LOVE143

Max never planned on falling apart during her first week of college. She just wanted a fresh start—new friends, new memories, and a clean slate far away from the past that quietly haunted her. But fate has other plans when a single glance across the canteen pulls her back into the memories she buried deep.

A ghost from her past—her almost-love—reappears without warning, stirring up feelings she thought she'd left behind. As she tries to hold her composure, her new benchmate and unexpected friend, Kitty, slowly becomes her anchor in the storm of emotions. But Max isn't ready to talk. Not yet. Because how do you explain the pain of a love that never fully bloomed but still managed to break you?

Told from Max’s point of view, this is a story of silent heartbreak, healing friendships, and the raw, unfiltered truth of remembering someone you tried to forget. Will Max find closure—or something more—when the past comes knocking again ?

finally it's over between us

The message was short. Simple. Dangerous.

"Can we meet at the library after your last class? Just want to talk. —Mike"

Only… his name wasn't Mike. Not here. Not in college.

That's what everyone called him now. The boy I used to write paragraphs about in my diary? The one I saved with a blue heart and an H for hubby? Yeah, that Vicky. My silent love from school… was now a new name, a new version of himself… and somehow, still had the power to shake my world.

She thought I was staring at someone else that day in the canteen. She had been gushing about her crush nonstop for two days—the "quiet, mysterious senior with kind eyes."

How do you tell your closest friend that her crush was once your almost-love?

How do you say "the person you're falling for already broke me once"?

The library felt colder that evening. I spotted him in the last row near the window—headphones around his neck, eyes scanning the shelves like he wasn't about to turn my soul upside down again.

"Hey, Max," he said, soft like old songs.

And in that moment, I wished I didn't remember how his voice used to make me smile.

"You wanted to talk?" I asked, arms crossed, keeping my guard stitched tightly around my ribs.

"Yeah. I know this is weird, but… I saw you, and it felt like something unfinished. I don't know why, but I felt like I had to say something. Even if we were never really—"

"Together?" I finished for him. "Because we weren't."

"But you mattered to me, Max. Maybe more than I ever let on."

I didn't reply. Because behind all this... was Kitty. And the way she lit up whenever she talked about him.

Later that night, she was lying on my bed, kicking her legs, talking about Ram again.

"Do you think he likes quiet girls?" she asked, dreamily.

"I think he likes the kind of girls who feel like home."

Kitty blushed. "That's cute. Ugh, Max. I really hope something happens with him."

Because I didn't know how to tell her:

"Kitty, your crush was my heartbreak. My hidden love. My almost."

chapter -5yours...before you know