Love turned out to be a cheat.
Because when Love professed his feelings while already having a girlfriend, it didn't sit right with anyone. And honestly? Rightfully so.
But here's the thing—he never told anyone he had a girlfriend.
So suddenly, I was the problem.
I had seduced Love.
I had ruined someone else's relationship.
How could I? When my own best friend never told me the truth?
And because I was starving for Love's attention, I stayed friends with him. I convinced myself it was fine that my best friend stopped speaking to me.
It wasn't fine. But I pretended it was.
In my dumb defense, I tried—so many times over the years—to reach out to her. It never worked.
I think this was one of those moments when I knew, for sure, that I hate-hate love. And yet, the heart still wants what it cannot have. Right?
A long summer vacation and on-and-off texting, love and I ended up in the same college, which felt like the universe's worst joke.
This was the guy who cost me my high-school best friend.
The reason she never spoke to me again.
So when Love asked me
to meet him behind the bushes, in the first year of college
I remember thinking—
This must be love, right?
And this is how I lost whatever little self respect I had at the age of 16.