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I shook my head. It wasn’t her fault. Honestly, I didn’t blame Adonis for falling for her. She was the best.

I just felt stupid for ever thinking he’d fallen for me. I’d been a shell of a person when he’d come into my life. Of course he hadn’t liked me. I hadn’t even liked me.

“Hey,” my mom said and put her hands on my cheeks, brushing away my tears. “It’s okay, everything is okay.”

“Mom.” My bottom lip trembled. “I messed everything up.”

“We’ll fix it. Don’t cry, sweetie. You’re my shining star.”

I wasn’t a shining star. Not even my boyfriend thought so. I shook my head. I’d messed up my whole life. For a boy who preferred my mom.

I was an idiot. My eyes gravitated to Adonis.

He was wiping vanilla pudding off his face. His green eyes met mine from across the room.

Usually his eyes meeting mine made me feel less alone. They’d comforted me. I’d been like putty in his hands. And I had a feeling those green eyes would haunt me now.

“I’m not a shining star,” I said. I stepped away from my mom.

“Soph.” Scarlett grabbed my hand. “Its...”

I pulled my hand out of her grip. There was nothing she could say. There was nothing anyone could say to fix this. “Guys, go have fun at prom.”

“We’re not going without you, Soph,” Jacob said.

“You are. And you’re all going to have a great time.”

“Soph...”

I didn’t hear the rest of what he’d said, because I was running out of the room.

“Baby girl!” my dad called.

I heard all my friends’ voices telling me to stop.

But I didn’t hear Adonis.

And I knew why. Because he didn’t really care. He never had. No matter what he said. He’d used me. He’d used me when I was at my lowest point. And I just needed to get as far away from him as possible.

But then I felt a sticky hand grab my wrist before the elevator arrived.

“I promised you I’d never leave you,” Adonis said.

I couldn’t look at him.

“And I took that promise to mean both ways. That you promised too. Don’t leave me, Aphrodite.”

My tears started falling faster. I’d believed everything he’d ever said to me. And now I wasn’t sure which pieces were true. If any. But I did know one thing. That he’d never been willing to bend. And I was so tired of breaking.

“I’m not the one leaving, Adonis,” I said. “You are. Because staying still with me isn’t what you want. Because I’m not what you want.”

“That’s not true,” he said. “Would you please just look at me?”

The elevator doors dinged open.

I stepped onto them and turned around. I stared at him covered in pudding. Staring at me with those green eyes that I loved so much.

He tried to step on too, but I put my hand on his chest to stop him. The pudding squished under my hand. It felt as repulsive as the man himself.