Jace woke up with a hollow ache in her chest and a promise echoing in her mind,
"I'll be there. Tomorrow, I promise."
Today was tomorrow.
She told her parents she was heading to Mira's, brushed off their teasing about "finally taking a break from school stress," and called a cab.
On the way, she stopped by Mira's favorite convenience store. Strawberry milk, spicy chin-chin, caramel wafers. Things that Mira claimed could "fix heartbreak, migraines, and bad grades in one go."
Jace held the bag tightly on her lap the whole ride.
Mira lived on the quieter side of town, in a small bungalow tucked behind rows of flowering trees. Her mom opened the door with a warm smile.
"She's been waiting for you," she said, stepping aside. "Still a bit sick, but stubborn as always."
Jace smiled politely, heart thudding, and stepped inside.
Mira was curled up in bed, wrapped in two blankets and a pink bonnet sliding off her curls. She looked up and immediately lit up.
"Finally! My favorite girl is here."
Jace laughed softly, walking over and holding up the snack bag. "Came bearing gifts."
Mira gasped. "Strawberry milk? You do love me."
They settled in, Mira leaning on her pillows, Jace sitting cross-legged at the edge of the bed like they always used to during sleepovers. It almost felt normal. Almost.
"How're you feeling now?" Jace asked.
"Weirdly better today," Mira said. "Still tired. But better since I knew you were coming."
Jace looked down, smiling faintly. "Glad."
They talked for a while about random things, class gossip, a lecturer who wore the same tie every Monday, and a girl who dyed her hair blue and almost got suspended for it.
Then Mira's voice dropped, playful. "By the way… there's someone I need you to meet."
Jace blinked. "Who?"
"Dave," Mira said, stretching out the name like it had weight. "You know him, right? Hot guy from business admin? One year above us?"
Jace knew him. Everyone did. Dave was tall, sharp-jawed, with a smirk that made girls blush in the hallway. She'd never spoken to him, but Mira was right—he was hot.
"Why?" Jace asked carefully.
Mira grinned. "Because you two would be so cute together. I told him about you last week."
Jace's stomach flipped. "You what?"
"I didn't say much," Mira laughed. "Just that you're smart, gorgeous, and deserve someone who doesn't make your heart do gymnastic backflips for no reason."
Jace forced a laugh. "Mira…"
"What? You've been so quiet lately. And don't even lie—I know you're lonely." Mira's voice softened. "Dave's been asking about you since first semester. You just never noticed."
Jace didn't know what to say. Not when her heart was already twisted in knots over someone she could never have.
"You're being too nice," she murmured.
"I just want you to be happy," Mira said. Then, like a casual afterthought: "Michael came over last night."
Jace's chest tightened.
"Oh?" she said, keeping her voice light.
Mira nodded, fiddling with the corner of her blanket. "Yeah. He brought me soup, stayed a while. Ended up sleeping over."
Jace's pulse thudded. "You guys…?"
Mira grinned and blushed, like it was some small, innocent secret. "Yeah. I mean—we've done it before. But last night felt different. I think it's because I was sick. He was just… sweet, you know?"
Jace nodded, lips pressed together so tightly they hurt.
"Like," Mira continued dreamily, "he held me the whole time. It wasn't just sex. It was—warm. Safe."
Jace smiled the way people do when they don't know how else to survive.
"That's nice."
She didn't say more. She couldn't. Because something inside her was slowly splintering.
The rest of the visit blurred. They watched half an episode of a k-drama. Mira made jokes. Jace laughed at the right moments.
But every word felt like it echoed through a cracked mirror.
When it was time to go, Mira hugged her tight. "Thanks for coming. I really missed you."
Jace hugged her back, arms trembling. "I missed you too."
Outside, the sky was darkening. Jace stood by the curb, phone in hand, calling another cab. But her chest was full of words she couldn't say.
She loved Mira.
She loved Michael.
And both of them were looking at her with unknowing eyes.
As if she wasn't unraveling from the inside out.
As if her smile wasn't stitched together with silence.
Jace climbed into the cab and gave the driver her address, barely hearing his reply. Her fingers trembled in her lap, still curled like they were holding something fragile—like Mira's secrets, like her own heart.
The city moved past the window in soft, blurred smears of light. She let her head rest against the glass, eyes unfocused.
Michael stayed the night.
He held her the whole time.
It wasn't just sex. It was warm. Safe.
The words looped in her head like a cruel lullaby.
She hadn't asked before. Maybe because some part of her didn't want to know.
Now she did.
And it hurt worse than she'd imagined.
She thought of the way Michael looked at her yesterday in the auditorium—serious, searching, like he was standing on a line he didn't know if he wanted to cross.
Then she thought of Alex.
Of how he'd said: "I can't stay if I'm the only one trying."
How many people was she quietly breaking?
The cab pulled up in front of her house. She thanked the driver, barely registering the words, and went inside.
Everything felt muted. Her parents were watching TV. Something loud and funny. Jace murmured a greeting and slipped past them like a shadow.
In her room, she sank onto the bed and let out a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding all day.
She didn't cry.
She didn't scream.
She just sat there, holding still, afraid that if she moved too much, all her truths might finally spill.
Michael was with Mira.
Mira was in love.
Alex was waiting for something she didn't know how to give.
And Jace—
Jace was alone with too many feelings and no place safe to put them.
Her phone buzzed. She didn't check it.
Not yet.
She lay back and stared at the ceiling, the same thought circling her over and over:
Something has to give.
And when it does...
She might not survive it.
Jace turned on her side, curling into herself beneath the quiet hum of her ceiling fan. Shadows danced along her walls, and the echo of Mira's voice—soft, casual, so full of trust, lingered in her ears.
"We had such a good time."
"He stayed the night."
"It felt perfect, you know?"
Jace bit her lip. Perfect. That word felt like a blade.
She hadn't asked for details. But Mira gave them anyway. The warmth in her voice, the way her eyes sparkled even through a sick haze—Jace could see it all.
Michael touching her. Holding her. Whispering things he never said to anyone else.
Jace's breath hitched.
She closed her eyes, and Michael's face bloomed in the dark.
The way he'd looked at her in the auditorium.
The pause before he'd said: "It felt like more."
The way he said her name like it meant something.
Her skin buzzed, shame and yearning crawling up her spine like static.
What would it feel like… if it were her?
If she were the one he stayed the night with?
If he kissed her slowly, without guilt—without the shadow of Mira between them?
If he whispered you're easy to talk to and meant you're the one I want?
Her body tensed, heart pounding in her throat. She squeezed her eyes shut, letting herself feel it for just a moment—the ache, the softness, the heat.
Her hand slipped beneath the blanket.
She shouldn't.
But her body moved on its own, chasing a fantasy she had no right to want.
It was Michael's name that echoed in her mind.
Not Mira's.
Not Alex's.
Michael.
When she finally stilled again, chest rising and falling in uneven breaths, the weight of everything crashed back in.
This wasn't love.
It was punishment.
And she didn't know how to make it stop.
She rolled over and stared at the ceiling, her body warm but her heart colder than ever.
Jace had always been the one people came to for comfort.
Now she was the girl who couldn't even trust her own feelings.
And the worst part?
Tomorrow, she'd have to look Mira in the eye
And pretend none of it ever happened