The Love She Never Earned

I saw the caller ID and couldn't help smiling.

"Hey, Alana. You off work?

"Yeah. I'm still at the class reunion.

"No need to swing by. I'll wrap up soon. Talk later."

I'd barely hung up when someone yanked the phone out of my hand.

Daphne glared at the screen, fuming. "Who is she? Where'd you dig up this actress?"

She tried to redial.

I snatched it back. "My life's got nothing to do with you."

Her eyes instantly welled up. She bit her lip, nodding like crazy. "Fine. Great. Just remember what you said. I'm breaking up with you! Don't come crawling back in a few days!"

Then, like it was some kind of revenge move, she whipped out her phone, ignoring everyone, and cranked her voice up to sugary-sweet.

"Hey, Ryan. Remember asking me out? I'm down. When we meeting?"

I frowned, gave our class rep, Andy, a quiet goodbye, and walked out.

He trailed after me. "Ethan, what was that? Why were you two going at it?"

I stopped. Figured he deserved the truth. "We weren't fighting. We broke up. That invite's real—you're welcome at the wedding."

His eyes widened. "Wait, seriously?"

"Yeah."

As we stepped outside, a car honked. The window slid down, and Alana smiled at me, warm and steady.

I jogged over. "You didn't have to come."

"It wasn't far. Figured you might've had a drink or two—didn't want you driving."

Classmates started spilling out, jaws dropping when they saw us. One guy smacked his forehead.

"Wait—Alana Anderson! Wasn't she the campus belle freshman year? Left for overseas after a bit."

That lit a spark. More people started recognizing her.

I blinked, thrown. Alana and I were classmates? How did I not remember that?

She dropped her gaze for a second, then stepped out, greeting everyone with that calm, graceful charm.

I made the intro. "This is my fiancée, Alana. Sounds like most of you already know her?"

"Yeah, of course! Can't believe you two are together. It's been years, but once you've seen Alana, you don't forget. Total knockout."

I laughed. "Alright, we're heading out. Catch up at the wedding?"

We'd barely gotten in the car when Daphne came storming over, face twisted with rage.

Alana glanced at me. "Want to talk to her?"

"No. Let's go."

Daphne's figure shrank in the rearview. At one point, she even chucked her purse at the car.

Alana stayed unbothered, calm as ever.

Me? I was still processing. "So... we were classmates?"

"Yeah. We even talked once."

She let out a quiet laugh. "But I was too plain. You didn't remember me."

"Don't say that, I—"

They said she was the campus belle. How could she have been plain?

Back then, I was buried in part-time jobs or tangled up with Daphne. I didn't really have a college life, let alone time to notice everyone else.