I wake up the next morning to find Hansel, Charlie, and Faith having breakfast in the kitchen.

“Why did you ditch us last night?” Charlie demands, glaring at me with her brown eyes.

“Good morning,” I grumble, sliding into the seat next to Faith, who watches me in silence.

“Why did you bail on dinner with us, Mily?” Hansel asks, handing me a mug of hot coffee and a slice of bread slathered with strawberry jam—my favorite breakfast.

“I had to work on my new book,” I reply, taking a sip of the coffee, which immediately scorches my tongue. “Oh my god, that’s way too hot.” I narrow my eyes at my roommate, who just shrugs.

“Yeah, right,” Charlie scoffs. “Tell us the truth. Why did you ditch us?”

I roll my eyes and sigh in defeat. Charlie can be stubborn as hell, and there’s no way I’m getting out of this without fessing up. “I wasn’t in the mood to spend the entire night listening to you, Faith, and Hansel telling me it’s time to forget the past and move on with my life—especially my heart.”

“And why would we do that?” Charlie insists, glaring daggers at me.

“Because someone was already starting with that talk last night, and we hadn’t even left the elevator yet.” I glance at Hansel, who pointedly ignores me.

“What’s your new book about, Mily?” Faith smiles and winks, silently letting me know she’s on my side.

“My agent wants me to write a romance, and I hate it,” I complain, shoving half the bread into my mouth.

“Are you kidding? Romance is everything,” Charlie exclaims, hearts practically sparkling in her eyes, and a goofy smile plastered on her face—proof that she’s a sucker for love, happy endings, and all that nonsense.

“You know Mily doesn’t believe in soulmates,” Faith says calmly. “Not after the people who broke her heart.”

Faith is always so collected and polite. I wish I could steal a bit of that. Maybe then my agent would stop nagging me about my attitude and smart mouth.

“How’s the book going?” Hansel pries, his eyes glued to his phone.

I shrug and take another sip of coffee, which, of course, burns my tongue again. Did my roommate brew this thing in the depths of hell?

“Emily?” he presses, finally looking up, his green eyes landing on me.

“She shrugged,” Charlie answers for me, sparing me from speaking while my throat is still on fire.

“What’s the plot?” Faith smirks, probably intrigued, as she knows how much I despise happy couples, hand-holding, and the words “I love you”.

“I don’t know,” I admit. “I tried writing, but nothing good came out.” I frown, thinking about the blank document waiting on my laptop.

“Why don’t you write about one of your past experiences?” Charlie suggests, shoving a spoonful of colorful cereal into her mouth. “Like your first love or something.”

I immediately turn to Faith and Hansel, our eyes widening at the words “first love”.

“Who was your first love, anyway?” Charlie continues, her eyebrows furrowed. “Was it Dylan?”

“I can’t believe you don’t remember Mily’s first love,” Hansel grumbles, clearly irritated. “You should, considering he was also your first boyfriend.” He squeezes my knee, a silent reminder that he has got my back.

“Oh my gosh, it was Andrew,” Charlie exclaims. “I’m so sorry, Emily. I completely forgot about him.” She gives me an apologetic look.

“I can’t believe you forgot about Andrew, Charlie,” Faith scolds.

“I didn’t forget about Andrew,” she shoots back. “I forgot how crazy Emily was about him.” She laughs. “You should totally write about him, Mily. Give yourself the happy ending you always wanted back when I was dating him.” She shoots me an overly sympathetic look, which only makes it worse.

“Charlie, you shouldn’t say things like that,” Hansel snaps. He knows exactly what I went through when I first met Andrew eleven years ago. He was my first love—and my first heartbreak—thanks to his feelings for Charlie and the way he always chose her over me.

* * *

Eleven years ago…

It’s the first day of school, and I can’t be more excited to start sixth grade with my friends. As a twelve-year-old girl, everything feels new, exhilarating, and unexpected—including the secrets that come with my very first crush and the very first boy who will break my heart.

“Mily, come here and sit with us,” Faith calls as soon as I step into the cafeteria, a sandwich and a bottle of water in hand. She also happens to be one of my closest friends since fifth grade.

I flash her a wide smile and make my way toward the table where most of my friends are already sitting.

“I saved you a seat,” Charlotte tells me, motioning for me to sit next to her, which I promptly do. “I can’t believe we won’t have any classes together,” she adds bitterly.

“I know, right? That’s so unfair,” I whine.

“I can’t say the same,” Hansel smirks. “Mily and I have almost all the same classes.” He takes a bite of my sandwich without asking.

“How are you guys enjoying the first day so far?” Faith asks.

“It’s hard to say,” Charlie shrugs, munching on her chips, “it’s the first day, and we’re still at lunch.”

As I open my mouth to speak, something hits me on the head—a crumpled ball of paper with nothing written on it.

“Everyone’s going wild today because there are some new students,” Charlie continues, glancing at the paper now in my hand. “They transferred from another school, and, apparently, they were the popular crowd there.”

“What does that have to do with this?” I frown, holding up the paper.

“Nothing.” She shrugs again and laughs. “I’m just gossiping.”

“Well, I don’t care about the new students, as long as they don’t throw random paper at me,” I huff, tossing the ball away.

“Hey,” someone complains when the paper hits them square on the head, just like it did to me a moment ago.

“Looks like you hit someone,” Hansel mocks, pointing behind me.

I turn around to see the unlucky soul who has been the victim of my terrible aim, and when my eyes land on him, I forget how to breathe.

The boy is glaring at me, a deep scowl on his face, and yet I can’t help noticing how handsome he is—his blond hair, brown eyes, and an effortless kind of charm.

“Who is that?” The question slips out before I can stop myself. Damn it. I don’t want my friends to know I’m already interested because they’ll never let me hear the end of it.

“That’s Andrew,” Charlie replies. “He’s one of the new students. Why?”

“No reason.” I shrug casually and turn back to the table, even though I want nothing more than to keep staring at him.

“You like him, don’t you?” she teases.

I roll my eyes and focus on Hansel, who’s taking huge gulps of Faith’s orange juice.

“I’m just saying,” Charlie continues, ignoring my obvious attempt to tune her out, “you’re not the only girl swooning over him. Half the school is already obsessed.”

“Well, are you?” Faith smirks, shooting her a knowing look.

“What? No way.” Charlie laughs, shaking her head. “He’s not my type. Besides, my friend here is into him, and I’d never hurt her feelings.” She throws an arm around my shoulders.

“I’m not into him,” I grumble. “I was just curious about his name because he was glaring at me.”

“He’s still glaring at you, Mily,” Hansel comments, pointing behind me.

Without thinking, I turn around again, finding the boy’s eyes still locked on me, causing heat to rush to my face—I’ve never felt butterflies in my stomach before, and my heart is racing way faster than it should.

Is this what having a crush feels like for the first time? Is this what love is supposed to be?

* * *