Ariana's pov
The moment he left my room ,I kept staring at the door he'd just closed, my heart somewhere between anger and heartbreak. For a long time, I just sat there, feeling the silence echo. I wanted to scream, cry, throw something—anything—to drown out the noise in my head.
Instead, I took a deep breath and told myself not to cry. Not again.
I'd already wasted enough tears on this whole situation. On what we were. Or what we could never be.
Before he showed up, I'd been curled on my bed, my phone in my hand, scrolling through search results I didn't even want to read.
When does a baby bump start to show?
The words looked unreal on the glowing screen. Each article said something different—some claimed six weeks, some said three months. I didn't care about statistics. I just wanted to know when my secret would stop being invisible.
My stomach knotted as I turned off my phone, A "master plan." That's what I told myself I was working on. A plan to disappear, to make sense of this chaos, to take control of a life that had never really been mine. But of course, Elias had to show up and ruin the one moment I was starting to feel like I could think.
I pressed a hand against my chest and whispered to no one, "You don't get to cry."
The quiet swallowed my voice.
I reached for my phone, hoping for a distraction—anything. That's when I saw it.
A message from Harper.
Just seeing her name made my heart leap. Harper. My best friend since high school. The one person who knew me better than I knew myself. She'd been gone for two weeks on a family vacation, and the silence without her had been unbearable.
Her message popped up, loud and ridiculous as always:
Harper: Hey pookie wookie cookie pie
Guess who's back!!!
I actually laughed. A small, shaky laugh that felt strange after hours of holding in tears. Harper had this way of pulling me out of my darkness with a single word—or in this case, a very stupid nickname.
I didn't even bother to reply. I hit call.
She answered almost instantly. "Oh my God! Riri!" Her voice came through bright and familiar. "You sound like a ghost. What happened to you?"
I smiled despite myself. "You mean what happened to my voice?"
"No, I mean what happened to your soul," she said dramatically. "You sound like you've seen things."
I chuckled weakly. "I have."
She gasped. "Is it your parents again? Or—wait." Her tone shifted, playful and sharp. "Don't tell me it's about him."
I groaned. "Harper—"
"Oh, it is!" she squealed. "Riri, I leave for two weeks and suddenly you're acting like a tragic heroine. What did Elias do? Blink too slowly? Look at you too hard?"
"Stop," I said, but I was smiling now, even if it hurt a little.
Harper laughed, then softened her tone. "Okay, okay, I'll behave. But you sound… I don't know. Not like you."
I stared at the ceiling. "I don't feel like me."
She was quiet for a moment. "You want to talk about it?"
"I don't know where to start."
"Start anywhere," she said. "I've got time."
I hesitated, twisting the edge of my blanket between my fingers. "Everything's just been heavy lately. My parents, the house, the pressure to be perfect… and then Elias…"
Her voice dropped. "What about him?"
My throat tightened. "He came to my room tonight."
"Oh." Harper's voice was cautious now. "And?"
"And it was messy," I whispered. "He apologized for… that night. I thought I was fine. I thought I'd moved past it, but the moment I saw him, it all came back."
"Do you still like him?"
The question was so simple, but it hit too deep. "Yeah," I admitted. "But liking him doesn't fix anything right now.
Harper sighed on the other end. "Riri, I wish I could hug you right now."
I blinked hard, swallowing the lump in my throat. "You'd probably slap me first."
"I'd slap him," she corrected. "Then I'd hug you."
That made me laugh again—softly this time. "I missed you, Harp."
"I missed you too, idiot," she said warmly. "I tried calling a few times, but we were on a cruise with zero signal. You'd have loved it. The sunsets were ridiculous."
"I don't think I'd have enjoyed anything lately," I admitted.
"Then you definitely need a change of scenery," she said quickly. "Come stay with me for a bit. My parents are gone for the weekend. We'll watch bad movies, eat too much chocolate, and pretend life doesn't exist."
I hesitated. "I don't know if I can."
"Then that's exactly why you should," Harper said. "When's the last time you did something for you?"
I smiled faintly. "Probably before I was born."
"Exactly," she said. "You need to breathe, Riri. You don't have to tell me what's wrong right now, but promise you won't keep it all bottled up. It's okay to not be okay, you know?"
"I'll think about it," I said quietly.
"Good."
There was a pause, then she said in a lighter tone, "Remember that time you told my mom I was 'studying at your place' but I was actually hiding in your closet because I failed chemistry?"
I burst out laughing. "She nearly called the police!"
"I panicked!" Harper said, giggling. "I thought she'd figure it out, but you just smiled and offered her cookies like the perfect little angel you are."
"Yeah, and you sneezed in the middle of it."
"Oh my God, don't remind me!" she laughed harder. "I swear, we were the worst liars."
For the first time in what felt like forever, the laughter didn't hurt. It just felt good—pure, easy, real.
When the laughter faded, I could hear Harper yawn. "Alright, pookie, I need to sleep before my brain melts. But listen—whatever's going on, you're not alone, okay?"
I nodded, even though she couldn't see me. "Okay."
"And Riri?"
"Yeah?"
Her voice softened. "You've got a good heart. Don't let anyone make you feel like it's a weakness."
Something in my chest loosened at her words. "Thank you," I whispered.
"That's what best friends are for," she said brightly. "Now go to bed before you overthink yourself into another dimension."
I smiled. "Goodnight, Harper."
"Goodnight, cookie pie. And text me tomorrow, or I'm calling the cops for a wellness check."
The call ended.
I set my phone down beside me and stared at the ceiling till dawn