The night before your final year, your phone buzzed.

A message from Courtland Yorke.

You stared at the screen.

Courtland had never used a heart with you before.

Not once.

And now, after all those years of knowing him, he was suddenly asking you to meet him because he had something important to say.

You barely slept that night.

Your mind kept replaying the message, wondering what it could possibly mean.

Maybe he was finally going to tell you what you'd quietly hoped to hear for years.

Maybe he had finally realized that you weren't only the person he'd grown up with.

Maybe...

The next morning, Courtland told you to wait for him at the East Entrance.

So you did.

You stood there with your luggage for almost an hour before your phone buzzed again.

You sighed and dragged your luggage across campus.

When you finally reached the South Entrance, another message appeared.

You hesitated.

But the promise of at last hearing what Courtland had to say won.

So you climbed the stairs, already exhausted and breathless by the time you reached the rooftop.

Then you pushed open the door.

And froze.

The entire rooftop had been decorated.

Balloons floated around the railing. Roses covered tables. Fairy lights were strung across the walls, and in the middle sat an elaborate arrangement of flowers.

Your heart pounded.

Your eyes began to sting straight away.

He'd done all this?

For you?

After years of hiding your feelings, was Courtland finally going to confess that he'd secretly felt the same?

You took a shaky breath.

Then someone stepped out from behind the flowers.

Coco.

She had on a ridiculous paper crown and was practically doubled over laughing.

she wheezed.

The laughter started at once.

You stood there, completely stunned.

Then Courtland stepped into view.

He was leaning casually against the railing, looking far too pleased with himself.

In his hand was a small ring box.

He lazily twirled it between his fingers.

More laughter erupted around you.

Your stomach dropped.

Courtland opened the box just enough to show that it was empty.

he said with a grin.

He glanced toward Coco.

Your face burned.

Someone laughed.

Someone else whistled.

And then you heard a familiar voice at your back.

Pierson.

Your brother.

Of course he'd been in on it too.

He already had his phone up, recording everything.

Pierson laughed.

Another burst of laughter.

You couldn't even manage a smile anymore.

You looked at Courtland.

He was still smiling.

Still amused.

As if this were nothing more than an innocent joke between friends.

You swallowed hard.

Your voice came out quieter than you meant it to.

For a second, Courtland's smile faltered.

Then he shrugged.

He shut the ring box and slipped it into his pocket.

He gave a small laugh.

A few people laughed again.

Someone muttered,

Another added,

You stood perfectly still.

Every hopeful thought you'd had the night before suddenly felt embarrassing.

You had spent the whole night imagining that heart meant something.

That all those years of secretly liking him might actually have meant something.

And he'd known exactly what he was doing.

Coco walked over, still wearing the ridiculous paper crown.

She tipped her head, studying your face.

She laughed again.

The laughter around you grew louder.

You looked at Courtland one last time.

You wanted him to stop.

You wanted him to realize that this had gone way too far.

You wanted him to walk over and say, Enough. I'm sorry.

But instead, he just smiled.

Then—

The building suddenly shook.

A hard tremor rippled through the rooftop.

The balloons bounced against the ceiling. The decorations rattled. People screamed as everyone instinctively stumbled to the safest part of the rooftop.

You were standing dangerously close to the edge.

You tried to steady yourself.

Another sharp jolt hit.

Your footing gave way.

For one terrifying second, everything seemed to happen together.

You reached for something—anything—but there was nothing within reach.

And as everyone else instinctively moved away from the shaking railing, you vanished from their view.

The laughter stopped.

The rooftop went silent.

Courtland's smile vanished.

His eyes widened.

Pierson's phone slipped from his hand.

Coco's face went pale.

Courtland rushed toward the railing.

But there was no answer.

Only the fading sound of the quake beneath their feet.

And for the first time that morning, Courtland realized the prank had gone far beyond anything he could take back.