Dropping the Golden Boy

The bastard who had sold my future down the river to his buddy now blocked my path, his face completely drained of color.

He begged for my forgiveness, swearing up and down that it was just a joke. I stared at him, my stomach churning with pure disgust.

Just a few months ago, he was laughing at me behind my back, waiting for me to blindly jump into the fire he set.

I let out a cold scoff and walked right past him, not even sparing him a second glance. "I don't joke around with trash.

You don't even have the right to piss me off anymore." Chapter 1 It was almost time to submit our college applications.

I texted Parker, playing it cool and casually asking where he planned to apply. Parker was goodlooking and sharp.

Since we both had top grades, we sometimes studied together, making us a bit closer than regular classmates. He was the undisputed golden boy of our high school.

He loved wearing crisp white buttondowns, and when the sunlight hit him just right, he looked like the pictureperfect, easygoing guy next door.

Parker texted back seconds later. [I'm applying to CU. Are you applying there too?] My heart did a flip when I read that.

My SAT scores were way above CU's cutoff, but I was so blinded by my stupid crush that I completely missed the glaring red flags. There were so many things wrong with his message.

With his GPA and test scores, he could easily get into an Ivy League, so why was he settling for a midtier state school? I didn't care. A rush of pure joy washed over me.

All those months of pining were finally paying off. I typed back. [Yeah.] He didn't reply. I didn't think much of it.

That afternoon, my best friend Brooke dragged me to a local coffee shop. I showed up right on time, only to catch a familiar silhouette out of the corner of my eye. Was it fate?

Parker was there. A flutter of excitement hit my chest. He was hunched over a table, mashing buttons on his phone with a couple of his guys.

I snagged a booth right behind him, just wanting to hear his voice up close. Instead, the words that came out of his mouth hit me like a freight train.

Parker sounded completely laidback, dripping with arrogance. "You guys know Sloane?

She came sniffing around, trying to find out where I'm applying so she can follow me." One of his friends let out a surprised whistle. "The valedictorian? Nice. She's hot.

You going to hook up with that?" Parker didn't even look up from his screen, his thumbs flying. "That idiot? I wouldn't touch her.

She walks around acting like she's better than everyone else." "Why the hell would I like her? Guess what I did? I told her I was applying to Lance's school.

Lance, I'm a good bro, right?" Lance looked up, though the smirk on his face completely contradicted his words. "Isn't that a little messed up?" I wasn't deaf.

I could hear the sick, gloating amusement in his voice. He looked like a smug little rat. Lance was a guy in our homeroom. Back in April, he had asked me out.

I wasn't interested and let him down easy. He wouldn't drop it, cornering me and demanding a real reason. What reason was I supposed to give?

I spent the rest of the semester dodging him in the halls. And now, the guy I had a massive crush on was tossing me right into Lance's lap without a second thought.

I took a deep breath, instantly swallowing the shock in my eyes and replacing it with bonechilling ice.

For the first time in my life, I realized just how pathetic my sugarcoated teenage crush really was. Brooke had heard everything.

She planted her hands on the table, ready to march over and rip them a new one. I knew I looked like I had just been slapped across the face.

But I refused to let them see me bleed, especially Parker. Brooke let out a heavy sigh, grabbed my hand, and pulled me toward the exit.

The indie pop music masking our footsteps meant Parker and his crew never even noticed we were there.

Right as we pushed through the door, Parker's laughing voice drifted over one last time, hanging in the air like a bad joke. Chapter 2 "Chicks come and go, but bros are forever.

You know I always look out for my guys." My steps hitched, my boots suddenly feeling like they were filled with concrete. Once outside, the frigid wind hit me like a slap.

It whipped my hair into a frenzy, strands lashing against my cheeks.

Brooke reached out to comfort me, but froze when she saw the damp streaks on my face, my hair plastered to my wet cheeks. She let out a sharp sigh. "Parker is absolute trash.

He's a snake in sheep's clothing. Sloane, you cannot throw your future away for a guy like that!" I didn't say a word, my mind buzzing with white noise.

Why would he humiliate me like this? What did I ever do to him? The more I thought about it, the harder it was to hold back the sting in my eyes. Brooke quickly flagged down a cab.

We couldn't stay out on the street looking like this. That night, I tossed and turned in bed, the memories playing on a relentless loop.

We had known each other for three years, sharing the same AP classes since freshman year. We always locked down the top two spots in our graduating class.

He was brilliant, and his effortless good looks had practically defined my high school experience. He was charismatic, the kind of guy who could effortlessly work any room.

But sometimes, the things he did made me feel like I was the exception to his rule.

Like the time I was running on empty after pulling an allnighter for exams, and he went out of his way to bring me my exact customized latte order.

Or when he asked me to go hiking, and once we reached the summit, he looked deep into my eyes and whispered, "Can I kiss you?" I had panicked and turned him down, heat rushing to my cheeks.

He just smirked and said, "A girl's blush beats any answer." There were so many moments like that. Things that crossed the line of a normal friendship.

I thought I was harboring a secret crush, but I had been so absolutely certain the feeling was mutual.

Instead, the audio of him laughing in that coffee shop replayed in my head like a sick soundtrack. I allowed myself exactly five minutes to cry over this cheap crush.

Once the timer was up, I marched into the bathroom and splashed freezing water onto my face until the shock snapped me back to reality.

Moonlight spilled through the window, washing the white walls in silver. I lay there staring at the beam of light, my eyes wide open. The words were jammed in my throat, choking me.

People always romanticize high school crushes as innocent and beautiful. All I felt was nausea.

The guy I had put on a pedestal had objectified me, tossing me to his buddy like a piece of garbage he was done playing with.

On college application day, Parker sent me a massive block of text. I didn't even bother reading it before hitting block.

I opened my camera roll and purged every single photo with his face in it. From this moment on, he was dead to me. I was done catching feelings for him.

He hadn't just treated my feelings like cheap trash; he had taken my pride and stomped it into the dirt.

With one definitive click of the mouse, I submitted my application to Harvard.

I wasn't just going to get into the best university in the country; I was going to climb to a height he could only ever look up to.

I was going to use him as a stepping stone and crush him under my heel. Nobody in this world was worth sabotaging my future over. At Harvard, I met all kinds of people.

It was the absolute top tier, after all. Every single student who walked these halls was exceptionally gifted, and they possessed an insane, relentless work ethic.

The pressure was suffocating. I kept myself buried in work, completely consumed with leveling up my own life.

Back in high school, being played for a fool by Parker felt like the end of the world. But now that I was here, I didn't have a single second to waste on romance or cheap drama.

Chapter 3 Brooke had officially declared war on Parker since the coffee shop incident. She was honestly angrier about it than I was.

Since we went to college in the same city, meeting up was easy. The first weekend of the semester, we hung out at a boba spot.

Brooke took a vicious pull from her straw and glared at the table. "That absolute piece of trash Parker ended up at MIT.

I just heard from a mutual." She shot me a reproachful look. "You can't just sit there and take the hit. He practically slapped you across the face.

Why aren't you getting back at him?" Brooke was still obsessed with my lack of retaliation.

I coldly swirled the ice in my cup. "Going after him like some hysterical, crazy ex is way beneath me.

If we're going to get revenge, we need to completely destroy the thing he cares about most.

Break him so hard he can never get back up." Brooke slammed her drink down, rolling her eyes so hard I thought they might get stuck in her skull. "We still can't just let them walk away with this!

Those guys are way too arrogant.

I swear to God, I want to take a kickboxing class just so I can roundhouse kick every single one of them in the face." I just smiled and took a sip of my drink.

I had zero intention of starting drama, but the drama found me anyway. During my second month at Harvard, our campus hosted the National Intercollegiate Skills Competition.

That was when I ran into Parker again. I was in the middle of discussing some coursework with Caleb.

Parker stormed over, practically vibrating with anger. "Sloane, what is your problem?" I pointed at myself. "Excuse me?" "You promised we were going to the same school.

Why the hell did you ghost me?" I let out a cold laugh. "Aren't you at MIT?" He was at MIT, but he had lied and told me he was going to BU.

I stared at the guy standing in front of me, a wave of sheer disappointment washing over me. He actually had the audacity to come at me with this selfrighteous attitude.

I hadn't even come after him to settle the score, and here he was, pushing his luck. Parker's face twisted like he had just swallowed a mouthful of sour milk.

The tight line of his jaw betrayed how deeply my callout had stung his overinflated ego.

He glanced at Caleb, who was still standing right next to me, and tried to drag me to the side. "Yeah, fine, I went to MIT.

But BU is right across the river." "If you had gone to BU…" He shot me a look, his face dripping with arrogance. "…we might already be dating." I stared at him with dead eyes.

It was genuinely hard to believe I ever had feelings for this guy. He knew damn well I had a crush on him, and he used it as bragging rights.

Every word spilling out of his mouth sounded like he completely believed his own twisted logic.

When I didn't immediately respond, Parker's embarrassment morphed into defensive rage. "What is with that attitude?

I'm trying to talk to you nicely, and you're just going to freeze me out?" "Fine, I admit it, telling you to go to BU was a joke. But you didn't have to block me.

Only middle schoolers block people.

We're adults, why are you being so immature?" Parker was really getting fired up now, glaring down at me. "I might have made a mistake, but you're not completely innocent here either." I watched him throw his pathetic little tantrum with absolute indifference, looking at him like he was a ridiculous clown putting on a sideshow. "Parker, I was completely wrong about you." "When you tried to pawn me off to Lance, what was going through your head?

Am I just some object to you? What gave you the right to treat me like that?" My voice was flat, totally devoid of emotion.

If this confrontation had happened back at the coffee shop, I probably would have stuttered and choked back tears. But right now, I could question him with zero friction.

Because I didn't love him, and I didn't care, there was no heartbreak left to feel. I just felt completely nauseated.

Chapter 4 Parker stared at me, the selfrighteousness instantly draining from his face as his voice cracked.

Panic flashed in his eyes. "What do you know?" "Listen to me, it's not what you think. Don't let people mess with your head." He reached out, trying to grab my hand.

I started to step back, but realized I didn't need to. Another hand clamped down on his wrist. I looked up. It was Caleb.

Caleb's voice was dangerously low, vibrating with a subtle warning. "Use your words, buddy.

Keep your hands to yourself and show some respect." Parker immediately tried to yank his arm back. But Caleb's bicep flexed, his grip locking in like an absolute vise.

Not only could Parker not break free, but a cold sweat broke out on his forehead as his features twisted in obvious pain. Having made his point, Caleb casually let go.

He turned his attention to me, tipping his chin. "Sloane, right? We have some things to go over. Walk with me." I shot him a grateful look and fell into step beside him.

Behind us, Parker started cursing. "Sloane, you little tramp! Are you already hooking up with another guy? I'm not letting you get away with this!" The color drained from my face.

Caleb caught my reaction. "Don't sweat it. He wouldn't dare try anything on campus." "If he bothers you again, I'll happily rearrange his face for you.

The guy is clearly unhinged, so don't let him get in your head." I nodded. "Thanks, Caleb." Caleb was essentially Harvard royalty. He was the state valedictorian the year before me.

We were both computer science majors. Normally, our paths wouldn't cross. But today I had practically fought tooth and nail for this chance to pick his brain about our coursework.

Caleb was insanely busy. Way busier than I was, and getting a minute of his time was next to impossible.

If it hadn't been for that sudden trainwreck of an encounter, I could have squeezed a few more questions out of him. The thought made a sigh catch in my throat.

Caleb seemed to read my mind. A soft, easy smile touched the corners of his eyes. "Don't worry about it.

You can hit me up anytime if you have questions." That night, an unknown number lit up my phone. The second I swiped answer, a frantic, furious voice blasted through the speaker.

Even through the faint static, I could hear his heavy breathing. "Sloane, I am not letting you get that close to another guy… How could you… how could you throw away everything we had so fast?" My stomach dropped.

It was utterly absurd. He was the one who had stabbed me in the back, yet here he was, playing the bleedingheart victim. Back in high school, maybe I did like him.

I thought he was funny, effortlessly cool, and charming. But now, he felt like a complete stranger. The golden pedestal I had put him on was completely shattered.

And there was no gluing those pieces back together. Parker was still rambling on the other end. "Sloane, are you really this heartless?

I was just trying to look cool in front of my boys." "It was a stupid joke! I never actually planned on handing you over to anyone else.

I texted you a whole apology right after, but you blocked me!" A pathetic, chokedup sob filtered through the receiver. Too bad I felt absolutely nothing.

I sat at my desk, idly twirling my pen, reviewing my textbook and applying the coding tips Caleb had given me earlier. I let him cry until the line went silent.

Finally, I spoke up. "Are you done?

Then we're done here." Parker scrambled to keep me on the line. "Don't hang up, wait, I haven't finished—" I let out a soft, mocking laugh, spitting out a single word laced with ice. "Disgusting." Then, leaving his frantic shouting ringing in the void, I killed the call and permanently blocked the number.

Chapter 5 Back in high school, I thought he was flawless. Perfect in every way. Our grades were neck and neck, which was exactly why I asked him where he was applying.

I was dead set on the fact that whatever his dream school was, I could get in too. There was zero chance of me wasting my high SAT scores on a safety school.

I used to look forward to it so much. Fantasizing about spending my college years with him. Now, I just scoff at the thought. Turns out, Parker was nothing special after all.

High test scores don't filter out trash personalities. Sure, he was smart, but he was fundamentally rotten.

In that coffee shop, completely oblivious to the fact that someone he knew might overhear, he casually spat out those toxic words. He literally used me to score points with his bro.

How lowclass could you get? I was just totally blind. Two days later, my phone buzzed with a message from a contact I hadn't talked to in ages.

I stared at the text, completely caught off guard. [Sloane, did something happen between you and Parker