Winning My Ex-Crush

Fenella’s POV

End year of 12th grade…

Graduation is one step away! I still remember vividly the end-of-year dance party during 10th grade. The pattern hadn’t changed by the end-of-year party in 11th grade either.

Back then, I had deliberately gone home early with Laird. The dance party felt dull without him as my partner. Plus, Amy had insisted that I wear an ugly dress again, not wanting to be outdone by me.

Even now, Amy is still chasing after Laird. She tries various methods to win his attention. Amy seems relentless in her pursuit.Content rights by NôvelDr//ama.Org.

She began by attending all his classes, participating in the selection process for the baseball team’s assistant manager (though her lack of focus led to her rejection), and, in the most extreme case, taking over my role as the team leader for baseball games.

I somewhat understood Amy’s actions. She was driven by her own ego; she doesn’t even truly like him. She couldn’t accept the fact that Laird ignored her, feeling challenged instead.

If I were to be overconfident, I would claim her actions were solely intended to make me miserable. Actually, I was miserable because of everything Amy did. I often locked myself in my room, crying over how Amy and the other girls treated me in the dorm.

I had to keep quiet and let Amy do whatever she wanted to avoid triggering her anger. I knew if her pride was hurt, she would do something bad to bring me down. Plus, I still needed to join the cheerleading team, and Amy was the captain.

Our study group was still ongoing, but I quietly never copied assignments like Amy did. I chose to study diligently with Laird, Clark, and friends in class. After much consideration, I found it was more peaceful to earn grades through my own efforts rather than by cheating.

Even now, I can say I have a true friend besides Laird. Her name is Skye. We met in the same physics class the previous year. She’s a good person and fits well with my personality, so we got along easily. She was willing to be my friend despite other kids in school wrongly labeling me as equally annoying as Amy, simply because I lived in the same house as her.

Well, I couldn’t openly show my friendship with other kids besides Amy, Sophie, Nicole, and Meg. If I did, I was sure Amy would feel betrayed and bully Skye. So, I continued to pretend to be friendly with them and maintained a public distance from Skye. Fortunately, she understood.

Since the incident with Clark in 10th grade, I have consistently declined Amy and the girls’ invitations to hang out late on school nights. Only on weekends, when Amy pressed me, did I accept her invitations. I knew what Amy wanted-she needed rich and powerful kids to make our group seem exclusive.

For two years, I had been like a parasite living in the dorm. The dorm was just a bed, and I often asked the prefect for permission to stay in Skye’s room. Our school rules allowed staying overnight in a friend’s room once a week, with strict permission, of course.

To avoid Amy’s suspicion, I pretended that Skye was my mentor, using that as a reason to stay in her room. I had to give my assignments-completed through my own efforts-to Amy as if Skye had done them.

It wasn’t that I never tried to move to another dorm, but the school claimed there were no empty rooms in a private dorm like ours. Although I didn’t mind, my father refused to let me share a room in the regular building.

I also complained to the prefect, but she felt Amy’s attitude towards me was still acceptable-no violence, no bullying. There was no physical abuse or cursing, but they mocked me constantly.

My anxiety increased every time Amy boasted about being affectionate with Laird after class. I repeatedly asked him about Amy, and he only responded indifferently, but I remained anxious that he might eventually give in.

Honestly, I felt guilty for being jealous, even though Laird and I were just friends. Yes, we were still just friends. We had kept our distance for years because I knew Laird had family problems. He had said he couldn’t focus on anything other than academics, baseball, and his family.

But now he said the divorce process was complete. The asset division had been finalized, the firm split, and the custody of the Evans siblings was approved by the court to stay with Mr. Evans until they graduated from high school. Although technically, Lloyd and Laird didn’t live with their father daily because they resided in the school’s dorm.

At least his mental burden had decreased significantly. He should have enough space for other things now, right? Maybe he could start thinking about going to prom.

This year, being our final year of high school, made me particularly anxious about prom night next week. Of course, Amy wouldn’t want to lose to me.

***

“Oh God, your dress is so beautiful and elegant,” Sophie praised as she saw Amy try on her dress.

Amy boasted, “This white dress is exactly like Lucy Rander wore at the Met Gala last month.”

“Really? Lucy Rander from the Thrones Play series?!” Nicole grabbed her phone and searched for photos from last month’s Met Gala. “You’re right! Oh my God, how did you get the same dress?” She then cheered enthusiastically.

Meg, Sophie, and I immediately crowded around Nicole. I could see photos of the famous actress in the exact same dress that Amy is wearing now.

Honestly, I feel the dress is still more suitable for the actress than Amy. The dress should make the wearer look like a pure goddess, but when worn by Amy, well, her eyes look more evil. Of course, I can only comment on that in silence.

“I’m sure Laird will be very impressed with you, Amy,” Meg said.

The mention of Laird’s name instantly made me sit up, and my ears got bigger.

“Of course. I’ll make sure Laird will be my dance partner at prom night this year,” she said confidently, with her hands on her hips and a wide smile full of conviction. “I even signed up for the new special session this year.”

“Special session?” I asked, and my forehead wrinkled in confusion.

“Confessional Stage,” Amy explained.

“Oh! Don’t tell me you’re going to confess your love to Laird there! Oh, Amy, I’m so proud of you. I hope that you’ll succeed!” Sophie hugged Amy with excitement.

“Finally, you can achieve your happiness with Laird.” Nicole and Meg also hugged Amy’s shoulders.

While I stood awkwardly watching them. My mind was filled with the desire to say something rude. I mean, even if Amy declares her love to Laird a thousand times, he might not accept Amy’s feelings, right? His indifferent attitude until now proves it. So why are they so sure about his feelings?

“Fenella, you support Amy in confessing her love to Laird, right? Won’t it be so nice to see your two friends dating each other? Come on, don’t be shy; come here.”

Is she kidding me? I don’t know if Sophie said that consciously or drunk; I heard she often drinks alcohol outside the dorm. I glanced at Amy. She tilted her head as if questioning my attitude.

If I make a mistake, I will undoubtedly face bullying once more this year. Who knows what she’ll do to ruin my prom night?

“I wish you all the best, Amy.” In the end, I hugged them, too. We hugged each other like toddler cartoon characters for a few moments.

“Okay, that’s enough.” We immediately dispersed as soon as Amy spoke with her typical annoyed tone.

***

“Confessional Stage? Yes, that’s the new special session introduced by this year’s committee chairman. They want to hold some kind of quiz show,” Skye explained while munching on corn chips.

Skye was one of the committee members this year, serving as the decoration team’s head. She oversees the junior teams that will produce the decorations. That’s why I stay at her dorm tonight.

“A quiz show?” I asked with a puzzled frown.

“Yes,” Skye nodded firmly.