The city lights glittered like stars trapped in glass, and for a while, I thought maybe tonight would be different. Maybe I could forget the heaviness in my chest even for a few hours.
It was Mrs. Gray's idea."There's a small get-together tonight," she said cheerfully. "You and Aiden should come."
She didn't notice the way my heart clenched at his name.So I smiled and nodded, pretending it didn't hurt.
By evening, the house was glowing warm light spilling through the windows, laughter floating through every corner. Music played softly in the background, and everyone looked so happy, so alive.
Everyone but me.
I stood by the window, tracing shapes in the foggy glass. My reflection stared back tired eyes, a forced smile, and a heart that didn't seem to fit inside my chest anymore.
Then I saw him.
Aiden.
He was across the room, standing beneath the chandelier. His hair caught the golden light, and his laughter oh, that laughter filled the air. I hadn't heard it in so long. It used to belong to me, or at least I thought it did.
Now it was hers.
The girl beside him tall, graceful, with a smile that reached her eyes said something that made him laugh again. His eyes softened in a way they hadn't for me in months.
It felt like watching a memory I didn't belong in.
For a moment, I couldn't move. I just stood there, every heartbeat echoing in my ears. The people around me blurred into color and sound, but Aiden stayed sharp, clear, real.
He looked happy.And I didn't.
When his gaze finally met mine across the room, I expected something surprise, guilt, maybe even a hint of the old Aiden.But he only nodded politely, like a stranger acknowledging another stranger in a crowd.
And that hurt more than anything.
I turned away, blinking fast before the tears could fall. I didn't want anyone to see least of all him.
I slipped out to the balcony, where the night air wrapped around me like a cold whisper. The city stretched endlessly below glowing, moving, alive and I felt small in it.
The party music drifted through the open doors, but it sounded far away, like a song from another world.
That's when I opened my diary again.Under the light of a thousand stars, I wrote: