Chapter 25 The High School Crush

Chapter 25 The High School Crush
The song the sports rep had chosen was incredibly old, from an era where music videos were basically just a random assortment of chaotic, melodramatic clips.
With her vision entirely blocked, Ruth obviously had no idea that the girls in the room weren't just screaming because the male lead took his shirt off—they were screaming because the actor was currently one of the hottest trending idols in the country.
Instead, her mind was completely occupied by the low, rough voice echoing directly into her ear: "If you really want to look, your boyfriend can take his clothes off for you."
The sentence looped through her brain in 360-degree surround sound, entirely drowning out the sound of the sports rep singing.
Ruth physically ground her teeth together. This man can literally drop the most outrageously dirty lines without a single second of hesitation.
Feeling the cool press of his fingers against her eyelids, Ruth tried to blink her eyes open. She couldn't. Sensing her movement, Matthew instantly tightened his grip, pressing his hand down completely flat to ensure absolutely zero light leaked through.
"Don't move. He's still on screen..." Matthew sounded intensely annoyed, aggressively condemning the video. "Is this a literal softcore porn? Why the hell is he just standing there naked...?"
Ruth: Bullshit. You literally just said he was working out in a gym.
You literally just criticized his dumbbells two seconds ago, and now you're pretending he's just standing there naked? Your ability to aggressively rewrite reality is terrifying.
Ruth was completely speechless. Knowing the loud music in the karaoke room would drown out her voice, she tilted her head slightly. "Hey. Why exactly won't you let me look?"
"I'm not stopping you from looking..." Matthew smoothly dodged the question. "But... doesn't this guy look familiar? Is he that guy from the sports drink commercials? No wonder the girls in the class are losing their minds."
"Well, let me look at him and I'll tell you," Ruth countered. "I'd probably recognize him."
In reality, Ruth didn't care about celebrity culture at all. She rarely watched domestic idol dramas, preferring high-stakes foreign thrillers, so she was terrible at recognizing famous actors. She was purely saying it to test Matthew's reaction.
A heavy, three-second silence.
"No. Absolutely not." He rejected her without a shred of hesitation.
Ruth: "..."
She genuinely didn't understand. Even if the guy on screen was gorgeous and had a great body... Matthew possessed a flawless face and a waist so lethal it literally dominated the campus forum. Was he actually insecure?
"Classmate Lynes, tell the truth." Realizing he might actually be jealous, Ruth suddenly wanted to laugh. "...Do you think he's better looking than you? Are you terrified I'm going to start fan-girling over him like everyone else?"
Her hypothesis was instantly, violently shattered.
"Him? Better looking than me? With those pathetic, silicone-injected muscles?" Matthew sounded like he had just heard the funniest joke on earth. His voice vibrated with a dark, melodic laugh. "The gap between his face and my face is roughly the size of a hundred Toms."
Ruth: "........."
Okay. I was wrong. I was so incredibly wrong.
Insecure? My ass. The dictionary definition of 'Matthew Lynes' is absolute, unadulterated arrogance. His personal manifesto is literally: I Am The Most Handsome Man On Planet Earth.
By the time the male lead finished flexing and finally put his shirt back on, the song was almost over. Ruth's eyes were finally liberated from the darkness.
She immediately turned to look at Matthew.
He was leaning back against the leather sofa in an incredibly relaxed posture. His hand, having just covered her eyes, smoothly slid down to rest casually on her shoulder.
Having just been temporarily blinded for absolutely no reason, Ruth demanded answers. "If it's not this, and it's not that, then why the hell did you cover my eyes?!"
They stared at each other in silence for a few seconds.
Suddenly, Matthew leaned forward. The corner of his lips curled into a devastatingly sharp smile.
"There's no complex reason," he whispered, his tone incredibly low and possessive. "I'm just incredibly petty. I don't want you looking at other men taking their clothes off."

As the sports rep finished his song, the room erupted into massive applause.
The sports rep's real name was Liam, but nobody ever used it. He was the undisputed social butterfly of Finance 101. In most classes, the guy who gossiped with all the girls was usually the flamboyant, overly-talkative pretty boy. But in Finance 101, the designated "class mom" was the massive, heavily-muscled sports rep.
Ruth grabbed a tambourine, handing Matthew a plastic clapper. The two of them joined the crowd, lazily shaking their instruments in a highly unenthusiastic display of support.
From across the room, Helen happened to turn around and witness the exact moment.
Honestly, the two 'Gods' looked completely out of place in the chaotic karaoke room.
Ruth loved to smile, but her beauty was so absolute that it inherently created a massive wall of distance; if you didn't know her, she looked totally untouchable. And Matthew, with his devastatingly handsome face and permanent lack of expression, radiated an aura of pure, icy arrogance.
Sitting side-by-side in the corner, the two of them looked exactly like terrifying mafia bosses who were only attending the party to do the peasants a favor. Even as they shook their tambourines, their faces were completely blank and deadpan.
They weren't even looking at each other, yet their combined aesthetic was flawlessly synchronized.
Seizing the bright lighting between songs, Helen quickly snapped a picture of them.
Once the singing started, the initial awkwardness in the room vanished. People started aggressively fighting over the microphones.
To Ruth's surprise, she and Matthew were constantly being called out—but not to sing.
"I dedicate this track, 'Single Love Song', to the most famous couple in our class! Let them understand our pain..."
"I dedicate 'The Lone Wolf' to the incredibly annoying couple sitting in the corner! Try to comprehend our absolute misery..."
"I'm singing 'Walking in the Cold Wind' for Mat and Mrs. Mat! I bet you two have never experienced the soul-crushing chill of being a single dog..."
On the outside, Ruth maintained a polite smile. Internally, she was violently cursing.
This is entirely Matthew's fault! He's the one constantly showing off! It has absolutely nothing to do with me, but I'm the one getting publicly executed!
Feeling incredibly wronged, she maintained her smile while sneakily reaching under the table. She found Matthew's thigh and viciously pinched it.
And then...
Her fingers didn't even leave a dent. The muscle was practically solid rock.
Ruth froze.
Her mind involuntarily flashed back to Matthew criticizing the actor's "silicone muscles" earlier. She didn't know if the actor had been faking it, but... whatever Matthew was hiding under his clothes was definitely not fake.
Curious, Ruth experimentally squeezed his leg again. Matthew instantly turned his head, his eyes locking directly onto hers.
"What exactly are you doing?"
Matthew's expression darkened with intense meaning. "Are you trying to pinch me, or are you..." He paused, a wicked smile spreading across his face. "...trying to seduce me?"
"..." Ruth's breath hitched. She opened her mouth to snap back, but the song ended.
The sports rep grabbed the mic. "Alright, who else has a tragic breakup song to dedicate to the Lynes family?! Step right up!"
The exact second the words left his mouth, Matthew stood up.
With his impossibly long legs, it only took him two steps to reach the center of the room. He reached out and grabbed a microphone.
"Since everyone is so incredibly passionate," Matthew's voice echoed through the massive speakers, dripping with pure arrogance, "I suppose I have to show off my relationship properly, or I'd be letting you all down. I'll queue up..."
Before he could finish the sentence, the sports rep violently lunged forward, physically blocking Matthew's arm and ripping the microphone out of his hand.
Matthew: "?"
A few girls in the background immediately burst out laughing.
The sports rep cleared his throat. "Mat, I am so sorry. But you and your girlfriend have been relentlessly torturing the single population of this class since day one. There is absolutely no way I am letting you sing a love song and publicly execute us right now!"
The class knew exactly how Matthew operated. He only stood up for one reason: to ruthlessly flex his relationship. Forcing an arrogant guy like Mat to sit in the corner and watch a bunch of single people sing, unable to brag about his girlfriend, was the ultimate form of torture.
Sure enough, Matthew laughed darkly. He crossed his arms over his chest, his eyes narrowing dangerously. "Then why the hell did you force us to come here? Huh? Just to listen to you scream?"
The sports rep was over six feet tall, but Matthew still had an inch on him.
Honestly, standing there with his arms crossed, Matthew's terrifyingly dominant aura was incredibly oppressive. But as his former basketball teammate, the rep only froze for a second before his survival instincts kicked in.
"We invited you two to sit there so you can significantly raise the average aesthetic value of our class!"
It was an incredibly sharp, flawless save.
The blatant flattery hit the exact right spot. Even though Matthew had been denied the mic, the rep had praised both his and his girlfriend's faces. It was an acceptable compromise.
Matthew didn't try to sing for the rest of the afternoon. Instead, he spent the entire time sitting next to Ruth, meticulously peeling oranges and slicing watermelon from the fruit platters. He constantly fed her pieces of fruit, occasionally leaning in to steal a quick kiss. The sheer level of domestic sweetness was enough to give anyone diabetes.
And entirely unaware of her surroundings, Ruth had no idea that Helen, the resident class paparazzo, was secretly snapping dozens of photos of Matthew hand-feeding her, gathering premium material for the campus forum.

After a few more songs, two girls sat down on the sofa directly next to Ruth. She wasn't trying to eavesdrop, but the music was so loud they had to practically scream at each other to be heard.
"...Ugh, that Fire boss was literally impossible yesterday! Free-to-play players like us really can't survive! I died so many times, using those resurrection pills actually made my heart bleed!"
"I know right?! Grinding all night is literally useless compared to just swiping a credit card! I'm going home tonight and buying premium gear!"
That sounded incredibly familiar. Intrigued, Ruth tapped the girl on the shoulder. "Hey, are you guys talking about an MMO?"
"Yeah! We play Six Realms!" The girl looked incredibly excited. "Do you play too?! Holy shit, the academic god of our class plays video games?!"
Ruth smiled. "Not yet, but I'm planning to start."
The business proposal Ruth had sent to Jamie Buckley regarding the "Fan L" acquisition had been incredibly well-received. Because her strategy had a high probability of success, Jamie had instructed her to personally test the top MMOs currently dominating the market and write a comparative analysis.
Six Realms was at the absolute top of the list.
Initially, Ruth had been extremely interested in the game. It was the flagship title of the Lynes Empire, and the graphics she had seen online perfectly matched her aesthetic. But later, Anne and Olivia had informed her that the game's lead developer was none other than the legendary Second Son of the Lynes family.
Unfortunately, during her last visit to the Keen Estate, Ruth had accidentally overheard Jenna Keen obsessively swooning over the "Younger Lynes Master" on the phone. Because of that, Ruth's one and only impression of the mysterious tech genius was that he was Jenna Keen's dream man.
Just making that mental connection instantly dragged the 'untouchable Lynes god' down several dozen levels in her mind.
Because of Jenna, Ruth had lost all interest in the game. But she had already finished analyzing the other MMOs, so it was officially time to test Six Realms.
The two girls enthusiastically welcomed her to the game and immediately went back to aggressively discussing raid tactics.
Having consumed an immense amount of fruit fed to her by Matthew, combined with several glasses of juice, Ruth finally felt nature calling. She stood up and headed for the restroom.
The layout was simple—just a straight hallway to the back of the club.
The exact second Ruth pushed the restroom door open, she froze. For a split second, she genuinely thought she had teleported back to the university library.
The water in the sink was running. And standing directly in front of the mirror was a very familiar face.
It was the Boyd family heiress. Jenna Keen's only tolerable friend, Cher Boyd.
After their last two encounters—specifically the incident where Ruth had saved her with a pack of tissues—Ruth didn't feel any lingering animosity toward her. "What are you doing here?"
Cher Boyd, who was washing her hands, looked equally surprised. "My class is having a party here today... what about you?"
Ah. So all the university departments delayed their prize money payouts until this week.
"Same," Ruth nodded in understanding. "Class party."
Cher smiled softly. "What a coincidence."
It was a very genuine, polite smile. It felt exactly like the kind of interaction you'd have with a normal classmate you had randomly helped out in a bathroom.
Ruth was always open to making friends. She never hated Cher to begin with, and considering their grandfathers were close business partners... Ruth smiled back.
Even if they couldn't be best friends, there was absolutely no reason to be enemies. Jenna Keen was an idiot; she wasn't worth starting a corporate war over.
Ruth walked into a stall and locked the door. She noticed the toilet paper dispenser had a piece hanging out, but when she pulled it...
Only half a shredded sheet came out.
The massive, opaque metal dispenser was completely empty.
If I remember correctly, I didn't hear the main door open or close.
That means... Cher Boyd is still out there.
It was literally an exact replica of their last encounter, just with the roles reversed.
Ruth physically cringed. "...Um, hey. Are you still out there?"
"Hmm?" Cher's voice drifted in immediately. "Yeah, I'm just touching up my lipstick. Do you need something?"
"...Ahem." Ruth's face flushed red, but in a life-or-death situation, pride meant absolutely nothing. "I didn't check before I sat down... the dispenser is completely empty. Could you grab some paper from the stall next to me and hand it over?"

After passing the toilet paper under the stall door and hearing Ruth's embarrassed "thank you", Cher Boyd couldn't help but marvel at the bizarre irony of the situation.
A total role reversal. It was incredibly funny.
She smiled to herself and walked out of the restroom. As she headed back to her private room, her phone violently vibrated in her pocket.
Cher pulled it out. Seeing the notification, her smile vanished, replaced by a deep frown.
[Jenna Keen]: Cher! Bestie, are you there?! I just heard a rumor that Ruth Keen is attending Cal U! Is that true?! Is she at your school?! Have you seen her?!
Cher rarely checked her phone, but she had notifications turned on for this specific chat.
She hesitated for a second before typing: I haven't seen her. Why?
[Jenna Keen]: It's just so suspicious... She was doing perfectly fine at Cal U during her freshman year, and then she suddenly told my dad she was transferring overseas! But she only stayed there for three years before coming back, and now she's at Cal U again?!
[Jenna Keen]: My friends and I were just talking about it. Do you think she went to some trashy, unaccredited diploma-mill overseas, failed to graduate, and had to come crawling back to repeat a year?!
Cher didn't know who had leaked Ruth's location to Jenna, but reading the messages...
Cher genuinely thought Jenna was a complete idiot.
[Cher Boyd]: ...Why didn't you stop to consider that her high school grades were literally flawless? Why would she transfer to a diploma-mill?
[Jenna Keen]: Who knows?! Plus, don't foreign universities require a year or two of prep courses?! What kind of elite university lets you graduate in only three years?!
[Jenna Keen]: Ugh, I haven't even told you about how she acted the last time she came home. I've been so busy with Vanguard Cup training lately [Pity Emoji]... We need to hang out soon! Since college started I barely ever see you!
Cher desperately wanted to text back that overseas prep courses weren't mandatory—they were only for students who failed the language proficiency tests. Foreign universities operated on a credit system. While graduating a year early was rare, absolute geniuses did it all the time.
But when a person actively ignored logic purely to construct the most hateful narrative possible... there was no point in explaining.
If you want to condemn someone, you can always invent the evidence.
Cher didn't want to waste her breath. Jenna had despised Ruth for years. She would never listen to a single positive word about her stepsister.
Even though everyone constantly asked Cher why the hell she was friends with someone as toxic and unhinged as Jenna Keen... Cher knew exactly why.
She was incredibly stubborn. When she was a child, Jenna had done her a small favor, and Cher refused to forget it. And because of their friendship, the Keen family had secured several lucrative contracts with the Boyd Empire—small change for the Boyds, but massive for the Keens.
That debt has been paid in full.
Cher also frequented the Cal U forum. She remembered seeing the screenshots of Ruth's Vanguard Cup simulation scores. And she remembered the incredibly radiant, confident girl she had just spoken to in the restroom a few minutes ago.
[Cher Boyd]: I'm going to be really busy lately. I probably won't have time to hang out.
She hit send. She tried to lock her phone, but couldn't hold it back. She typed one final message.
[Cher Boyd]: Jenna, if you don't actually know the facts about a situation, you really need to learn how to keep your mouth shut.

When Ruth finally returned to the VIP room, the music had stopped. The chaotic, flashing club lights had been replaced by bright, normal overhead lighting.
The entire class was screaming over each other like a chaotic fish market. Unable to hear what they were saying, Ruth squeezed onto the sofa next to Matthew. He immediately wrapped his arm securely around her shoulder. "They're deciding what game to play. It's between Truth or Dare, Werewolf, or Undercover."
"Oh." Ruth nodded.
She knew the rules for all of them, but she rarely played party games. She glanced at Matthew, but his perfectly neutral face gave absolutely nothing away. "Which one do you want to play?"
"..." Honestly, Matthew hated all of them. But forced to choose, he said, "Truth or Dare."
Extracting a few cute little secrets from my girlfriend might actually be fun.
The exact second he spoke, the class reached a consensus. Jerry screamed across the room: "MAT! Bring your girlfriend! We're playing Truth or Dare!"
As they stood up from the sofa, Matthew leaned in. "I don't care about anyone else, but I definitely want to hear your truths. Make sure you don't pick 'Dare' later."
"Hehe," Ruth scoffed, absolutely refusing to let him manipulate her. "I'm definitely picking Dare!"
"Go ahead," Matthew smiled darkly. "What kind of 'Dare' do you think this class is going to give you? I guarantee you, the only options will be 'Kiss Mat passionately in front of everyone' or 'Forcefully pin Mat against the wall and make out with him'."
"..." Fuck. Knowing this chaotic class, that is exactly what they would do.
"So, if you want to pick Dare, please do. Do not repress your natural instincts." Matthew gently stroked her hair. "Kissing you in front of a live audience? That's literally my ultimate dream."
The game was played using a randomized spinning wheel app on the sports rep's phone, placed dead center on the massive glass table. Since there were over twenty people, they played in batches.
Naturally, Ruth and Matthew were dragged into the very first round.
And on the very second spin, the digital bottle pointed directly at Ruth.
Terrified of Matthew's dark prophecy coming true, she only hesitated for three seconds. "I pick Truth."
The sports rep leaned forward, his face intensely serious. "What we all want to know is... Mat obviously isn't your first love, right? Can you tell us exactly how many ex-boyfriends you have?"
"Why wouldn't he be?" Ruth's eyes went wide in pure shock. "He is my first love."
Three rounds later, the bottle landed on Matthew.
Refusing to believe the impossible, the sports rep interrogated him. "Okay, we can all clearly see that Mat is an absolute, god-tier romantic veteran. His flirting skills are terrifyingly flawless. So please tell us, Mat, exactly how many ex-girlfriends have you had?"
"Sorry to disappoint you." Matthew lazily tapped his finger against the glass table. "She is my first love too."
The entire table went dead silent. Everyone stared at them in absolute disbelief.
Even Helen was shocked. "F-First loves... Ru, you seriously never dated anyone before?! But both of you are so incredibly gorgeous—"
"Exactly!" The sports rep violently slapped his thigh. "Look at the two of you! You're telling me faces like that have never been in a relationship?! The line of people trying to confess to you must have wrapped around the entire campus!"
Jerry was losing his mind. "I refuse to believe it! If I had Mat's face, I would have dated three entire soccer teams by now! This is absolute bullshit!"
Ruth quietly raised her hand. "But I really haven't dated anyone... I guess my brain just developed incredibly slowly during puberty..." Hell, it took me six months just to realize I even had a crush on someone.
Matthew also raised his hand. "First of all, the academic pressure in my hometown was intense. We didn't have time to date..." He smoothly hijacked Ruth's sentence. "And even when I did figure it out, I didn't date anyone. Because for all those years, I was clearly just waiting for her. Is there a problem with that?"
His tone was lazy and careless, but the absolute, arrogant devotion behind the words was lethal.
The sports rep & the single dogs: "..."
Helen & the Shippers: "..." AHHHHHH! MUTUAL FIRST LOVES! HOLY FUCK THIS IS SO SWEET!
The game continued for another five rounds, but the bottle miraculously avoided the couple entirely, leaving the audience incredibly frustrated.
Just as the timer for the VIP room was about to expire and the waiters started knocking on the door, the final spin landed directly on Ruth.
Having been mentally traumatized so many times, the sports rep desperately wanted to inflict some emotional damage on Matthew. He racked his brain and asked a highly specific, loaded question: "Is Mat the very first person you've ever liked?"
It was an incredibly sharp, perfectly phrased question. But because the room timer was flashing red, the crowd didn't have time to analyze it.
"Ugh, Rep, you completely wasted the final question!"
"She literally just told us they are each other's first loves! If he's her first love, obviously he's the first person she liked!"
"Exactly! I thought we were going to get some actual drama! Let's just pack up and leave..."
"So we're ending the day by eating another massive bowl of dog food... great."
Even the sports rep slapped his forehead, thinking he had completely malfunctioned under pressure.
Absolutely no one in the chaotic room noticed the massive sigh of relief that silently escaped Ruth's lips.

After karaoke, the next event was dinner. The restaurant was located just a few hundred meters down the street.
Everyone was an adult now, and unlike high school where they had to sneak beers, the boys aggressively ordered over a dozen bottles of alcohol. The sports rep stood up and announced: "Everyone knows their own limits! Drink responsibly! As long as you maintain enough consciousness to successfully order a taxi back to campus, you're fine!"
Ruth knew her alcohol tolerance was terrible. Even though the atmosphere was great and she wanted to drink, she strictly controlled herself, stopping before she even finished her first bottle.
Matthew, on the other hand, drank a significant amount, yet his face remained completely unchanged. He didn't even look slightly buzzed.
Since the dinner was funded entirely by the prize money, everyone ate and drank like kings. The party dragged on for three full hours.
By the time Ruth and Matthew finally climbed into the back of a taxi to head back to campus, Ruth was still enthusiastically recounting the events of the night.
"Hahahaha! Right before we left, the rep suddenly grabbed Jerry and started violently shaking him, screaming, 'Helen, what kind of guys do you like?! Just tell me!' Helen was standing right next to them laughing so hard she couldn't breathe! Did you see that?!"
Ruth wasn't completely drunk, but she was definitely floating in that hazy, incredibly happy tipsy phase. "Hahaha, I literally almost died laughing..."
"I saw it." Matthew sounded incredibly helpless.
Every time Ruth leaned in to talk, her entire body was completely soft and devoid of any structural integrity. He reached out and gently pushed her upright. "Sit up straight, or you're going to fall over. If you can't sit up, just lean on me."
Without missing a single beat, Ruth instantly replied, "Then I'll just lean on you. That's way more comfortable."
Matthew froze. In the very next second, he felt a heavy weight drop against his shoulder.
Ruth entirely abandoned her posture, wrapping her arms securely around his bicep and practically melting into his side. She nuzzled her head comfortably against his shoulder, giggling softly. "Wow... this really is so comfortable..."
Matthew didn't move a single muscle for several seconds.
His Adam's apple bobbed heavily. He reached down and gently squeezed her hand. "...Are you actually drunk?"
"Nooo..." Ruth demonstrated a terrifying amount of self-awareness. "When I get completely drunk, I literally lose the ability to answer questions. I just exist entirely in my own little world."
"Oh." Matthew noted the information.
A moment later.
"I'll tell you a secret," Ruth mumbled, her voice incredibly soft and undeniably seductive, making his chest violently itch. "Even though I'm not fully drunk right now... my friends told me that whenever I drink alcohol, I completely lose the ability to lie."
Matthew had to bite the inside of his cheek to suppress a smile. "Is that so? Then I definitely need to interrogate you while I have the chance."
It was 9:00 PM, the absolute peak of downtown traffic. The taxi crawled slowly down the congested highway, plunging the backseat into a quiet, comfortable silence.
Due to the alcohol, Ruth's brain was currently operating on completely chaotic, non-linear logic.
She suddenly remembered the very last question the sports rep had asked right before they left the karaoke room. The crowd had skipped it, but she still wanted to ask Matthew.
"Hey. Boyfriend." She poked his arm. "That last question the rep asked... answer it. Am I the very first person you've ever liked?"
Matthew blinked.
Didn't we literally already answer this when they asked about our first loves?
"Yes." He nodded immediately, casually tossing the question back. "What about you?"
Even if we've already established it, hearing her confirm it again will feel great.
"...I'm not."
The soft, quiet voice drifted up from his shoulder.
Matthew's entire body violently completely solidified into stone.
Not?! What the fuck do you mean, 'not'?!
"Didn't you literally just tell the entire room I was your first love?! Are you taking it back?!" In a flash of absolute panic, Matthew remembered what she had just said about the alcohol. Realization struck him like a bullet. "Wait... did you lie during Truth or Dare?! Is this the actual truth?!"
"Huh? No, I didn't lie!" Ruth blinked up at him, her alcohol-addled brain functioning perfectly. "Liking someone is one thing, but actually being in a relationship is completely different! It only counts as your 'first love' if you actually date them! So you are definitely my first love!"
Matthew desperately tried to process her logic.
According to her definitions... 'First Love' (First Relationship) and 'First Person You Liked' were two completely separate, mutually exclusive categories.
Matthew hesitated. He genuinely, desperately did not want to ask the next question, but his mouth moved entirely on its own. "So what you're saying is... you liked someone else before me, but you never dated them?"
"Mmhmm. Yeah, I liked someone before."
Back in high school, Ruth had been entirely awkward and defensive about her feelings for the 'Mask Man'. But now that she was officially dating Matthew, she had fully moved on. Her past crush felt entirely insignificant, so she admitted it without a shred of hesitation.
"But it was a really long time ago! Back in high school... I had a massive crush on a guy."
Matthew: "............"
Liked.
High School.
Massive Crush.
It was a literal three-hit critical combo directly to his heart.
Matthew slumped back against the leather seat. For several minutes, he literally could not identify the emotion expanding violently inside his chest. All of his previously flawless, logical thought processes had been entirely shredded into a chaotic, tangled mess.
Before he could even attempt to unravel his thoughts, the girl leaning against his shoulder let out a soft, rhythmic breath.
...She literally dropped a nuclear bomb on me, and then immediately fell asleep.
Matthew had an incredibly high alcohol tolerance, but right now, he could practically feel the alcohol boiling in his veins. He was so angry he wanted to physically grind his teeth.
After sitting in absolute silence for several minutes, he forced himself to calm down. Moving incredibly slowly so he wouldn't wake her, he pulled his phone out of his pocket and opened Google.
With a dark expression, Matthew aggressively typed three keywords into the search bar: High School. Crush. Guys.
A massive list of highly-trafficked articles instantly populated the screen.
[The First Boy You Ever Crush On In High School]
[Will A High School Crush Haunt A Girl For The Rest Of Her Life?]
[Why Women Never Forget The Boy They Loved In High School]
[High School: The Era Of The Most Unforgettable, Bone-Deep Crushes]
"........." Are you fucking kidding me? Is it really that serious?!
Any trace of calm he had managed to scrap together instantly evaporated. Matthew's scalp literally tingled with pure anxiety. He aggressively clicked on one of the top links.
The entire page was just a massive compilation of melodramatic, intensely poetic confessions.
"I love you, but it has nothing to do with you."
"Experiencing a crush that hopeless and desperate is something you only need to survive once in a lifetime."
"I will lock you away in the deepest corner of my heart, forever."
Who the fuck wants to be locked in your heart forever?! If you lock him in your heart forever, what the hell are you supposed to do with your current boyfriend?!
Matthew glared viciously at the screen, his irritation skyrocketing with every single word.
He furiously scrolled down and clicked on a heavily-shared viral essay.
The opening paragraph read:
"...Through the freezing winters and the scorching summers, as the years fade away, I will always remember the exact silhouette of you standing by the window memorizing English vocabulary. I will remember the chalk dust on your cheek when you erased the blackboard. I will remember how you always deliberately knocked over my bookstand every single time you walked past my desk..."
And the final, devastating concluding paragraph:
"We may never see each other again. But from now on, every single person I love... will just look exactly like you."
Having finished the incredibly tragic, beautifully written essay... whether it was the alcohol messing with his brain or pure emotional panic... for the very first time in his entire twenty-two years of existence, Matthew Lynes experienced an emotion called absolute, suffocating despair.
He slowly turned his head. He looked down at his girlfriend, who was currently sleeping peacefully on his shoulder.
And then, his brain violently replayed the massive, mocking headline:
FROM NOW ON, EVERY PERSON I LOVE WILL LOOK EXA