Sunshine After The Rain

My best friend Manon volunteered to get the campus heartthrob’s number for me. She had a massive crush on his best friend, Nate, so she figured she could kill two birds with one stone.

Thanks to her help, Chase and I ended up in a latenight, sweettalking online relationship that lasted for three months. By the time we decided to meet up in person, Manon had also managed to win over Nate.

We planned a double date to finally take things offline. But when the guys arrived at the restaurant, they both walked straight past me and grabbed Manon’s hands.

Nate immediately threw a playful punch at Chase’s shoulder. "Your girl is right there, man. What the hell are you doing holding mine?" Chase froze.

His gaze slowly drifted to my pale, bloodless face, his jaw tightening as he looked back at Manon. "This isn't fair," he said, his voice dropping into a low, strained whisper. "When I gave out my number, I thought she was the one asking for it." He looked at Nate, his eyes flashing with stubborn defiance. "I'm going to compete with you, Nate.

Fair and square." "As for Hazel..." Chase turned back to me, his expression suddenly washing clean of any emotion. "Let's just end this.

Let's pretend none of it ever happened." The moment the words left Chase’s mouth, Nate lost his temper. "What kind of garbage are you talking?" Nate growled, pulling Manon closer to his side as if he was terrified she might vanish. "Manon and I actually love each other.

I'm not competing with you over anything." But Chase didn't back down an inch. "May the best man win. Otherwise, I'm not letting this go.

I'm certainly not going to stand by and bless your relationship." Manon stood trapped in the middle of their glaring match, looking completely stressed and helpless. I kept my head down, staring at the polished wooden table.

I didn't say a single word. From start to finish, not a single person in that huddle looked at me. Except for Chase, when he casually tossed out that cold, clean breakup. He had been so incredibly quick to declare his loyalty to Manon.

Yet, just twenty minutes before we walked into the restaurant, his text was sitting in my inbox: Can't wait to see you, baby. I adore you.

As the two boys continued to argue, their voices rising, the other diners in the restaurant began to turn and stare at our table. "Shut up, both of you. Stop making a scene," Manon snapped, her eyes flashing with anger. "Go home.

My head is a complete mess right now. I need some time to think." She grabbed my wrist, her grip firm and reassuring. "Hazel, let's go." I didn't say a word, letting her pull me along like a ghost.

But Chase stepped into our path, blocking the exit like a solid brick wall. "I'll drive you guys back." "If anyone is driving them, it's me," Nate shot back, pushing his way forward. Manon shoved past them both. "I said I need space!

Neither of you follow us!" She dragged me out of the restaurant and hailed a cab, leaving both of them standing on the sidewalk. As we sat in the backseat of the taxi, Manon turned to me, her eyes brimming with guilt. "Hazel, I'm so incredibly sorry.

I had no idea Chase had confused us. I swear to you, I'll never say yes to him. I know how much you care about him.

I'll make sure he understands." She looked closer at me, her voice dropping into a gentle, worried whisper. "Hazel, are you okay?" I forced myself to look out the window, blinking rapidly against the hot tears stinging my eyes. "It's fine.

Don't worry about it." "I'm just really tired. I think I'm going to close my eyes for a bit." I pulled my face mask up over my nose, nearly to my eyes. Underneath the fabric, the tears finally overflowed, tracking silently down my cheeks.

We didn't speak for the rest of the ride. When we got back to the dorm, my roommates immediately crowded around me, their faces bright with excitement.

They had spent hours that afternoon helping me curl my hair, doing my makeup, and picking out the perfect outfit. They had teased me, saying I was going to make Chase's head spin.

But when they saw my swollen eyes and the ruined tracks in my makeup, their smiles vanished. "What happened, Hazel?" "Why are you crying?

Did he do something to you?" I swallowed the heavy sob rising in my throat, my voice trembling. "We... we broke up.

It turns out I wasn't the girl he wanted." The moment the words left my lips, I lost all control, burying my face in my hands and sobbing until my chest ached.

Three months of sweet messages, of latenight calls, of believing I was finally loved, gone in a single second. I had truly believed the universe was finally being kind to a quiet girl like me. But it was all just a cruel, humiliating joke.

2 That night, I lay in bed, staring at the blue light of my phone screen. I scrolled through the endless log of our chat history from the last three months.

Chase had been incredibly clingy, constantly blowing up my phone with sweet, trivial updates throughout his day. Good morning, baby. I grabbed some breakfast for you. Get up, get up! Class is so boring today. I need a kiss to get through this.

I miss you. Why aren't you replying to me? Your boyfriend's daily subscription has expired. Please pay ninetynine kisses to renew. Select electronic transfer or manual delivery.

Every single word, once a source of secret joy, now felt like a jagged piece of glass twisting in my chest. My thumb hovered over his profile picture, eventually tapping it open to reveal a photo he had sent me during his summer trip to Paris.

He was standing beneath the Eiffel Tower, looking effortlessly handsome, his dark hair slightly windswept, a bright, confident smile on his lips. Next time, I'm going to kiss you right under the Eiffel Tower.

My tears wet my pillow, drying only to be replaced by fresh ones. I kept my finger pressed against the delete button. I knew that letting him go was the only way to heal, and that I had already been humiliated enough.

But my heart was a stubborn, foolish thing. It still fluttered at the sight of his face. Ultimately, I couldn't bring myself to delete him. The next day, I sat through my lectures like a hollow shell, my mind completely blank.

On my way back to the dorm, I saw Chase standing near the entrance of my building.

I immediately lowered my head, trying to slip past him, but he stepped directly into my path. "Excuse me," I whispered, my fingers tightening around the edge of my textbook. "Hazel." His voice was just as beautiful as I remembered, but the warmth was gone, replaced by a polite, clinical distance.

It was hard to believe this was the same boy who had gently cooed me to sleep just two nights ago. "Do you need something?" I kept my eyes fixed on his shoes, terrified he would see how swollen my eyelids still were. "Can you send me Manon's contact card?" I froze, my breath catching in my throat. "Nate won't give it to me, and Manon has blocked my number," he continued, completely oblivious to the pain radiating off me. "Since you're her best friend, I figured you'd have a way to reach her." He was so incredibly cruel.

He was standing right in front of me, asking me to help him pursue my best friend, as if the last three months had been absolutely nothing to him. I shook my head slowly. "No.

If she wanted you to have her contact info, she would have given it to you herself." "I have to go." I made a move to step around him. "Are you keeping it from me out of petty jealousy?" Chase asked, his voice sharp. I stopped dead in my tracks.

Chase took a step closer, looking down at me with a hard, defensive expression. "Hazel, you're only refusing to give me her number because you don't want me to chase her, aren't you?" "Come on. We only talked for three months.

It's not like we had some deep, lifealtering romance. And I only put effort into those chats because I believed I was talking to Manon." "In this entire mess, I'm the one who got screwed over.

Why didn't you just ask for my number yourself instead of sending your gorgeous friend to do it?

You were too cowardly, too afraid of rejection to stand in front of me." "Now the girl I actually wanted is dating my best friend, and I'm left with nothing.

How are you going to make this up to me?" His words felt like physical blows, bruising my chest. In his eyes, I wasn't the sweet girl he had fallen for online; I was a manipulative, deceitful coward who had tricked him.

My fingernails bit deep into my palms. I forced my spine to go perfectly straight. I kept my head down, keeping my voice as level as possible. "I'm sorry, Chase." "I can't make it up to you.

If I could go back to that day, I would never have let anyone ask for your number on my behalf. It's my fault there was a misunderstanding, and you can think whatever you want of me." "But Manon is my best friend.

If she doesn't want to talk to you, I will never make that choice for her.

You can pursue her, you can get her number from anyone else on this campus, but it will never be from me." "I don't betray my friends." As the last word slipped out, a heavy tear slipped from my eye, splashing onto the pavement between us.

I quickly wiped my cheek and lifted my chin, forcing myself to meet his eyes. Seeing my raw, tearstreaked face, Chase froze, a sudden flicker of panic crossing his features. "If we're done here, I'm leaving," I said, my voice trembling slightly.

Chase ran a hand through his hair, looking suddenly frustrated and deeply annoyed with himself. "Fuck... I didn't mean... look, I wasn't trying to..." He trailed off, letting out a sharp breath. "Whatever.

Just go." I turned and walked away, keeping my back perfectly straight even though my vision was a blurry mess. It was truly over. The end of a threemonth mistake, and the death of a fiveyear secret. I never got to tell him the truth.

I never got to say: Chase, I've loved you for five years.

3 I had been in love with Chase for five years. He had probably forgotten, but our very first meeting had been during our freshman year of high school.

I had just moved to the big city prep school from a tiny, rural middle school, feeling completely out of place. During the opening ceremony, Chase had stood on the stage as the student representative.

Even in the plain school uniform, he looked incredibly handsome and bright.

I had been standing at the very back of the crowd, but his clear, confident voice had cut through the chatter of the students and the rustling wind, settling deep into my heart.

Perhaps the weather and the light had just been too perfect that day, but love had found me in an instant. Of course, I knew we belonged to different worlds. Chase was the golden boy, beloved by everyone.

I was just a quiet, plain girl from the countryside. I kept my crush tucked away, using it as a sweet secret to bring a little color to my ordinary life. Our only actual interaction in high school had happened on a rainy evening during junior year.

Most of the students had parents picking them up. My parents were working in another province, and my elderly grandmother had bad knees and couldn't walk in the rain, so I was left waiting alone in the lobby.

Watching the torrential downpour, I braced myself, wrapping my backpack over my head, preparing to dash into the storm. Suddenly, a hand caught my shoulder, and a heavy umbrella was shoved into my grip.

When the umbrella shifted, Chase was standing there. He gave me a bright, easy grin and winked. "Girls shouldn't walk in the rain." With that, he dashed out into the storm, letting the water soak through his jacket.

I shouted a thank you after him, but he didn't turn back, simply waving a hand over his shoulder as he disappeared into the grey sheet of water. That rainy day, and the frantic drumming of my heart, had stayed with me all the way to college.

But now, the storm had finally cleared. I had never harbored any grand illusions about us, until I crossed paths with Manon again in university. Manon had been my best friend in elementary school before her parents divorced and she moved to the city.

Reuniting on campus felt like a miracle. She was a dance major, gorgeous and graceful, while I studied literature. Despite the years apart, our friendship was as strong as ever, and she remained just as beautiful as she had been as a child.

She spent a lot of time with me, and she was the one who noticed how I looked at Chase when he played basketball. She told me I was terrible at hiding my feelings.

I insisted that watching him from afar was enough, but Manon pushed me to be brave. "Life is short, Hazel.

You have to go after what you want." She eventually volunteered to get his number for me, pointing out that she was planning to ask Nate for his number anyway, so she might as well ask for both. I should have said no.

But greed got the better of me, and I agreed. When Manon walked onto the basketball court, every eye in the stands followed her. She was a natural headturner. I should have realized then that anyone would look at her first.

I had been so nervous my chest felt tight, terrified Chase would reject her. From my seat in the stands, I saw Manon point in my direction.

I quickly looked away, my cheeks burning, but managed to peek back just in time to see Chase smile and nod, handing over his phone. I felt like I had won the lottery.

The days that followed had been so sweet, so effortless, as we quickly fell into an online relationship. But eventually, the clock struck midnight, and Cinderella was sent back to her reality.

On our double date, I had watched Chase stand up with a massive bouquet of blue bells, my favorite flowers. He had smiled, walking straight past me, and taken Manon's hand. I missed you, baby.

That was the moment I realized the last three months had been a stolen dream. The basketball court had been too loud that day, and Chase had assumed the gorgeous girl asking for his number wanted it for herself. If only I had been a little braver.

If only I had stood in front of him myself, even if it meant being rejected. It would have been better than this humiliating mess.

4 The next day, I blocked Chase's number and deleted his contact, determined to return to my quiet, orderly life.

I threw myself into my studies, spending my days in the library and my nights in the dorm, pretending the last three months had never happened.

Meanwhile, Chase began to pursue Manon with an aggressive, public intensity, as if trying to make up for lost time. Nate, of course, fought back just as fiercely.

The campus forums were filled with threads analyzing the love triangle, with students placing bets on who the star of the dance department would choose.

When someone in the comments pointed out that Chase had recently been dating someone else, Chase had replied to the thread himself: We broke up. I had the wrong girl. It was a simple, brutal summary of our relationship.

My roommates quickly learned not to mention his name around me, keeping a careful watch on my expression whenever we passed the athletic fields. I always offered them a small, reassuring smile, letting them know I was fine.

A month passed, and I hadn't reached out to Manon. I knew she hadn't done anything wrong, but my heart was still too tender, and I needed time to heal. She understood, giving me the space I needed.

Until one afternoon, she showed up outside my lecture hall, holding a small box from my favorite bakery. "Hazel, I've missed you so much," she said, her eyes shining with a soft, pleading look. "I bought your favorite chocolate hazelnut cake.

Can we grab dinner tonight?" Looking at her nervous, sweet face, my heart softened. It really wasn't her fault. I nodded, offering her a genuine smile.

On the way to the restaurant, Manon chattered happily, catching me up on everything I had missed over the last month. I listened quietly, nodding along, until she casually mentioned a necklace Nate had bought her.

She froze midsentence, her face instantly falling. "I'm so sorry, Hazel. I shouldn't have brought that up." Looking at her panicked expression, I couldn't help but laugh softly. "It's fine, Manon. Really.

I've moved on." But my words only made her eyes well up with tears. She knew how deeply I had cared for Chase, and she knew about the five years of quiet longing that had preceded it.

She threw her arms around me, burying her face in my shoulder. "I'm so sorry, Hazel. I should have been clearer when I asked him for his number. It's all my fault. I owe you a million apologies." "Chase is an absolute idiot.

How could he not see how amazing you are?" "I promise you, I will never date him. I don't care how hard he tries." I patted her back gently, comforting her. "It's okay, Manon. Even if you do date him, I won't mind.

I only care about you." My words only made her sob harder, and we ended up canceling our dinner plans, heading straight to a quiet campus pub instead. She ordered a row of shots, claiming she was going to help me release all my pentup sadness.

But after a few rounds, she was the one who ended up completely wasted, crying into her glass. As I struggled to figure out how to get her back to her apartment, her phone rang. It was Nate.

Hearing that Manon was drunk, he insisted on coming to help, promising he'd be there in ten minutes.

He arrived quickly, but my heart sank when I saw the tall figure walking in right behind him. "He's like a bad shadow," Nate muttered, looking annoyed. "He overheard me on the phone and insisted on tagging along." I looked up, my eyes meeting Chase's dark, unreadable gaze.