Bella is curled up on the couch in her room, scrolling through messages on her old phone while her new one charges. A call comes in, it's Austin.
Bella (answers, smiling faintly):
"Hey you."
Austin (lighthearted tone):
"Hey, stranger. Finally caught you. Thought you'd gone full ghost mode on me."
Bella (laughs softly):
"Sorry. It's been hectic. School stress, events… life."
Austin:
"I get it. You're a big girl now. Lifetime College's star girl."
Bella:
"Please stop." (Laughs again)
"But yeah, it's been a lot."
Austin:
"I've been thinking, it's weird that we've been talking this long and still haven't seen each other. Let's change that. How about Saturday?"
Bella (nods, voice soft):
"Saturday sounds nice. Where?"
Austin (already prepared):
"There's this really calm spot , The Vibe Lounge on Marlowe Crescent. It's not far from your school. Chill music, decent food, no crowd."
Bella:
"Marlowe Crescent… oh, I know that area. It's close. Sounds perfect."
Austin:
"Great. Say… 3pm?"
Bella:
"3 is good. I'll be done with everything by then"
Austin:
"okay cool, how's Kathy? Haven't heard her voice in a while."
Bella:
"She's okay, i guess she's sleeping now"
Austin (smiling):
"She's a whole vibe. You two sound like you're doing fine."
Bella (voice softens):
"Yeah. She keeps me sane. School's been a lot, though."
Austin:
"Still adjusting?"
Bella:
"Not just that. Classes, expectations, the noise. There's pressure from everywhere. And then there's… other things." (She trails off slightly)
Austin (voice gentle, but doesn't press):
"Well, I hope you know you can vent if you ever need to. I don't talk just for vibes, you know."
Bella (smiling again):
"Yeah, I know. Thank you."
Austin:
"My own end isn't exactly peaceful either. Work's been mad. Meetings stacked back-to-back. My boss thinks we're robots."
Bella:
"Tell your boss humans need oxygen too."
Austin (laughs):
"I did. He replied with a Google Calendar invite."
Bella (laughing):
"You're unserious."
Austin:
"Look who's talking. Miss 'I reply texts 5 hours later.'"
Bella (mock gasp):
"Wow. Attack me."
Austin:
"Never. I'd rather buy you food."
Bella (grinning):
"You're learning."
Austin:
"Saturday, 3pm. Marlowe Crescent. Don't forget."
Bella:
"I won't."
Austin:
"Alright. Sleep well, Bae, and my regards to Kathy."
Bella:
"Thank you and you too, and sure, I'd send your regards. Goodnight, Austin."
Austin (quiet pause, then warmly):
"Goodnight, Bella."
Call ends. Bella holds the phone for a second longer, a gentle look in her eyes.
***
The night was thick with heat, and the girls' tiny hostel room felt like it was trapping every drop of it. A small rechargeable fan sat on the reading table, humming uselessly while the light from Melanie's phone screen bounced off the walls. The bed creaked as she shifted, cross-legged in her rumpled shorts and tank top.
Rina lay on the edge of the bed, chewing on the end of a pen, while Talia stood near the window with one leg propped on the metal frame, trying to catch breeze that wasn't there.
"I've been watching Bella lately," Rina said, squinting into her phone. "Lowkey? That girl's been glowing."
"Hmm," Talia nodded in agreement. "That outfit she wore on Monday? Clean. Hair laid. Skin shining. I don't think she's mourning Justin anymore."
Melanie looked up from her phone slowly, eyes narrowing. "So?"
"So…" Rina shrugged, smiling. "It looks like she's healing. Or maybe she's talking to someone else."
Talia turned around, leaning against the window. "She probably is. You know girls like that don't stay single for long."
Melanie scoffed. "Let her talk to whoever she wants. As long as she stays far away from my Justin, we're good."
Talia raised her brow. "Your Justin? You haven't even locked that in yet."
Melanie smirked. "Not yet, But I'm not in a rush. Everything is aligning perfectly."
"You think she still likes him?" Rina asked.
"Probably not," Melanie replied, stretching lazily. "But one thing I know? She's not happy. That anonymous message we sent? It did damage. She's pretending, but deep down, she's wounded."
The girls laughed quietly, the kind of laugh that dripped with satisfaction and poison.
"I'm watching him now," Melanie continued. "Justin. You guys see the way Chloe is always around him? He's slowly moving on. Whether he knows it or not."
Talia walked over and dropped onto the bed. "You think he'll date Chloe?"
Melanie scoffed. "No. Justin's not stupid. He's not going to fall for her. She's just convenient, a distraction. But me? I'm the one he'll really want when the smoke clears."
Rina's lips curled. "So what's the plan, then?"
Melanie shrugged, but the confident glint in her eye said more than words. "I'm not rushing it. She's still ignoring him, and he has obviously moved on. Perfect state for someone like me to slide in, low and sweet. Timing is everything."
Talia turned from the window and plopped down beside Rina. "But do you think he'll actually go for you?"
Melanie didn't hesitate. "Why wouldn't he? I've got the look. I've got the vibe. I've got the timing. And unlike Bella, I won't ghost him over imaginary drama."
Rina chuckled. "This feels like a series on Netflix. Who's the villain, again?"
Melanie grinned wickedly. "Depends on whose side you're on."
They all laughed, but under the laughter was a current of tension, jealousy, competition, obsession. They were watching Bella closely. But now… they were watching Justin too.
And Melanie? She was already planning her next move.
Melanie lay on her bed, scrolling through her Instagram explore page when she saw a story Justin had posted, a repost of a funny meme from a class page.
She smirked.
"This guy really thinks he's unbothered."
Talia looked up from her own phone. "Why are you smiling like that?"
Melanie replied, "It's time."
She opened Justin's Instagram profile. She had followed him a while ago, but he had never followed back, yet his account wasn't private.
She went back to one of his older posts , a mirror selfie from his room , and liked it. Then she scrolled up and liked two recent ones.
Melanie opened his story again and replied with:
"You're always reposting the best memes 😂 you should become a meme dealer fr"
A soft message. No pressure.
Minutes later, the typing dots appeared.
justin_og:
"Lmao 😂 gotta keep people laughing. You rate it?"
Melanie smiled, then typed:
"Of course. Besides, I've always known you had good taste 😉"
She let the message linger.
Justin liked the message but didn't reply immediately. An hour passed.
Then a new message came in:
justin_og:
"Haha thanks"
Melanie stared at her phone, and read Justins reply.
No "what's up," no continuation. Just… dry.
She narrowed her eyes.
Talia, sitting at the edge of the bed, peeked over her shoulder. "That's it? Girl."
Rina chuckled. "You need to spice it up. He's dry texting you already."
Melanie rolled her eyes, smirking. "Relax. It's just round one."
She thought for a moment, then typed:
"Seen you around in college countless times 👀"
This time, Justin responded:
justin_og:
"Haha I've seen you too. With your friends… I think Talia and Rina, yeah?"
Melanie grinned.
"Oh? You even know us?"
justin_og:
"Yeah. Who doesn't? You three are literally popular on campus lol."
Melanie tossed her phone in the air. "Girls, he just said we're popular. I told you he's watching."
Talia smirked. "Now reel him in slowly. Don't rush."
Melanie picked up her phone again.
"Well, we do leave an impression 😌 But I'm surprised you noticed."
justin_og*
"Hard not to. You guys always come in loud and stylish lol."
"Stylish? I'll take that as a compliment 😅"
justin_og:
"It is."
Pause.
Then a notification popped up.
justin_og followed you
"Oh my god," Melanie said aloud.
"He followed you back?" Rina asked, leaning in.
Melanie just smiled, victorious. "Round one, won."