Mia folded her arms, a slow, satisfied smile spreading across her face as she glanced at Laura. "Tell them, Laura."
The entire table fell silent. Laura looked uncomfortable, her fingers twisting anxiously around the fabric of her gown. For the briefest moment, I almost felt sorry for her, almost.
Mia leaned in and gave her a gentle nudge. "Go on."
Laura swallowed hard. It looked as though every word she wanted to say was lodged painfully in her throat. When she finally lifted her head, she looked directly at me, her eyes filled with a mixture of hurt, jealousy, and quiet defeat.
"You know what the worst part is?"
For a moment, I stared at her. I blinked, then sighed, not wanting a scene in front of the professors. "What?"
A tear slipped down her cheek. She let out a broken laugh, and when she finally spoke, her voice trembled with raw heartbreak.
"You don't even try."
The room fell silent. A puzzled frown creased my forehead as I stared at her in confusion. "What does that mean?"
"It means..." Her voice wavered. "You walk into a room, and people choose you."
Her trembling gaze shifted to Noah. "Some of us spend months hoping someone will notice us."
Then it moved to Christopher. "Some of us spend years."
Finally, her eyes settled on Alex. "And some people don't even realise they're doing it."
Alex's easy grin faded. The usual joke never came. No one laughed this time.
Laura drew a shaky breath, but her emotions were painfully beyond her control. Her voice shook as she struggled to steady herself.
"You have no idea what it's like," she whispered, her voice trembling. "Watching someone else get everything you want, everything you've spent years wishing for."
The words struck with a quiet force that hurt more than shouting ever could. I opened my mouth, searching for something to say. Then I closed it again because nothing came. For once, I didn't have a comeback. The pain written across Laura's face was too real.
Noah pushed back his chair and slowly rose to his feet. "Laura…"
"No." She shook her head and took a step back before Noah could say another word. Tears blurred her vision, but she stubbornly blinked them away. "No. Please... just let me finish."
Tears blurred Laura's vision, but she refused to look away. Her lips trembled as she struggled to say the words that had been trapped inside her for far too long.
"I..." Her voice broke. She drew a shaky breath, but her emotions were painfully beyond her control. "I liked you."
The words hit the room like lightning, shattering the silence. Noah went completely still. For the first time that evening, every trace of calm certainty vanished from his face.
Nobody moved or spoke. Even the orchestra, though it continued playing somewhere beyond the crowd, sounded impossibly far away. It was a beautiful song for a complete disaster, the melody only making the heartbreak unfold before us feel even more devastating.
Laura pressed her lips together, trying to smile through the tears that refused to stop falling. A hollow, humourless laugh escaped her, breaking halfway through. She wiped impatiently at the tears sliding down her cheeks and shook her head at herself.
"God..." she whispered. "I can't believe I actually said that out loud."
Another broken laugh escaped her. "That's so embarrassing."
Her eyes found Noah again, and the fragile smile on her face shattered. "And you never even looked at me."
The words lingered in the air long after she had finished speaking. The entire hall fell deathly quiet.
Noah's expression crumpled with quiet regret, genuine misery written plainly across his face. For a moment, no one knew what to say. "Laura..." he said softly. "I didn't know."
Laura let out a slow, trembling breath. A tear slipped free despite her best efforts to stop it. She gave a small, broken smile that couldn't hide the heartbreak in her eyes. "Exactly," she whispered. "You didn't know."
I looked directly at Mia. For the first time that evening, there wasn't an ounce of anger left inside me, only disappointment. Then I turned to Laura. "Listen to me carefully," I said, my voice calm but carrying effortlessly through the hall. It wasn't loud. It didn't need to be. The Grand Hall had become so quiet that every word reached every corner of the room.
"I never asked anyone to fall in love with me." I held her tear-filled gaze without flinching. "They came to me, asked for a chance, and I chose to give them one. That doesn't make me a thief. It doesn't make me responsible for the choices they make, and it certainly doesn't make me responsible for how they feel."
My gaze drifted briefly to Christopher, then Noah, then Alex before returning to Laura. "I don't owe anyone validation, and I don't owe anyone an apology for being chosen. Yes, three incredible men have told me how they feel and asked for the chance to prove that those feelings are real, and I've given each of them that opportunity."
I placed a hand lightly against my chest. "But a chance is not a promise." A faint, painful smile touched my lips. "Because in the end, there is only one heart that matters in this decision. My heart." I looked at Christopher, then Noah, then Alex. "And no matter how many people stand before me, only one person will ever be able to take it. Only one person will ever walk away with it."
Silence settled over the Grand Hall. A long, aching silence. No one applauded. No one interrupted. Even Mia, for once, had nothing to say. Around us, hundreds of students remained frozen, their eyes fixed on our table. The elegant melody felt strangely disconnected from the heartbreak unfolding before it.
Across the table, Alex slowly leaned back in his chair and looked around at every miserable face surrounding him. Laura stood there fighting tears she could no longer hide. Noah looked utterly devastated, his eyes never leaving her. Christopher's jaw was set so tightly it looked painful, his hands curled into fists at his sides. As for me, I suddenly felt emotionally exhausted. The weight of everyone's feelings seemed to settle squarely on my shoulders.
Alex dragged both hands slowly over his face and let out a long breath. "You know what?"
Every eye turned towards him. Nobody answered.
Mia folded her arms and snapped. "What now?"
He looked at Laura. "She's crying and heartbroken."
Then he looked at Noah. "He's miserable, and he's blaming himself."
His gaze shifted to me. "She's blaming herself for something that was never her fault."
Finally, he looked at Christopher. "And he's trying so hard to keep everything together that I honestly don't know how much longer he's going to manage it."
Alex lowered his head for a moment before shaking it slowly. "Nope."
He looked around the table again. "I hate this."
There wasn't the slightest trace of humour in his voice, only guilt or sadness, and helplessness.
For a brief moment, nobody argued with him. Because every single person at that table knew he was telling the truth. Then Mia folded her arms across her chest.
"Oh, spare me," she said coldly. "You all keep talking as though Felicity is the victim."
The tension snapped. The spell was broken. Several nearby students were watching now and exchanged uneasy glances before the whispers began to spread from one table to the next.
A first-year student leaned towards his friend. "Oh my goodness... It's them."
"I knew it wasn't over," another student whispered.
A girl from the next table stared openly at us. "Isn't that the girl and the three guys everyone's been talking about?"
A boy craned his neck for a better look. "They're still arguing."
Another student's eyes widened as he pointed discreetly across the hall. "Look at Christopher."
"No," his friend murmured, shaking her head. "Look at Noah."
A third student let out a quiet gasp. "Forget them. Look at Alex. Even he stopped joking."