After He Cheated

After dating my best friend's brother in secret for a year, I was finally ready to go public on his birthday.

The day before his birthday, I went with my best friend to deliver lunch to him.

But the moment we got there, I saw him holding hands with the campus belle. I clenched my fists.

"My brother's got game, huh? Snagged the campus queen just like that," my best friend said.

I forced a bitter smile. "Hubert and his girlfriend do make a great couple."

1

When Jace Ashton, my bestie, and I reached Hubert Ashton's lab, the latter just happened to walk out.

Leaning casually against the wall, he lit a cigarette and stared at his phone.

My phone buzzed in my pocket. I glanced down. A text from him, "Just finished my experiment."

Looking at how tired he looked, my heart ached.

Graduation was coming up, and the pressure of his thesis had been intense.

I was relieved to see him taking a break-I didn't want to disturb his studies more than necessary.

Clutching the lunchbox in my hands, I was about to go over when Jace yanked me behind a tree.

The lab door opened, and Rosanna Carter-the campus belle-walked out and straight toward Hubert.

She was wearing a white pleated skirt and gave him a sweet, tilted-head smile.

Jace shook my arm wildly, exclaiming, "Aaaaah, Valerie, are they... like, a thing?"

No, they weren't. Because the one who was with him... was me.

Hubert and I had been together for a year.

A secret relationship, sure-but he treated me well. Things had been getting serious.

I repeated that to myself like a prayer.

And then... he stubbed out his cigarette the moment Rosanna showed up.

He had been a smoker for years.

I had begged him to quit for his health, whining and coaxing, but he never budged.

He knew how much I hated the smell of smoke and never even tried to hide it from me.

But now, in front of Rosanna, he put it out instantly.

She gave him a playful smack, and he held her hand, fingers interlocked.

2

I suddenly lost the courage to go forward.

But Jace, oblivious, dragged me out from behind the tree.

"Wow, Hubert! Hiding a relationship from us, huh?" she said.

His face froze for a split second when he saw us, but then shifted to annoyance.

"Why didn't you say you were coming?"

He didn't let go of Rosanna's hand. In fact, he held it tighter.

"Well, Valerie's mom made something good and insisted we bring it to you," Jace said.

Hubert looked down at the lunchbox in my hands, and suddenly, it felt like it was burning.

It wasn't my mom's cooking. I had spent the whole afternoon in the kitchen making it myself.

I had never cooked a single meal in my life, and now my fingers were still bandaged from the effort.

I had lied and said it was my mom's so Jace wouldn't get suspicious.

Rosanna nestled against Hubert's chest and said sweetly, "But Hubert and I already made plans to go out for buffalo wings tonight."

I loved buffalo wings-fiery, saucy, and burning with heat.

But Hubert couldn't handle spicy food. To suit his taste, we always ordered the blandest dishes whenever we ate out.

Even the lunch I made today was just plain baked salmon-nothing spicy.

He pressed his lips together, silent. The moment grew awkward.

Jace quickly jumped in to ease the tension, "It's fine, you two go ahead. I'll eat the lunch!"

"So... how long have you two been together?" she added curiously.

Rosanna ducked shyly behind him as she replied, "Just about a month."

So I had been kept in the dark for a whole month.

Jace turned to me in surprise, "He's really something-bagged the campus belle just like that!"

Rosanna waved her hands. "He actually chased me for almost a year..."

Almost a year? It had been a year since he took my hand after his last birthday and, blushing, asked, "Wanna give this a shot?"

Over that year, I stayed up late helping him study, spent nights talking with him until dawn on the phone.

He took me to a concert and smiled as he said he would propose to me in a place like that one day.

While I was lost in dreams of a future with him, he was getting cozy with Rosanna behind my back.

All those nights when he said goodnight and told me he was sleepy... was he actually busy coaxing her to sleep?

I stood there dazed, as Jace cheerfully shook my arm. "Hubert's really killing it!"

My mind was a mess. I could barely hear my own trembling voice, "Yeah... Hubert and his girlfriend really are a perfect match."

The two of them stood side by side-top student and campus queen. Much more of a match than he and I had ever been.

They laughed and chatted while Hubert occasionally chimed in, all doting attention directed at Rosanna.

"Be nice-don't scare Rosanna," he said.

"Don't tell her all my embarrassing stories from when I was a kid," he said.

"Are you hungry? Want me to take you to eat first?" he said.

...

I couldn't hear anything anymore. In a haze, Jace pulled me away.

Behind us, the couple kept flirting.

"You promised to quit smoking and still sneak one in? I'm ignoring you," Rosanna said.

"My bad, my bad-I just couldn't help it. I swear I'll quit for good now," Hubert promised.

So it was not that he couldn't quit smoking..

He just didn't want to quit for someone he didn't love.

3

The next day was Hubert's birthday.

We had originally planned to go public with our relationship at his birthday party-tell his friends and family everything.

When we first started dating, it was his idea to keep it a secret.

"Our families are too close, and you're so tight with my sister. It'd just be weird if people knew," he said.

I believed him. So I agreed to wait until things were stable between us before going public.

About a month ago, I had looked at him with anticipation and said, "Your birthday's coming up. Let's make it official then."

He smiled, patting my head, and agreed.

Then... he got busy, buried in lab work.

He barely texting except for the occasional "Good morning" and "Good night."

With dark circles under my eyes after a sleepless night, I looked at the gift I had spent so long preparing.

It was a game console I had bought with money from my part-time jobs.

He loved gaming. I thought maybe, once this busy stretch passed, we could play together.

It looked like that wasn't going to happen anymore.

I flopped face-first onto my pillow.

Then my phone rang. It was Hubert.

His first call to me since yesterday afternoon.

"Are you coming to my birthday dinner tonight?" he asked.

I gave a bitter little laugh. "What do you think?"

There was a long silence. Then, finally, he spoke-soft, careful, "Valerie, I do want you to come. I mean... in my heart, you and Jace are the same. You're both my sisters."

A whole year of dating, and all I got in the end... was "sister."

He didn't really call to invite me.

He called to inform me that we were done.

Or maybe we were never even real.

Honestly, I kind of admired how smart he was about it. As long as no one ever knew about us, breaking up was easy.

Like now. Not even a proper goodbye.

What a joke.

I forced a light tone into my voice. "Sure, I'll be there."

"Rosanna will be there too, so you..."

"I know. Don't worry. I won't say a thing."

He exhaled with relief on the other end of the line-like he had finally gotten something off his chest.

I didn't understand how someone who called me baby just two days ago could now treat me like a burden.

I sighed, picked up the carefully wrapped gift box, and put on some makeup before heading out the door.

4

The party was at a hotel near campus. Tons of his classmates and friends were there.

I didn't recognize a single one of them. He had never introduced me to any of them.

But Rosanna knew them all well. They joked with her, calling her "Mrs. Ashton" like it was already official.

From the bits of conversation I caught, I pieced together their love story.

Apparently, Hubert had liked her for a long time.

But she was always so cold and hard to approach. He never had the chance to get close.

Until almost a year ago, when they ended up under the same professor for a research project. That was when they started to grow closer.

Rosanna blushed as people teased them. Hubert stood beside her, smiling, shielding her from drinks being passed around.

It had been half an hour since I arrived.

He still hadn't looked at me once.

We had grown up together. He knew me well that I wasn't the type to make a scene and embarrass him in public.

And he was right. What could I say? That I had been his secret girlfriend for a year and got dumped for the campus belle? That wouldn't make me look good either.

Bitterness churned in my chest as I downed one cocktail after another. Jace tried to stop me, but I kept going.

By the time my brain turned to mush, she sighed and said, "Wait here. I'll run to the bathroom and take you home after."

She had barely left when I got up and walked out on my own.

I never imagined the day I looked forward to most would turn out to be this excruciating.

Right now, I didn't want to talk. I didn't want anyone around me.

Across the street was a busy wings joint packed with people. The last time I had been there was over a year ago.

Suddenly, I really wanted buffalo wings.

5

I steadied my spinning head and asked the server for a table.

The server gave me an apologetic smile. "Sorry, it's peak hours, and you're solo. Might be better to come back later."

I looked around-groups of friends, couples, clusters of people. Not a single other solo diner.

I stood out like a sore thumb.

Still, I hadn't eaten or drunk anything all day. I needed those wings.

At that moment, everything just felt wrong-boyfriend cheated on me, and now I couldn't even get a table for dinner.

What a cosmic joke.

Then I noticed a guy sitting alone at a small outdoor table.

He was eating slowly, deliberately.

The logo on the back of his black hoodie was from our school's law department.

Same school? Not bad. Maybe I could ask to share his table.

I steadied myself and, with the confidence that only alcohol can provide, walked over, leaned down, and asked, "Hey handsome, are you by yourself?"

The guy didn't even look up. "Not giving out my socials."

I waved my hands quickly. "No, not that. I'm alone too. The place is packed and they won't seat me-mind if I share your table?"

I added, "We're both from the same school, right? Don't worry, no matter how much you've eaten, I'll split the bill with you."

He finally looked up, eyeing me suspiciously.

That was when I really saw his face.

Yep. Definitely a hottie. And in our tech-heavy school, guys this good-looking were practically mythical.

With the alcohol in my system, he looked so good I nearly lost my balance and face-planted into the plate.

He caught my arm just in time.

One plate fell to the ground, but nothing else was harmed.

He glanced down at the spilled food and frowned. "You're paying for that."

I nodded quickly. "Totally fair."

I sat across from him and finally took a bite of those buffalo wings I hadn't had in forever, drenched in ranch and hot sauce. They were so good I almost cried.

In that moment, across the street, Hubert was probably happy too.

I sniffled and wiped my swollen eyes.

Who said only sneezes and secret glances would give you away when you liked someone?

Sometimes, it was tears you couldn't hold back.

I hadn't even swallowed the first bite before I started crying loudly.

The guy across from me stared, then silently slid a napkin across the table.

And that was how the meal went-me crying and stuffing wings in my mouth, and him quietly passing me napkins while dipping his fries in ketchup.