toward me, whispers starting almost at once. I lowered my head and kept walking, hoping that if I moved fast enough, I might somehow become invisible.

But I wasn’t invisible at all. I could hear them laughing, pointing, murmuring things I didn’t want to understand, and my heart beat faster with every step I took. A group of students near the lockers started laughing the moment they saw me, and one of them mimicked the way I had looked earlier in the theater room. My steps slowed, and I turned slightly away, trying to escape their eyes, but there was nowhere left to hide. Just get to class, I told myself. Just get to class.

I finally made it to class and sank into my seat, keeping my head down. No one said anything to me directly, but I could still feel it, the judgment, the quiet reminder that I didn’t belong, not here, not anywhere.

My hand slipped into my pocket, holding onto my phone like it was the only thing keeping me steady. I stared at my screen for a long moment before locking it and placing it face down on my desk. My chest felt empty, but maybe that was better, maybe it was easier this way, with no expectations, no disappointment, just silence.

I picked up my bag slowly and walked out, hoping to see Nat.

I was in the corridor when I heard my name, “Eva,” and I recognized that voice immediately as Natalie’s. She told me she had been looking for me and advised me to go home to avoid the noise and the glares from the other students, promising she’d cover for me. I was so thankful in that moment that I didn’t hesitate, and I left right away.

On my way home, I stopped by a coffee café to clear my head. I sat down and watched how happy the people around me seemed to be, and I found myself questioning why my life had turned out this way. I sighed and slowly reached for my phone, my fingers hovering over the screen for a moment before I finally unlocked it, my eyes drifting toward the app.

Bloomers.

For a second, I didn’t touch it. I just stared at it, thinking about everything it had given me and everything it had taken from me in return. My chest tightened.

“This was a mistake,” I whispered.

I tapped it open, and there were no messages waiting for me, no conversation left to scroll through, no Will you be my girlfriend? staring back at me from the screen. Just his profile. Golden Boy. A profile I had once spent hours staring at, a name that had once made my heart race, though now it just felt distant, like it belonged to someone I didn’t know anymore.

The chat space was completely empty, all of it erased by time, four months of silence having wiped everything clean. I stared at the blank space where our messages used to be, and somehow that emptiness hurt more than remembering ever could have, because there was nothing left to hold onto now, no proof it had ever been real, since even the memories hadn’t managed to stay.

I blinked slowly, my throat tightening, and swallowed hard before clicking into the settings. My fingers trembled slightly as I scrolled, until I finally saw it.

Delete App.

I paused. This time it felt real, like I wasn’t just deleting an app but letting go of something that had once made me feel chosen. A small notification popped up: Remove “Bloomers” from your phone? My throat tightened further, and for a second I almost laughed, because for once, something was actually asking me if I was sure.

I wish life did that more often. I wish someone had asked me if I was sure before I ever walked into that theater room, before I let myself believe that someone could actually like me.

A tear slipped down my cheek, and I wiped it away quickly before anyone could notice. Then, without letting myself think too much about it, I tapped Delete. I tapped Yes.

Just like that, it was gone. No profile, no Quiet Lily, just me, Eva Harper. And somehow, that felt worse than everything that had come before it.

I sat at the café a moment longer, still and numb, like my body had stayed in place while something inside me had quietly broken apart. And the worst part of it all was that I didn’t yet know this was only the beginning.