The night air was cool against my skin, but it did nothing to ease the burning ache in my chest. I sat on the bench, staring at the endless sky, as if the stars could piece me back together. As if the wind could carry away the heaviness in my heart.

“Livi.”

I didn’t hear him at first. Or maybe I didn’t want to.

“Melanie.”

I blinked, turning to face him. “Oh, hey.”

“I know you’ve been waiting for me—”

“No worries!” I cut in too quickly, my voice too bright, too fake.

”—But I’ll have to go with Stephanie today. She wasn’t feeling well because of the incident.”

The words hit like a slap, and no matter how much I willed my face to stay neutral, I could feel the hurt creeping in. I swallowed hard, forcing a small smile.

“No, not at all. I was going to tell you my dad will be picking me up.”

“Oh, that’s good then.”

“Yeah.”

Silence. Heavy, suffocating.

“Then, I should go now.”

I could have let him leave. I should have. But something in me refused to stay silent.

“Hey, Matt—”

He paused, turning slightly, his expression unreadable.

I took a deep breath, my hands clenching into fists on my lap.

“Do you like her?”

He didn’t answer.

“Since when?”

Still nothing.

“Why her?”

Question after question, I knew Matt hated this. He hated being cornered. He hated when I dug too deep.

“She needs me right now, Melanie.”

That was all he said. As if that explained everything. As if that justified the slow, painful unraveling of everything we once were.

My head spun, my chest tightening, my voice small and breaking.

“But… what about us, Matt?”

He exhaled sharply, rubbing his face like I was exhausting him. Like I was a problem.

“I thought I made it clear to you.”

“Matt, I—”

My voice cracked, and I hated myself for it.

His expression hardened.

“You are annoying.”

The words hit like ice water, chilling me to the bone.

“I told you there’s nothing going on between me and Stephanie. And STOP obsessing over the thought of us. Look at yourself. You sound so desperate.”

Desperate.

“I’ve had enough of this this.”

I’ve had enough of you.

 “You weren’t like this before, Melanie.”

Matt stood there, his hand running through his hair in frustration, clearly stressed out. "I’m sorry I gotta go now.”

My chest tightened, the realization settling in. He was done, and just like that, he was walking away from them, from everything.

Ah, so that’s how he thought of me.

Obsessed.

Always chasing

I sat there, motionless, as the weight of his words crashed over me. From all the rejection. All the indifference. Every moment I clung to, now meaningless.

I wiped my tears, feeling a cold emptiness inside. I knew he hated when I cried, and I hated myself for being so vulnerable in front of him. But what stung the most was how quickly he let go, how easily he ended it. Just like that.

And in that moment, I knew. I knew it was the end.

It was the way he’d given up so fast, without a second thought.

I was just in love.

I loved him.

Maybe I just never came to terms with the fact that I was rejected the first time he said it. Maybe I convinced myself that if I held on a little longer, loved him a little harder, he would see me the way I saw him.

Or maybe… maybe he was just my first love.

And my first love had just ended.

The love I once dreamed of, the love I stitched into every hope and every tomorrow—crumbled to nothing in his absence.

My high school sweetheart.

The boy whose eyes once held my whole universe, now empty when they looked at me.

The songs we sang together at the festival, now just noise.

Our first kiss in the quiet of the music club room.

The afternoon walks, hands intertwined.

The paintings we made together, his laughter filling the air, his sunlit hair glowing like something out of a dream.

The kisses we shared.

The warmth I felt.

He was gone.

I was gone from his heart.

 Flashbacks flickered in my mind, each one sharper than the last.

 Every laugh, every moment of warmth we shared, now felt like a cruel joke.

And I cried hard that night.