"Well, look at this cosy little family dinner," Mia said loudly, making sure her voice carried above the orchestra and reached the surrounding tables.
The conversation around us began to quiet down as several nearby tables immediately fell silent. Heads turned, forks paused halfway to mouths, and a few nearby students turned to watch. I slowly set down my fork and looked up at her.
Mia's glare locked onto me, her eyes burning with irritation before drifting to Christopher sitting beside me. "Felicity, you really can't keep your hands off anyone, can you?" she asked sweetly. "You already have the most popular guy in Oxford sitting on your right, but you still have to sit close enough to steal another girl's man on your left?"
A ripple of whispers spread through the room. I carefully placed my fork on my plate and dabbed the corner of my mouth with my napkin before looking up at her.
"That's a very serious accusation, Mia."
Her smile widened. "Is it?"
"Yes," I said calmly. "Especially since Noah isn't anyone's man."
A few students at the surrounding tables exchanged glances. Mia's smile faltered.
I continued before she could interrupt. "And as for Christopher..." I glanced at him briefly before looking back at her. "The only person in this room who spends every waking moment thinking about him is you."
A couple of students choked on their drinks.
Mia's face instantly darkened. "Excuse me?"
"You heard me." I offered her a polite smile. "At this point, I'm honestly surprised you don't have his schedule memorised."
Alex nearly spat out his water. Noah looked down at his plate, clearly hiding a smile. Even Christopher's lips twitched in amusement. Mia looked like she wanted the floor to open up and swallow her.
Mia let out a short, bitter laugh, adjusting the strap of her expensive designer bag with a white-knuckled grip. "Funny. Coming from the girl collecting boys like loyalty cards. You're awfully confident for someone who steals things that don't belong to her."
"Careful, Mia," I added sweetly, leaning back in my chair with effortless elegance. "The more attention you give Christopher, the more obvious you're making it for everyone else."
"Excuse me?" Mia hissed, her voice dropping into a dangerous, defensive tremor as her eyes narrowed and her jaw tightened. "What exactly is that supposed to mean?"
"Did I mumble?" I raised an eyebrow, my smile never wavering as I met her furious green eyes with absolute, unbothered calm and without the slightest hint of concern. I tilted my head, looking at her and then gesturing faintly toward Laura. "Enlighten me, Mia. Since when did Christopher become your personal property? Last I checked, he was perfectly capable of deciding who he sits with. So tell me, what exactly do you mean? Because, frankly, you're acting as though you get to decide who belongs with whom, and your target audience is getting confused."
A sharp gasp rippled through the nearby tables, and for a heartbeat, the room fell completely silent. Several students stared in stunned disbelief, Penelope nearly fell out of her chair laughing, and Mia looked ready to commit a crime.
Laura suddenly took a hesitant step forward. For the first time since she had approached our table, she wasn't looking at Noah. She was looking at me. The anger in her eyes hadn't disappeared, but something else had taken its place. Something heavier. Something that looked painfully close to heartbreak.
"Maybe..." she said quietly, her voice barely rising above the orchestra. "Maybe she's right."
The laughter around our table faded almost instantly. Conversations at the surrounding tables slowed to a stop. One by one, curious faces turned in our direction. Everyone looked at Laura. Students who knew her and those who didn't were equally drawn to the unfolding scene. Laura swallowed hard. When she spoke again, her voice trembled as her eyes locked onto mine.
"You always get everything."
For a moment, I thought I had misheard her. I blinked in disbelief. "What?"
"It's not just an arrangement to me anymore, Felicity!" Laura snapped, her voice rising so loudly that Christopher and Alex both sat up straighter. "Noah told me we were only pretending to make you jealous. But seeing him sit next to you... looking at you like you're the only girl in this hall..." Her voice cracked as tears filled her eyes. "It hurts."
I froze, my fork stopping halfway to my mouth before I slowly rose to my feet, my gaze shifting between Laura and Noah. Then it all clicked. The realisation hit me like a wave of icy water. Laura wasn't just playing a part anymore. Somewhere along the way, she had genuinely fallen in love with Noah, and now she was terrified he was slipping away from her. And Mia... Mia had seen it. She was using every single piece of Laura's real heartbreak to get closer to Christopher and destroy my night in front of the entire university.
Laura drew in a shaky breath, but it did nothing to steady her. Her fingers curled so tightly into the fabric of her gown that her knuckles turned pale. When she finally looked at me, her eyes were already glistening. She blinked rapidly, fighting the tears she refused to let fall, but her chin trembled anyway. Then she let out a laugh that sounded as though it hurt, her voice shaking as she spoke.
"Christopher loves you."
She pointed at Noah. "Noah loves you."
Then her eyes settled on Alex. Her lips quivered into a brittle smile. "And somehow... even him. He loves you too."
Alex instinctively raised a hand. "To be fair, I'm ridiculously charming."
Nobody paid attention to him or laughed. His hand slowly dropped back onto the table. For once, even Alex had nothing else to say.
Laura drew a shaky breath."Do you even know what it's like?" she whispered. "Watching people choose someone else over you... over and over again?"
The room became uncomfortably quiet. The orchestra continued playing in the distance, yet somehow, the music felt miles away. Around our table, it was as though someone had stolen every sound. Even the clink of silverware disappeared. Dozens of students stared openly, forgotten glasses suspended halfway to their lips. No one answered, not because they didn't want to, but because they couldn't. No one wanted to be the first to break the silence.
Noah slowly pushed back his chair and stood. The sharp scrape echoed across the polished floor of the Grand Hall, making several nearby students flinch as silence settled over them. His expression had lost every trace of its usual calm.
"Laura." His voice was gentle, almost pleading.
She turned to look at him, and for a fleeting moment, hope flickered across her face. It vanished just as quickly.
"What?" she asked, her voice barely above a whisper.
Noah held her gaze. "What are you saying? This isn't you."
A tear slipped down her cheek before she could stop it.
"Please," he said quietly. "Leave Felicity out of this."
That only made things worse. The words landed harder than anyone expected. I watched Laura's expression crumble. For a fleeting moment, she looked hurt. The hope disappeared, but the hurt remained before hardening into something far more dangerous. Very angry. She laughed bitterly. It wasn't loud or happy. It was the kind of laugh that came from someone trying very hard not to cry.
"Oh..." she whispered, her eyes never leaving Noah. "Of course. Defend her."
The silence that followed felt heavier than anything the orchestra could drown out.
Noah frowned, the concern in his eyes unmistakable. He shook his head slightly, as though searching for the right words.
"That's not what this is."
Laura's lips trembled as she stared back at him, hurt flashing across her face before giving way to frustration.
"Then what is it?" she demanded, her voice cracking with heartbreak.
Christopher pushed back his chair and rose to his feet with controlled precision. He didn't raise his voice. He didn't need to. His gaze swept across the table before a single word left his mouth, his voice cutting cleanly through the room.
"Enough."
A flicker of satisfaction crossed Mia's face, as though this was exactly the outcome she had been hoping for.
Christopher's attention never wavered from Laura. There was no anger in his expression, only quiet certainty.
"This isn't Felicity's fault."
Laura let out another hollow laugh, shaking her head as tears gathered in her eyes.
"Funny," she whispered bitterly. "Everything always seems to work out for her."
Alex glanced around the table, his usual grin fading as he took in the shattered expressions, the tears, and the suffocating silence hanging over everyone. He let out a dramatic sigh and ran a hand through his hair.
"Well," he muttered, forcing a crooked smile. "This dinner has officially turned into a group therapy session, and honestly, it sucks."
The joke landed with a deafening silence. Not a single person smiled. Alex looked from Noah to Laura, then to Christopher and me. The last trace of humour slipped from his face.
"Right," he murmured under his breath. "That's... somehow even worse."