Chapter 44 What a loser
Chapter 44 What a loser
It has been weeks since Daphne saw Michael and she missed him
Michael stopped replying as quickly
Not intentionally and Daphne knew that.
But the gaps between their texts grew longer, and each one left a small bruise she tried not to acknowledge.
He was drowning in studio work, sketches, deadlines, critiques, the constant pressure to produce something worth the sleepless nights he kept stacking on top of each other.
Meanwhile, she was barely breathing beneath finance modules, business case studies, and one professor who believed “free time” was a myth.
They were still trying. They just… kept missing each other.
A week passed before she realized they hadn’t shared a meal together in days. She also realized she hadn’t heard his laugh in almost as long.
They were drifting apart and even if they both pretended not to notice, it was evident.
\~~~
Mia found her opening in that silence.
She appeared with the ease of someone who had been waiting to slip into a space that wasn’t hers.
“Michael, did you get the notes from last class?”
Her tone was light, almost airy.
Michael blinked up from his sketchbook. He looked exhausted.
“I… think so,” he said, rubbing the back of his neck.
“Here.” Mia placed a neatly formatted packet beside him. “Just in case.”
He hesitated. “You really didn’t have to.”
She smiled softly, the sweet smile that melted hearts and somehow made it look like she was doing him a favor simply by existing.
“I wanted to,” she said.
Sometimes she brought him paints she claimed she “accidentally bought two of.”
Sometimes she asked him to show her “just one sketch” and pretended she’d never seen talent like his.
Sometimes she sat nearby and made quiet comments that sounded helpful but settled just deep enough to stay.
She knew not to cross any line, she was just going to erase the space between them inch by inch.
Michael never flirted back. Daphne would have seen it instantly if he had.
He was kind, too kind for Mia's liking but he was so handsome and too tired to notice anyone hovering around him with practiced sweetness and butterflies throwing backflips in her stomach.
\~~~
Daphne tried not to think about any of it.
She had to drop a form off to Lila, a business–creative crossover requirement for a semester-long project. It was supposed to be simple: walk in, hand it over, walk out.
The art building always smelled like paint and wet clay. She never hated it before. Today it made her sick and she didn't know why.
She stepped inside the studio and the doors were opened. Voices drifted out.
She wasn’t looking for him. She wasn’t.
But she heard his laugh, it was soft as always, it felt too familiar.
She missed his voice so much that her stomach twisted.
Daphne took two steps forward and stopped in the doorway.
Michael sat on a low stool, sketchbook in hand, head bent.
Mia stood beside him, leaning just close enough to look like it was natural.
She laughed at something he said, it was a bright, chiming sound that carried.
Then she placed her hand lightly over his as if steadying herself from the joke.
Mia intentionally leaned into him with soft grace.
Michael didn’t move his hand. He didn’t even notice hers on top of his, he was flipping through his sketchbook, showing her something with quiet enthusiasm she hadn’t seen in weeks.
Daphne felt something cold slide down her spine.
Mia leaned in closer, too close that it made Daphne sick to her stomach. Micheal had never shared his art enthusiasm with her, he never told her he loved art and he had always been so reserved with her.
Daphne stepped back before either of them noticed her. Her breath caught in her throat, tight and sharp, and she turned away so quickly she nearly collided with the wall.
She didn’t even wait to think.
Her feet moved on instinct, out of the studio, down the hall, through the building’s front doors.
The air outside felt too warm, too heavy, pressing against her lungs.
She didn’t want to cry and she wasn’t crying.
She wasn’t even hurt, not really. A lie she had told herself.
She just didn’t understand why her chest felt like someone was pressing a thumb against it from the inside.
She walked faster, telling herself she had class. That she had work. That she didn’t have time for childish emotions when her schedule was already breaking her in half.
She didn’t look back.
\~~~
Inside, Mia continued laughing softly, her hand still warm on Michael’s.
Michael finally glanced up at her. “What’s funny?”
“Nothing,” she said, stepping back with a small, innocent shrug. “You just explain things in such a cute way.”
He blinked, confused. “Cute?”
She giggled. “Forget I said anything.”
But as he returned to his sketch, Mia lifted her eyes for one brief moment.
Her gaze flicked toward the hallway, exactly where Daphne had been standing.
Mia’s lips curved, just barely.
A faint grin, she knew Daphne stood at the doorway and she intentionally out did herself to get to Daphne. She chuckled while imagining the way Daphne had left abruptly.
Mia lowered her gaze again, the thin smile still
lingering as she whispered to herself, “ she doesn't even have the guts to confront her love interest. What a loser!”