Adieu To My Miserable Romance

Chapter 1

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When I started my freshman year, my dream guy confessed to me.

Liam publicly handed me a bouquet of roses in front of the entire class, making a grand gesture of love.

Overwhelmed with emotion, I burst into tears and grabbed the microphone, responding incoherently:

"Liam, I like you too. I've liked you since the first time I saw you in high school..."

He smirked and said disdainfully:

"It was just a game of truth or dare, sorry!"

I became the laughingstock of the school.

After that, I focused entirely on my future and put Liam out of my mind.

Success and applause followed.

But then, he cornered me against a wall, looking sorrowful, and begged me to give him another chance.

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In the fourth year of my secret crush on Liam, he confessed to me.

The moment I walked into the classroom, the lights went out.

Candles arranged in a heart shape lit up the floor.

In the candlelight, Liam knelt on one knee, holding a bouquet of red roses, his expression solemn and serious:

"Sharon, will you be my girlfriend?"

Although the setup and flowers were quite tacky and not to my taste, it was Liam!

The Liam I had secretly loved throughout high school, the one I worked hard to get into the same university with!

My hands trembled as I took the flowers.

"I will!"

My youthful crush had a perfect ending.

I felt truly blessed.

I cried uncontrollably, grabbing the microphone to tell him, to tell everyone:

"Liam, I like you too. I've had a crush on you all through high school..."

Amidst the cheers, I expressed my hidden love to the fullest.

The classmates, hearing this, thought it was a perfect campus romance.

The noise grew louder and louder.

"Kiss, kiss!"

I nervously clenched my hands.

I closed my eyes, waiting for his kiss that never came.

My heart was already racing.

I opened my eyes, confused to see his face so close yet not moving closer.

The next second, he abruptly stepped back, putting distance between us, and casually apologized:

"Sorry, Sharon, it was just a game of truth or dare."

Then he raised his eyebrows in Milly's direction:

"I won, a bet's a bet, you owe me a meal."

The atmosphere in the class instantly froze.

No one expected this grand confession to be a farce.

In an instant, I couldn't tell if the looks from others were of sympathy or amusement.

I felt a cold chill run through my veins, my body stiff, unable to move.

I was just a clown in his game, feeling humiliated, awkward, hurt, and resentful, all these emotions surged like a tide, pressing on my chest.

I didn't dare to look up, the courage I had just gathered now felt like a dagger to my heart, leaving me riddled with wounds.

Milly walked over with a smile:

"Sharon, it was just a game of truth or dare, you can't take it seriously!"

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My roommate Lorna, with her fiery temper, rolled up her sleeves, ready to fight them:

"Damn it, you two teamed up to bully Sharon, do you think you can mess with our dorm?"

"Liam, you're just a jerk, and Milly, you two are a perfect match, a bitch and jerk."

Liam angrily threw the flowers to the ground, feeling humiliated, pointing at me and glaring at Lorna:

"Look at her, do you think she's good enough for me?"

"She didn't say anything, who are you to point fingers?"

"Mind your own business!"

Milly and Liam were both my high school classmates.

Milly was an art student, and Liam was an athlete.

A perfect-looking couple.

Unlike their flamboyant youth, my high school years were dull and unremarkable.

Wearing black-framed glasses, diligently solving math problems.

Now, having mustered the courage to offer my heart, only to have it crushed and ridiculed.

The small flame of hope in my heart was instantly extinguished.

Loving someone can last a long time, but falling out of love happens in an instant.

I slowly raised my head, staring at him with determination:

"Liam, apologize to me!"

Even my roommate of just a month stood up for me; if I remained weak, I would be betraying my friends.

I had never been so resolute,

Liam looked at me in disbelief, as if he hadn't expected me to be so serious.

But he did nothing.

The atmosphere remained tense.

Milly noticed the strange looks from the classmates directed at her and Liam.

This was the beginning of our freshman year, and she didn't want to leave a bad impression, so she quickly took the blame to smooth things over:

"Sharon, I'm sorry. If you're angry, be angry at me. It was my idea for Liam to play truth or dare."

"We've known each other for so many years, you can't take this joke seriously."

Her words implied that I was petty, unable to take a joke, and not a team player.

Liam walked over to comfort her, saying I couldn't take a joke:

"Damn, if I knew she would take it so seriously, I wouldn't have involved her."

She and Liam stood side by side, looking at me as if I were a fool, their indifferent expressions telling me, we've apologized, what more do you want?

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Chapter 2

I didn't know how I made it back to the dorm.

I drew the curtains and curled up like a hedgehog hiding from the world.

This incident would take a long time to heal from.

My teenage crush had ended in utter embarrassment.

Lying on the bed, images of Liam kept flashing through my mind.

We both came from Westwood High School.

The county was struggling, and Westwood High, although the best school, only saw a handful of students make it to prestigious universities each year.

In that small town, Liam was like the male lead in a teen drama.

He was six feet tall, handsome, played basketball, and was the student council president-the dream guy. His parents were both teachers.

And I was a poor student from the countryside, always wearing the plain clothes my grandmother made.

I looked plain and unremarkable, with a dull and dusty appearance.

To me, he was someone out of reach.

I was captivated by him the first time I saw him on the basketball court during our first year of high school.

His fair skin and handsome features made him stand out in the crowd.

Just as I was lost in thought, a basketball came flying towards me.

"Could you pass the ball over, thanks!"

He was wearing his basketball uniform, and the sweat on his forehead glistened in the sunlight.

I kicked the ball over and stood there dazed for a long time.

A few of the boys playing basketball nudged each other and winked at Liam, pointing at me.

He turned to look at me, smiled, and his eyes twinkled like the night sky.

A small crush began to grow in my heart.

I thought I could keep this little seedling buried deep inside me.

But as luck would have it, we ended up in the same class.

He sat just to my right and in front of me.

Every time I looked up, I could see his profile.

In high school, it was popular to give a symbolic apple for good luck.

Every year, girls would crowd around the windows to give gifts.

"Hey, can you help me give this apple to Liam?"

I somehow found myself agreeing to the task.

Then I skipped dinner to save money and picked out the reddest apple from a vendor outside the school, asking the vendor to wrap it nicely for me.

I placed both apples on his desk, trying to sound nonchalant.

"Liam, this is from that girl outside."

But my evasive eyes betrayed my nervousness.

He leaned back casually against the desk behind him, chugging a bottle of water. His school jacket was half off, revealing the shirt underneath.

"Thanks!"

I watched him put the apple into his drawer and finally breathed a sigh of relief.

I knew he got hungry easily after playing basketball, so I saved my own meal money to buy snacks to keep in his drawer.

Just so that when he asked his classmates for food, I could pretend to have snacks on hand.

For three years in high school, I kept my little secret close to my heart.

My teenage years weren't exciting or glamorous; they were spent buried in books day after day.

Liam was an athlete and got a recommendation to Waterfalls University.

When I found out, I quietly worked even harder.

I wore thick glasses and stayed in the classroom from dawn till dusk.

The clock on the wall ticked away, year after year. During the final sprint in senior year, whenever I felt exhausted, the math problems seemed impossible, and my grades slipped, I would hide under the covers and cry silently. Every time I wanted to give up, I would look up at Liam and pick up my pen again, scribbling on the paper.

For three years, he was my guiding light.

On the day we left school, I looked out from the fourth-floor classroom. The sunset painted the sky red, as if celebrating my success.

I walked towards the exam hall with confidence, crafting my future with each word I wrote.

My grades were excellent, and I didn't hesitate to apply to Waterfalls University.

Later, when we both got into the same university, we started interacting more.

I continued to keep my feelings hidden.

I never dared to cross the line.

If it weren't for today's farce, I would have buried my love deep inside me forever.

But Liam's joke left me with no way out.

My embarrassing feelings were exposed for everyone to see.

At that moment, I thought Liam was truly despicable.

For three years, I felt like a joke.

Chapter 3

That night, I received a call from Caden.

"Sharon?"

Hearing his voice brought back all the emotions I had been trying to suppress. My heart raced, and I struggled to form a coherent sentence, stammering through my words.

Caden was my childhood friend. We had grown up together, practically since we were toddlers. Later, his father beca