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09:45Marcus and Selena had both posted a couple photos from the amusement park.
09:51Got you, never letting go.
09:53The comments were wall-to-wall hard eyes.
09:57Then Marcus posted again.
09:59Maybe I don't want this to end.
10:02Deleted within seconds.
10:03I wasn't surprised.
10:04I'd known he was falling for her before he did.
10:07Tears dropped onto the screen.
10:08I liked every single one of his posts.
10:11When he saw the lights, he panicked.
10:13Early the next morning,
10:14Marcus showed up at my door again.
10:16Bella, I made this for you.
10:18No thanks.
10:19I shoved everything back into his arms and started to close the door.
10:22Bella, how long are you going to keep this up?
10:26We've broken up.
10:27Go find Selena.
10:29Are you really going to be like this?
10:31I told you, Selena and I aren't real.
10:33The one I like is you.
10:35Marcus, do you hear yourself?
10:37You say you like me,
10:39then say you don't want to break up with her in the same breath.
10:41That post, you saw it?
10:43Yes.
10:44I saw it.
10:45I saw everything.
10:46You always tilt the umbrella toward her.
10:49You threw the exams so she'd rank above you.
10:51If you like her that much, why drag me along?
10:54Why give me hope just to crush it with your own hands?
10:58Bella, I-
10:59Bella Taylor?
10:59A courier jogged up the steps holding a thick envelope.
11:02College decision letter, I'm guessing?
11:04Good luck.
11:07It's just a fling with her.
11:08Once college starts, we'll-
11:13After that, Marcus stopped coming around.
11:16He and Selena went everywhere.
11:18Traveling, posting photo dumps daily.
11:20I knew he was waiting for me to crack.
11:22Final rankings came out.
11:24Marcus first, Selena second.
11:26Both got into Yale.
11:27I outdid myself and broke into the top ten.
11:30My counselor pushed me to take a full ride to a top college in the south.
11:34Marcus came tearing into my house, panicked.
11:38Belly, stop being stubborn.
11:39Let's go to New Haven together.
11:40I'll handle your enrollment.
11:44Marcus, we've broken up.
11:46Where I go is none of your business.
11:48He stormed out.
11:49I thought that was the end of it.
11:50A few days later, I got an acceptance letter from a no-name school in New Haven.
11:55He'd changed my college application.
11:57I was shaking with rage when I called him.
11:59He picked up instantly.
12:01Bella, I don't want you far from me.
12:02It's still a college.
12:03He knew that school was a joke.
12:05He knew I could have applied for a top-ranked college.
12:08He did it anyway, just to keep me leashed nearby.
12:10Marcus, my future means nothing to you?
12:13Bella, your rank was a fluke.
12:15You've always been average.
12:16That school is fine for you.
12:18Once we are married, I'll take care of you.
12:20That single sentence wiped out everything I'd put in.
12:23To be worthy of him, I'd studied myself to the bone.
12:26I'd clawed my way up from the bottom to the top ten.
12:29He only ever looked at the top five.
12:31To him, I was still just average.
12:33He just wanted me sweet, obedient.
12:35But I wasn't that Bella anymore.
12:38You're insane.
12:39I hung up and finalized everything for leaving the country.
12:45The day of graduation, the classroom was buzzing.
12:48Bella's pathetic.
12:48She turned down a full ride for a trash school just to chase a guy?
12:51She's got no shame.
12:53Why even care about a future?
12:54I walked in and went to my desk.
12:56It was scrawled all over in red marker.
12:58Slut.
12:59Homewrecker.
13:00Doormat.
13:00The drawer was packed with garbage.
13:02When my face went dark, the room burst out laughing.
13:04Who did it?
13:06The only answer was more laughter.
13:09Marcus walked in with Selina.
13:10Both of them froze.
13:11Marcus's eyes swept the room.
13:17Who did this?
13:18Clean it.
13:19Now.
13:20A few guys stood up to clean it.
13:22It was the first time he'd ever lost his temper in front of everyone.
13:24Marcus, it was just a joke.
13:26Bella's the pathetic one throwing herself at you all the way to New Haven.
13:28You hate her, don't you?
13:29That's not-
13:32Wait, Marcus, do you actually like Bella?
13:34No way!
13:35He runs from her every chance he gets!
13:37Every head turned to him, waiting for an answer.
13:40I was waiting too.
13:43If he'd just say he changed my application, just admit we'd been together.
13:47The whole rumor mill would die on the spot.
13:49But he didn't.
13:50He let out a cold laugh.
13:51Are you serious?
13:52I could never like her.
13:54Then he reached for Selina's hand.
13:56I have a girlfriend.
13:58Stop making things up.
13:59The room geared all over again.
14:01I ran out crying.
14:02Behind me, the laughter was sharp.
14:04Cutting.
14:04I'd been hearing it for years.
14:06My phone buzzed.
14:07Marcus's messages came in.
14:09What I just said wasn't real.
14:10Don't take it to heart.
14:12Bella, be reasonable.
14:13Don't embarrass me.
14:14I'll break up with Selina once college starts.
14:17We'll get back together.
14:18He didn't get it.
14:19Every time he said I don't like her in front of a crowd,
14:22he was driving the knife in deeper.
14:24He wanted to protect his image, so he stepped on my dignity to do it.
14:28The day I left the country, he showed up.
14:31Bella, where are you going?
14:33School.
14:34His eyes lit up.
14:34He grabbed my suitcase before I could stop.
14:36Your school starts this early?
14:37Let me drive you to the airport.
14:41Bella, enough solling.
14:43We agreed.
14:43Once college starts, we're back together.
14:45At the airport, he suddenly pulled me into his arms.
14:49Bella, wait for me.
14:50I'll come find you in a couple of days.
14:51After security, I didn't head to the gate he was expecting.
14:54I turned the other way.
14:55I checked phone.
14:56A message from Marcus.
14:58Text me when you land.
15:00Wait for me.
15:00I dragged his number into the block list.
15:03Marcus.
15:04We will not see each other again in this lifetime.
15:08Just before the plane took off, a live stream popped up in the class group chat.
15:12Selena's birthday party.
15:14In the shot, she was at the center of the room.
15:16Balloons and banners everywhere.
15:18Marcus came out slowly behind a cake.
15:20The birthday song rolling.
15:21Comments flooded the screen.
15:22School's golden boy bringing cake to the golden girl?
15:24This contract better turn real tonight.
15:27Date him.
15:27Date him.
15:28Date him.
15:29Selena closed her eyes.
15:30Hands clasped.
15:31My birthday wish is to be with Marcus forever.
15:35To never break up.
15:36Chat went feral.
15:37I'm sobbing.
15:38This is too sweet.
15:39Golden girl, we got you.
15:40Lock it in.
15:41Lock it in.
15:41I stared at the screen.
15:42The camera panned to Marcus.
15:44Selena opened her eyes and looked straight at him.
15:46Marcus, I like you.
15:48Not because of the contract.
15:49Not to prove a point.
15:50I really, really like you.
15:53From the very first time you pick a fight with me, I liked you.
15:56The room held its breath.
15:57Then exploded.
15:58Say yes.
15:59Say yes.
16:00The chat scored too fast to read.
16:02A Bella Taylor plane Jane?
16:03You watching this?
16:04This is canon.
16:05Time for Bella to give up.
16:06She's not even fit to lick Selena's boots.
16:08She threw herself into some trash school for him and for what?
16:12He still doesn't even see her.
16:13I still remembered the night I confessed to Marcus.
16:16The moon was beautiful that night.
16:18Its light falling on his profile and making him look especially striking.
16:21I'd carefully reached for his hand.
16:24I...
16:24I like you.
16:25Then I bolted.
16:26My heart was pounding.
16:27He caught me at my front gate.
16:28He walked toward me slow.
16:30His eyes brighter than I'd ever seen them.
16:31I like you too, Bella.
16:33Then he kissed my forehead and pulled me against him.
16:37Let's stay like this.
16:38Forever.
16:39Never break up.
16:40We were holding each other under the tree.
16:41Both bright red.
16:42Back then I thought those promises meant forever.
16:44Now I knew.
16:45Nothing is forever.
16:47Not promises.
16:48Not love.
16:51A boarding announcement came over the intercom.
16:53I left one comment on the live stream.
16:56Wishing you the best.
16:57Then I shut my phone off.
16:59The wish wasn't really for them.
17:01It was for myself.
17:02I was finally letting go.
17:04Across the city, in a private booth.
17:06The atmosphere was already boiling over.
17:09Everyone was waiting on Marcus's answer.
17:11Selena looked up at him.
17:12Her face on fire.
17:14She'd dropped every shred of pride she had to confess on her own birthday.
17:18She just wanted a real answer.
17:20Marcus was silent for a long time.
17:22Long enough that the cheering died down.
17:24Long enough that people started to notice something was wrong.
17:27Selena, I'm sorry.
17:29The contract ends here.
17:31Let's call it early.
17:32The whole room froze.
17:34What did you say?
17:35I can't accept.
17:37Why?
17:39You don't like me?
17:41Marcus, look me in the eye.
17:42You really don't feel anything from me?
17:45Because of Bella?
17:46The second he heard the name, his head snapped up.
17:50I knew it.
17:51You like her, don't you?
17:53The whole room held its breath.
17:54Only Selena's soft sobs broke the silence.
17:59Marcus's fists were clenched, both hands shaking.
18:02He wanted to deny it.
18:03For years he'd trained himself to deny what we were in front of others.
18:06I don't like her.
18:07We're just friends.
18:10To draw that line between us and every crowd.
18:13But this time the words wouldn't come.
18:16Because all he could see was my face.
18:18Me standing in the rain, watching him walk off with my umbrella.
18:23Me at the dinner table, dead-eyed, saying, I haven't decided.
18:29Me running out of the classroom in tears while he stood there and didn't follow,
18:33every time he denied me to a crowd, and every time I'd forgiven him anyway.
18:38I put up with him, waited for him, and loved him like a fool.
18:42And he'd given me nothing in return.
18:44He couldn't even say, I like her, out loud, terrified of being mocked.
18:48But that mockery?
18:49I'd been carrying it for years.
18:56Yes.
18:57I like her.
19:00I like Bella.
19:01I always have.
19:03Selina stood frozen, breaking apart.
19:06He looked at her, guilt and clarity all at once in his eyes.
19:10Selina.
19:11I always thought you were incredible.
19:13I was drawn to you.
19:15I felt something.
19:18You're brilliant.
19:20You're impossible to look away from.
19:21There were moments I thought we were meant to be.
19:25But Bella...
19:27She's a part of me.
19:28I can't be without her.
19:31Selina crumpled to the floor, sobbing.
19:33The room was dead silent.
19:35No one dared make a sound.
19:37Selina dragged herself upright, eyes red, voice vicious.
19:42Marcus, you are an absolute bastard.
19:45She turned and walked out.
19:46The door slammed hard enough to shift the floor.
19:51Marcus yanked out his phone, typing fast.
19:53Bella, I broke it off with Selina.
19:55I didn't accept her confession.
19:56I like you.
19:57I've always liked you.
19:59A red exclamation mark popped up beside the message.
20:02He sent it again.
20:03Same red mark.
20:04He bolted out of the room and started calling.
20:06A dozen calls in a row.
20:08Not one connected.
20:09Messaging app.
20:10Contact number.
20:11Every channel he had.
20:12All blocked.
20:13He sprinted to my house.
20:14The lights were off.
20:15No one home.
20:16That's when it hit him.
20:17I was already gone.
20:18He'd been so sure I'd cool down.
20:20Now he understood.
20:21I hadn't cooled down at all.
20:23I was still angry.
20:24For years I'd been the easy one.
20:26The gentle one.
20:27He'd never seen me lose my temper like this.
20:29He'd really finally broken my heart.
20:31Marcus crouched on my front step.
20:33Even though he knew I couldn't see them.
20:35He kept sending messages.
20:37Bella, I'm sorry.
20:38I shouldn't have played that stupid game.
20:40I shouldn't have broken up with you.
20:42Punish me however you want.
20:43Just please don't ignore me when college starts.
20:46He sent messages every day after that.
20:49The day the semester began.
20:51Marcus drove straight to that no-name school in New Haven.
20:55The guard told him no student by that name was enrolled.
20:58He gave my name at the gate.
20:59He didn't believe it.
21:00He went through the entire freshman roster.
21:03Top to bottom.
21:04No Bella.
21:12Marcus unraveled.
21:13He tried everything to find me.
21:14He asked everyone he could think of.
21:16Do you know where Bella Taylor has gone, teacher?
21:19Oh, her?
21:20She took a leave of absence from school and went abroad to study.
21:26With no way to reach me, he started calling my parents.
21:30This is Marcus Reed.
21:31Could I speak to Bella Taylor, please?
21:33Bella Taylor asked you not to call her again.
21:35She doesn't want to see you anymore.
21:36Ma'am, please, I'm begging you.
21:38Let me just talk to her for one sentence.
21:40Just one.
21:40Marcus Reed, I've watched you grow up.
21:43Bella Taylor is doing well here.
21:45You don't need to worry.
21:46If you really care about Bella Taylor, let her go.
21:50After he hung up, Marcus slid down the cold wall.
21:53For the first time in his life, he cried.
21:56He'd had everything.
21:58Top student.
21:59Good looking.
21:59The brightest star in any room.
22:02People orbited him, and he'd gotten used to it.
22:05I had to.
22:06When we were little, I'd chased him around everywhere.
22:09I'd fall and scramble back up to keep going.
22:11When I couldn't keep up, I'd call out,
22:13Wait.
22:15He'd say no, but his pace would slow without him noticing.
22:19In school, I used to slip snacks into his backpack
22:22and run off red-faced when he caught me.
22:24He'd known I liked him even back then.
22:26He always ate every snack I gave him.
22:28Then lied that he'd given them away.
22:31After we got together, every time we kissed,
22:33my eyes squeezed shut, my face flaming.
22:36He was just as nervous.
22:38Sweaty palms.
22:39Heartbeat all over the place.
22:41He used to scold himself for being pathetic.
22:44Then play it cool and walk me home.
22:46Three years in, somehow, he'd buried all of it.
22:49Taken everything I gave him while putting me down in front of a crowd.
22:53Selina hadn't been wrong.
22:54He was a bastard.
22:57A hard wind blew through and took the last of his arrogance with it.
23:01Marcus finally saw it clearly.
23:03I'd been the only one in his heart all along.
23:09I sat by the window, the sun warm against my back.
23:13I'd been here almost two months.
23:16Compared to the disaster of my first weeks, I'd settled in.
23:20When I first arrived, I couldn't follow anything.
23:23Couldn't say anything.
23:25I had to mime my way through ordering food.
23:28I cried in my dorm more than once.
23:30Sure I was failing.
23:32Sure I'd come to the wrong place.
23:34Slowly, things shifted.
23:36Conversations got easier.
23:37I started catching what professors said in class.
23:41The first time I gave a speech, the room clapped.
23:45I was told I did well.
23:47Classmates told me casually that they thought I was excellent.
23:51I'd never felt that before.
23:55Back home, I was the invisible one with average grades.
24:00The plain girl who didn't deserve Marcus.
24:03The sad case who threw herself at a guy.
24:06When teachers called on me, classmates snickered.
24:09When I made the top ten, they said I got lucky.
24:13In Marcus's shadow, I'd looked ordinary.
24:16His shine drowned out everything I'd ever earned for myself.
24:20Eventually, I figured it out.
24:22I wasn't ordinary the way they said.
24:24To other people, I was excellent too.
24:26I was on my way out of the library when my phone rang.
24:32Unknown number.
24:34Bella.
24:34It was Marcus.
24:36I'm here.
24:37I'm at the front gate of your school.
24:39Please, just see me.
24:41Once.
24:45I hadn't expected him to fly across an ocean, two months apart.
24:49He looked different and the same.
24:51Bella, I'm sorry.
24:54But I want to say it anyway.
24:56I like you.
24:58Late apology.
24:59Late confession.
25:00Late devotion.
25:01Before the breakup, I would have cracked.
25:03Forgiven him again.
25:03We were over.
25:04There was nothing left in me for him.
25:07Got it.
25:07And?
25:09Bella, take me back.
25:10I'll never bring up breaking up again.
25:12I'll do whatever you say.
25:13The second we get home, we go public.
25:16He buried his head against my shoulder, voice hoarse.
25:20Bella, I missed you for two months straight.
25:22They wouldn't let me come find you.
25:25I had to.
25:26Doesn't matter now.
25:27Doesn't matter now.
25:29Marcus.
25:29You were the one who asked for the breakup.
25:32Now you're the one begging to get back together.
25:34You said you liked me, Bini Drogo, but you put me down in front of every single person we knew.
25:38You wouldn't admit what we were.
25:40You made me wait three years.
25:46Do you know what it felt like every time you said you didn't like me in front of them?
25:50It nearly broke my chest open.
25:52Bella doesn't deserve Marcus.
25:53I heard that for over a decade.
25:55I killed myself trying to catch up to you and you told me my progress was luck.
26:02You never noticed how I felt.
26:05Never saw what I worked for.
26:08You just stood up there and let everyone orbit you.
26:13The last words came out half shouted.
26:15He tried to step closer.
26:16I shoved him off again.
26:18I'm sorry.
26:19I'm sorry, Bella.
26:19I'll change.
26:20I'll fix all of this.
26:22You were never beneath me.
26:24Marcus, I'm done.
26:25I'm not chasing you anymore.
26:27We're done.
26:28Go home.
26:28Don't come back.
26:29I wiped my eyes and walked back into the school.
26:35Marcus didn't quit.
26:37Somehow he got my email.
26:38After he flew home, he started writing.
26:41Every day.
26:43Bella, I'll wait.
26:44As long as it takes.
26:45Until you're ready, I'll wait.
26:47Bella, it's raining.
26:49Did you bring an umbrella?
26:51Bella, it's our anniversary today.
26:53I sent you a cake and flowers.
26:55Did they get there?
26:56I didn't answer.
26:58I didn't accept a single gift.
27:01One night, another email came in.
27:04Long.
27:05He said he thought about me every day.
27:07He said he was destroying himself with regret.
27:10He said he'd wait the rest of his life.
27:13He said he was paying back every public moment he owed me.
27:17On his feed.
27:18On every platform.
27:19In front of everyone he knew.
27:21Admitting I was his girlfriend.
27:23Admitting he loved me.
27:25My phone buzzed non-stop.
27:27The class group chat hit 99 plus.
27:30Someone had screenshotted his post.
27:31I opened it.
27:33It was a long letter.
27:34The header image was a photo of us.
27:36One of the couple shots we'd taken in secret.
27:39He'd put up every single picture.
27:41At the end of the letter, Bella.
27:43I owe you a public declaration.
27:45I owe you an I like you.
27:47You chased me for over a decade.
27:49Now it's my turn to chase you.
27:50I'll wait.
27:52Whenever you're ready to look back, I'll be here.
27:55The comments were chaos.
27:56Marcus replied to every one of them.
27:59Same line each time.
28:00I like Bella.
28:02I always have.
28:03After three years, he finally stood up and said it.
28:06Too late.
28:07Like running an umbrella through a storm.
28:09By the time he reached me, the rain had already stopped.
28:16Time moved fast.
28:18My life overseas got real.
28:20That whole love story turned into a rainstorm in my youth.
28:23The rain stopped and so did everything attached to it.
28:27Sometimes I dreamed about home and woke up sad.
28:30But only sometimes.
28:32I started learning how to dress for myself.
28:34I started getting asked out.
28:36I kept working hard.
28:37I held a steady top three.
28:38A professor invited me to TA for him.
28:41I made friends among the international students.
28:44A few of us got close.
28:46On every break, we traveled together.
28:48For my birthday, my parents threw me a party at home and invited everyone I cared about.
28:53After I made my wish, my friend grabbed my hand.
28:58You're the most impressive girl I've ever met.
29:00You deserve the best of everything.
29:02I broke.
29:03I hugged her and cried.
29:04Because no one had ever said that to me.
29:06Every voice around me had been telling me I was nothing.
29:08That I didn't deserve, Marcus.
29:10For all of high school, I thought I was broken.
29:13It took me a long, long time to learn how to tell myself, Bella, you're not less than anyone.
29:19You deserve everything.
29:21Junior year, I made a call.
29:23I was applying for graduate school.
29:25My parents and friends backed me.
29:28The application stretch was brutal.
29:30Personal statements, recommendations, papers, research.
29:34I lived in the library until 2am and crashed into my dorm bed.
29:39The day my acceptance hit my inbox, my hands were shaking.
29:43When I saw the word accepted, I started crying.
29:47Every dismissal.
29:48Every laugh.
29:49Every not good enough.
29:51Just like that.
29:53Gone.
29:54Before grad school started, I went home with my parents to visit family.
29:59Four years later, I was back at the Reed house.
30:04Marcus's parents were the same as ever.
30:06Warm.
30:07Welcoming.
30:08You took off without saying goodbye.
30:11Mrs. Reed said, clearly upset.
30:14I was worried sick.
30:15She let out a breath.
30:17If I'd known about you and Marcus back then, I would have never treated Selena like that.
30:21Her voice softened slightly.
30:24Marcus.
30:25He never moved on.
30:27Four years at the college.
30:29No relationships.
30:31He'd taken over the company after graduation.
30:33And nobody had seen a woman near him.
30:36We talked for a long time that afternoon.
30:39Standing in front of my past now, I was actually steady.
30:43When I left their house, it was raining.
30:45I reached for my bag to cover my head.
30:48An umbrella opened above me.
30:51Marcus.
30:52Four years.
30:53Still good looking.
30:55Steady through the eyes now.
30:57He'd clearly rushed home.
30:58His tie was crooked.
30:59His suit half a mess.
31:00He asked to walk me home.
31:02Our houses were one minute apart.
31:04I could have sprinted it.
31:06He insisted.
31:07We'd walk this same stretch a thousand times.
31:10Today, it felt gone.
31:11He spoke carefully.
31:14Bella, congratulations on grad school.
31:16I kept it short.
31:18Thanks.
31:19A one minute walk took time.
31:21Neither of us said anything.
31:23Right at my front door, he called my name.
31:25Bella.
31:27I told him.
31:28He looked at me, eyes full of something I couldn't hear.
31:30I'm sorry.
31:32And I'll keep waiting.
31:34I let out a quiet breath with the stubbornness in his face.
31:38Don't wait, Marcus.
31:40I've moved on.
31:41Don't stay where I left you.
31:43I closed the door to the ground.
31:46On the other side, I could hear you crying.
31:48Lower and contained.
31:50Mixing up the rain.
31:51Louder and louder.
31:53But my life would never be trapped inside a rainy season again.