Chapter 2

Kenna's POV

"Come on, lovebirds! Give us a kiss! Don't be shy!"

The crowd: "Kiss! Kiss! Kiss!"

But they weren't kissing. Mason looked like he'd seen a ghost. He was actually trying to block the camera with his hands, pushing the girl away from him. She looked confused. He looked guilty as hell. Everything about it was wrong.

The cheering turned confused. People started whispering.

"Wait, why does he look so panicked? That's sus," the girl next to me said.

"I'm recording this. Something's definitely off," someone behind me said.

My phone was still going. My hands shook so bad I almost dropped it but I kept filming. That's him. That's definitely him.

Three hours away at a family dinner.

The lie burned straight through me.

"No... no no no... that's Mason..." I heard myself whisper it.

The camera moved on but I couldn't hear anything anymore. The music, the crowd, all of it just turned into static. All I could see was my phone screen.

I saved the video. My fingers wouldn't stop shaking. Then I pulled up my photos—there was his selfie from this afternoon. Gray tee. Black jeans. "Stuck at family dinner."

I opened our messages. Scrolled to three hours ago: "Signal's bad. I'll call you later."

Three years. We'd planned everything together, same college, same city, our whole future. I'd chosen my classes around his schedule so we could have lunch together. I'd turned down that summer internship in New York because he wanted to stay here.

Three years and he's here with another girl. Lying. While I'm sitting here alone making excuses for him in my head.

My fingers moved before I could think. I typed: "We're done."

I stared at those words. Should I ask him first? Give him a chance to explain? But what explanation could there possibly be? He told me he was three hours away. He sent me a fake photo. He's on a Kiss Cam with another girl. What more do I need to know?

I hit send.

Then I blocked him. Instagram, Snapchat, his number. Everything.

"Hey, are you okay? Do you need water?" The girl next to me touched my arm.

I looked at her but I couldn't really see her. Everything felt far away, like I was watching this happen to someone else. "I... I need to go."

I stood up. My legs felt like they might give out but I made them move. Everyone around me was still cheering, still having the time of their lives.

"Miss, are you alright? Do you need me to call someone?" A security guard stopped me at the exit.

"No. I just... I need to leave. Now."

He stepped aside. I walked out into the night. Behind me the concert kept going, the music fading as I pushed through the doors. But I could still feel the bass pounding in my chest.

Or maybe that was just my heart breaking.

The walk back to my dorm felt endless.

I kept my head down. Kept walking.

My phone buzzed in my pocket. Once. Twice. A dozen times. I didn't look. If I stopped moving, I'd fall apart right here on the sidewalk.

How long has this been going on? How many times did he look me in the eye and lie?

My building. I fumbled with my key card, hands shaking so bad it took three tries.

I pushed open our door.

Dark except for Lily's desk lamp. My safe space. Our photos on the wall, fairy lights above my bed, the succulent garden on the windowsill. Everything exactly where it should be.

Nothing would ever be the same.

I dropped my bag. My legs gave out and I collapsed onto my bed, staring up at the ceiling. Those glow-in-the-dark stars from freshman year. Mason had helped me put them up. We'd laughed because he kept getting them crooked.

Stop thinking about him.

But I couldn't. My hand moved, pulling up my phone, opening the video. There he was. Gray tee. Black jeans. That girl's head on his shoulder. The panic when he saw the camera.

I watched it again. And again.

I was crying before I realized it. Tears soaking into my pillow. I tried to stay quiet but my body wouldn't cooperate, these sobs I couldn't control shaking through me.

How could he do this? How could he lie to my face every single day?

The door opened. Light spilled in.

"Kenna?" Lily's voice, worried. "What happened? Why are you crying?"

I couldn't answer. Couldn't speak. Just held out my phone, the video still playing.

Lily took it. Watched. Her face went from confused to horrified to absolutely furious.

"That bastard." She sat down hard next to me, pulling me into her arms.

I buried my face in her shoulder and broke. Everything I'd been holding back since I left the concert came pouring out. Lily held me, rocking slightly, whispering "It's okay, let it out, I've got you."

The door opened again. Maya: "What's going on? Kenna, are you okay?"

Then Sophie: "Oh my god, what happened?"

They surrounded me. My girls. All three right there, hands on my shoulders, my back, my hair. This protective circle around me.

"He lied to me." The words came between sobs. "He was at the concert with another girl. Said he was three hours away at his parents' house. Sent me a fake photo. And I caught him on the Kiss Cam with her."

"What?" Maya's voice went sharp.

"Show us." Sophie's hand found mine, squeezed hard.

I couldn't watch it again. Lily passed my phone to them. I heard the video play, the crowd chanting "Kiss! Kiss! Kiss!" and their sharp breaths.

"Oh Kenna..." Maya's arms wrapped around me from behind.

"I broke up with him. Blocked him. I just..." My voice cracked. "I can't believe I was so stupid. All those times he said he was busy, or his phone died, or whatever. How many times was he really with her?"

"You're not stupid." Lily's voice was fierce. "He's a manipulative piece of shit. This is NOT on you."

"Tell us everything," Sophie said quietly. "From the beginning."

So I did. How excited I'd been. His last-minute excuse. That notification. The moment I saw him on screen and everything just stopped.

They listened without interrupting. When I finished, we sat there in the quiet.

"I loved him," I whispered. Why does it hurt this much? "I really loved him."

"We know, honey. We know." Maya hugged me tighter.

I planned everything around him. Turned down New York because he wanted to stay here. Changed my whole schedule for him. I was so sure we had forever.

Lily grabbed her laptop. "I'm ordering pizza. And ice cream. And those ridiculous cheese breadsticks you like."

"I'm not hungry."

"Don't care. You're eating."

An hour later we were sprawled across my bed and floor, surrounded by empty takeout boxes. I'd cried myself out. Now I just felt empty. Numb.

Maya scrolled through her phone, half-watching some Netflix show. Sophie was braiding my hair, her fingers gentle. Lily sat at the foot of my bed, stress-eating breadsticks.

"Oh my god."

We all looked at Maya. Her eyes were huge.

"What?" Lily asked.

"Someone posted the Kiss Cam moment on TikTok." Maya's voice was weird. "It's already got like five thousand likes."

My stomach dropped. "What?"