Lily'sPOV
The world loved me.
Or at least, that's what it looked like from the outside.
Perfect grades I didn't earn.
Perfect friends I didn't trust.
A perfect smile I wore like armor.
I was everything they envied—
money, power, beauty, influence.
And none of it ever felt like mine.
They followed me through halls like shadows, echoing my every move.
Boys worshipped me.
Girls wanted to be me.
Teachers gave me passes I didn't ask for.
But behind every compliment was a scream no one could hear.
Because when you're on top, no one asks if you're okay.
They just watch to see if you'll fall.
I didn't believe in love.
I believed in control.
And I knew what boys wanted—
how easily they fell when you smiled just right
or touched their arm like a promise.
It was fun.
Dangerous.
Addicting.
Breaking hearts made me feel powerful in a world that kept trying to break mine.
Then he showed up.
Ace Adams.
Quiet. Poor. Brilliant.
He walked like he didn't belong,
spoke like every word had weight,
and looked at me like I was real.
And I hated that.
He didn't chase me like the others.
Didn't laugh at my jokes
or worship the ground I walked on.
He just... saw me.
And that made him a threat.
So I pulled him close.
Not because I wanted him,
but because I needed to remind myself that I could still make someone fall.
That I could still shatter something beautiful.
And he was beautiful in all the wrong ways.
I smiled at him in class.
Sat beside him during lunch.
Gave him little pieces of attention like breadcrumbs—
just enough to keep him hoping.
And when I saw the way his eyes softened—
when he started to believe—
I knew I had him.
I was the sun in his story.
But he didn't know the sun burns everything it touches.
And I was ready to set him on fire.