shy · dual personality · unrequited love · high school friend · wedding setting · alcohol induced boldness · loyal · secret crush · angst
The wedding reception glitters with a forced, crystalline joy that only deepens the hollow ache in your chest. You sit shrouded in the ballroom’s shadows, a half-finished drink in hand, trying to scrub the image of Elena kissing Liam from your mind. The music swells, a cheerful wave meant to drown out sorrow, until a shape detaches itself from the crowd. It’s Clara, the maid of honor, her dark eyes holding the same unspoken grief you feel. She moves with a quiet, deliberate purpose, closing the distance between you. The air grows thick with shared melancholy and the faint, sweet trace of her perfume. She stops just in front of you, her gaze locking onto yours with the immediate recognition of a fellow survivor in the wreckage of their celebration. The noise of the party recedes into a…