Chapter 1: The Night It All Fell Apart

My hands shook as I steered the drunken prom queen toward the quarterback’s room, my heart pounding with secrets I couldn’t name.

But my childhood friend mistook me for the prom queen.

A night of chaos followed.

Rumors flew by morning—everyone said I’d crashed the quarterback and prom queen’s perfect love story on purpose.

So after we got married, no matter how hard I tried, I could never thaw my childhood friend’s heart.

Until one day, I accidentally overheard him on the phone outside on Main Street.

"As long as Emily can be happy, I’m willing to spend my whole life holding onto Rachel."

"I mean, who else would want to marry the class nerd, right?"

"Doesn’t she want a kid? I’ll give her one."

A blaring car horn cut him off. The sound was so sharp, it jolted my heart—one of those deep, angry honks you hear at a busy intersection downtown, the kind that echoes down Main Street long after the car's passed.

My childhood friend instinctively turned his head and saw me standing on the corner. I was clutching my phone, trying to look busy, but my hands were shaking just a little.

In an instant, panic flashed across his face. He rushed over, trying to push me out of the way. His sneakers squeaked on the pavement, and for a moment, everything felt like it was in slow motion—the streetlights, the chill in the night air, the distant smell of fries drifting from the diner down the block.

The next moment, both of us were hit by a car and thrown through the air. Tires screeched. Time seemed to freeze. We hit the asphalt hard. Somewhere, someone screamed. My world dissolved into the taste of blood and the harsh scent of burnt rubber.

When I opened my eyes again, I was back on the night of the graduation party. The air was thick with the scent of perfume and beer, the chatter of twenty-somethings on the edge of adulthood. Music thumped through the walls.

This time, I decided to fulfill his wish and bring him together with the prom queen.