Torn Strings
RYAN'S POV
I stood on the rooftop, watching the sky slowly change from a pale orange to dusky gray. The breeze tugged at my hoodie, but I didn't feel the chill. I just waited.
The rooftop had become my thinking spot. I came here when I couldn't breathe, when things got too loud in my head. And now, I was waiting for the one girl who'd managed to crawl under my skin, completely unaware she'd taken something I didn't even realize I was willing to give—my heart.
But she didn't show up.
Minutes passed.
Then thirty.
Then nearly an hour.
I pulled out my phone, refreshing my messages again, hoping for something.
Nothing.
Until a notification popped up.
AngelJustPosted: @angel_arts
Movie night with the sweetest soul in my world 💛🎬🎨
It was a photo.
Zayne.
Her head on his shoulder, his hand gently resting on her thigh. They looked... perfect.
I just stared. My throat tightened. My hand clenched around the phone until my knuckles went white.
It wasn't that she had chosen him.
It was that she hadn't even considered telling me.
I was the forgotten page in her story.
I turned off the screen and walked away.
ANGEL'S POV
"Zayne, you didn't have to rent the whole projector space," I said, laughing as he set up a blanket in the small outdoor courtyard we'd found behind the art building.
"You've been stressed all week," he said, placing snacks beside us. "I thought you needed something peaceful. Just you and me."
I smiled, touched by the gesture. The flickering light of the movie reflected off his eyes.
"You always know how to calm my storms," I murmured.
He looked over at me, smile fading slightly. "You're not just a storm to me, Angel. You're the whole sky."
I blinked, caught off guard by the softness in his voice.
He took a deep breath. "Look, I've been meaning to say this... and I didn't want the video or Ryan to mess things up or rush me. But... I don't just like you. I don't think I've just liked you for a long time."
My heart thudded.
"Zayne—"
"Let me finish," he whispered, taking my hand. "When I transferred back, it was for art. But seeing you again—working with you—reminded me that some choices feel right in the bones. And this," he lifted our hands, "feels like that."
I didn't speak.
I didn't breathe.
"So I guess what I'm asking is... would you be my girlfriend?"
My cheeks flushed as my eyes watered. I laughed softly. "I thought you'd never ask."
He pulled me close, forehead to mine. "That's a yes?"
"That's a definite yes."
ZAYNE'S POV
I'd never felt like this before. Not with any girl. Not even close.
Angel wasn't a crush. She was a spark. A light that came into my life and quietly made herself a permanent part of my world. I loved how she saw beauty in chaos. I loved how she could get paint on her nose and still argue passionately about color theory.
And now, she was mine.
For the first time in years, I didn't feel alone.
SIENNA'S POV
When I saw Angel's post, something in me snapped.
All the hope I'd clung to—the wishful thinking that maybe Ryan would finally look at me—died right then.
He hadn't even messaged me after the video went viral. Not to ask if it was me. Not to say thanks. Nothing.
I was invisible to him.
And now I was the villain to everyone else.
My classmates gave me side-eyes. Even Lucy blasted me in the group chat. Annie unfollowed me. People whispered behind my back.
It wasn't worth it.
No revenge is ever worth this kind of loneliness.
RAY'S POV
I found Ryan exactly where I knew he'd be.
The abandoned music room. He sat at the upright piano, fingers hovering over the keys but never pressing down.
He didn't even look up when I entered.
"She didn't come, huh?" I asked gently.
Ryan shook his head. "She was with him. Posted it, even."
"Damn."
"I should've told her earlier," he murmured.
"You've liked her that long?"
He let out a bitter laugh. "Since she bumped into me with that damn sketch bag. Since she apologized ten times and offered to carry my books for a week. Since she smiled like she hadn't just ruined my two-thousand-dollar tablet."
I sat down beside him.
"You could still fight for her."
He looked at me then, finally, eyes heavy with regret. "She's already chosen. I saw it in her eyes."
"Then let it fuel you," I said. "Don't let this break you. Let it build you."
He didn't answer. But I knew he heard me.
LUCY'S POV
I tossed a tub of ice cream onto Annie's lap.
"We need to cheer her up."
"You mean Angel?"
"Yeah. She's pretending to be fine, but I know she feels guilty."
"It's not her fault."
"Still. Emotions don't listen to logic."
We made a plan. Milkshakes, drama movies, and zero mention of the word Ryan.
ANGEL'S POV
Back in my dorm, after saying goodnight to Zayne, I finally checked my phone.
A single message from Ryan:
Ryan: Can we talk? Rooftop. Tomorrow. Just us.
I stared at it.
And did nothing.
I didn't reply. I didn't go.
I knew going up there would only reopen wounds. And I couldn't lie to him. Not after what Zayne and I had shared tonight.
So I posted instead. Let the world know the truth.
Let Ryan know without words that my heart belonged to someone else.
: RYAN'S POV
I opened my notebook again.
Heart.exe.
The new project name. A symbol. A distraction. Maybe even therapy.
I stared at the first line of code.
Then I began to type.
Not because I wasn't hurting.
But because I needed to turn the pain into something worth building.
Something that could save me from losing myself.