Eliot never thought he'd be the kind of guy people filmed from behind coffee shop windows like he was stepping into the Hunger Games. But there he was, pushing open the door to the campus café, every nerve in his body screaming for him to run the other direction.
Too late for that now.
Inside:• Zoe — standing, jaw clenched, the kind of steady you only get when you're close to breaking.• Dahlia — quiet, dangerous, like a page mid-sentence about to cut deep.• Rina — coiled energy, the human form of a thrown punch, daring someone to swing first.
Scarlett wasn't even here yet, and it already felt like the final boss battle of a video game he'd accidentally walked into without upgrading his armor.
And all of them were staring at him now.
The livestreams were already rolling. Someone in the corner whispered, "It's him. Main Character energy. Oh my God."
Eliot ignored it.
He walked straight into the middle of the wreckage, like someone stepping into the eye of a hurricane not because they're brave, but because standing outside was somehow worse.
"Alright," he said, voice steady, heart not. "This has gotten out of hand."
Rina raised an eyebrow. "Oh look. The protagonist speaks."
"Don't," he shot back, sharper than he meant, "do that. Not right now."
Silence.
He looked at Zoe first. Her eyes met his, and they were tired, but still hopeful. Hopeful and afraid, which might've been worse.
Then Dahlia. Soft on the outside, steel underneath. She wouldn't say it, but he could feel how much it cost her to even be sitting here.
Finally, Rina. Fierce, defensive, ready to bite before she could break.
Eliot took a breath.
"I didn't ask for this," he said. "I didn't ask for hashtags or trending or the whole freaking internet to treat my life like some interactive choose-your-own-ending."
Someone outside cheered softly. He ignored it.
"But I let it happen anyway. I didn't say anything, because I thought—maybe if I kept waiting, it'd sort itself out. It didn't."
Another breath. Harder this time.
"I care about all of you," he admitted, chest aching. "But not the same way. And it's not fair to pretend otherwise just because I didn't want to hurt anyone."
Zoe looked like she wanted to cry, or maybe hit him, or maybe both. Dahlia was staring at her notebook like she could write herself into another universe entirely. Rina crossed her arms but didn't say a word. For once, even she was too stunned to come out swinging.
"I'm choosing," Eliot said finally. "Not because of the polls. Not because of the drama. Because I'm done letting everyone else decide what I want."
Silence.
Heavy. Breathless.
Rina broke it first, her voice softer than anyone expected. "Who is it?"
Eliot's heart hammered so loud he thought they might all hear it.
"I—"
The door opened again. A gust of warm air.
Scarlett. Late. Perfect. Dressed like she'd walked out of someone's Pinterest board, sunglasses perched on her head like a crown she didn't remember stealing.
She looked at all of them. Looked at him.
And smiled, sharp as ever. "Did I miss the fireworks?"
No one moved.
No one spoke.
Eliot exhaled. "No. You're just in time."
And somewhere, the internet exploded again.