Chapter 61 It’s Real Life Not A Movie
Mia’s POV
I didn’t stop walking. My chest ached, every step pulling me farther away from the boy I used to imagine a future with. The boy who made the world feel a little less cruel if only for a while. But that version of Liam didn’t exist anymore. Maybe he never had.
Still, I felt it the moment his eyes found me. Like a sudden shift in the air, a pressure behind my ribs, a ghost of something that used to feel like hope. But I kept my gaze forward, my spine straight, my face unreadable. Because if I so much as blinked, the tears would follow. And I had promised myself no more crying for people who wouldn’t fight for me.
My hands trembled against the spine of my books as I walked, my breath uneven. But in my mind, I whispered the same words I had been chanting for months now: You’ve had worse. You’ve survived worse. And you will get through this too.
This was just another heartbreak in a long list of things I had to carry. I had endured being left behind by my mother. I had survived losing my best friends, my home, my father. And now, I would survive Liam Alcaraz too.
All I needed to do was fade into the background. Stay quiet. Keep my head down. Graduate. Get out. I would do that. Because Liam was never meant to be mine and maybe he never even tried to be.
The classroom buzzed with low chatter as students settled into their seats, the windows cracked open to let in the scent of the approaching rain. I chose a seat at the back, like always close enough to hear the lecture, far enough to be ignored. I kept my head low, my books stacked neatly in front of me like a wall.
But quiet never lasted long when Chloe was in the room.
“Wow, Mia,” Chloe said loudly as she dropped into the seat in front of me, her smile sweet but her words dripping with cruelty. “Didn’t think you’d actually show up today. I figured you’d be too devastated to even get out of bed. Or did you finally realize Liam was only messing around with you for entertainment?”
Laughter broke out. Trish and Kim exchanged smirks, and Belle avoided my gaze completely, twisting her pen like it might save her from the guilt.
I didn’t respond at all, but Chloe still kept going.
“Poor thing,” she continued with a pout. “She really thought the Alcaraz heir would choose her over a real heiress. That’s so romantic comedy of you, Mia. Except, surprise! This isn’t a movie. It’s real life.”
The laughter grew louder, bouncing off the walls, pressing into my skin like needles. My fingers clenched the edge of my notebook. My throat tightened. But still I said nothing. I had learned long ago that silence was easier than begging to be treated like a person.
Until Daniel slammed his pen down.
“Enough.”
The room fell quiet at once. All heads turned.
Daniel stood, his jaw tight, eyes burning. “What the hell is wrong with you?” he said to Chloe, voice low and dangerous. “You think you’re better than her because your dad bought you a car and your mom lets you max out credit cards? That’s not class. That’s privilege.”
“Daniel” Chloe started.
“No. You don’t get to humiliate someone just because you’re insecure. Mia didn’t do anything to you. And even if she did fall for Liam, so what? She had the guts to feel something. To love someone. And that’s more than I can say for any of you.”
My eyes widened. The whole room went quiet.
But just when I thought it couldn’t get worse, the classroom door opened. Liam walked in, with Stacy right beside him.
Stacy looked beautiful and classy, smiling like she already belonged there. She held onto Liam’s arm like she had every right to. Her eyes moved around the classroom, then stopped on me.
The teacher smiled and spoke from behind the desk. “Ah, welcome, Miss Montemayor. I see you’ve already met some of your classmates. Please, take a seat anywhere.”
Stacy didn’t hesitate. She sat right beside Liam who hadn’t said a word, hadn’t even glanced at me.
And in that moment, I knew my heartbreak wasn’t over. It was only starting. Because the girl Liam was supposed to marry was now in my classroom, in my space, in my world.
And I had no choice but to survive it.
“Who was Mia in your life here at the Academy, Liam? I heard it before we got inside the classroom that she was in love with you? Is that true?” Stacy asked as if I has no right to love someone
“She was just a classmate, Stacy.” He coldly replied
“And why the girls made a big deal out of it?” She asked.
“You better listen to the teacher than continue talking nonsense.” He replied as he leaned in his seat.
It was, without a doubt, the most painful day of my life.
Worse than the day my mother left. Worse than the night I cried myself to sleep because no one remembered my birthday. Because this this was the day I realized I’d truly lost everything.
Liam Alcaraz, the boy I once believed was mine even just a little was now nothing but a shadow across the room. He didn’t look at me. Didn’t smile. Didn’t even flinch when our eyes almost met.
He was close enough to touch… but miles out of reach.
I sat frozen in my seat as the lesson dragged on, the teacher’s voice a muffled drone behind the pounding of my heart. My hands were cold. My vision blurred. Every second felt like I was being suffocated in plain sight.
I wanted to leave. To disappear. To pretend I wasn’t there.
But then my name was called.
“Mia?”
The teacher’s voice rang out, loud and clear, slicing through the fog in my mind.
I blinked. Everyone was staring.
“Mia, what’s the answer?”
I didn’t know the question. I hadn’t heard a word.
“I am sorry, what was the question again?” I asked softly, my voice barely audible. Laughter erupted, and
it was cruel. Like the whole classroom had been waiting for me to fall.
And then Liam stood up. Without hesitation. Without even looking at me.
He gave the correct answer with perfect calm, as if he was simply helping the class move on. But in doing so, he made me feel even smaller. Like I was helpless and pathetic.
The laughter grew louder, emboldened by his indifference.
I stared down at my desk, shame flooding my body like ice. The final bell rang, and like a flood, the classroom emptied.
Laughter echoed down the hallway, shoes squeaked against tile floors, and. Within seconds, the room was nearly silent except for the soft rustling of papers and the quiet clink of zippers.
Only I remained.
I moved slowly, carefully gathering my things like it required all the strength I had left. My hands trembled slightly as I slipped my notebooks into my worn out bag. The sleeve of my uniform brushed against my cheek, and I realized my tears were close.
But I didn’t let them fall, not here, and definitely not for him.
I straightened my back, forcing my breathing to slow. But my chest still ached, like my heart had been scraped raw and left to bruise in silence.
I hated how my mind still betrayed me how, even now, it played memories like a cruel movie reel I couldn’t shut off. His laugh. The way he used to look at me like I was the only one in the room. The warmth of his hand tangled with mine beneath the desk that day. The stolen kiss behind the library, soft and unsure… but real.
Or so I thought.
I had given him a piece of myself in that moment my first kiss, my first real flutter of hope and he had returned it with cruelty.
I blinked fast, jaw tightening. The lump in my throat was sharp and stubborn.
How stupid could you be, Mia? I hated myself for falling in love with someone who made me feel invisible now.
With one last deep breath, I slung my bag over my shoulder, chin lifted, expression blank. If he could forget so easily, then so would I.
Or at least, I’d learn how to pretend.