Ryan Cooper’s face showed nothing but open disgust as he pulled Emily Carter away.
“I’ll take Emily home first. Wait here—I need to talk to you afterward.”
Emily glanced at me a few times but said nothing, following Ryan.
Maybe I should never have come in the first place.
This time, I didn’t wait for Ryan. I went straight home.
In my world, I had no parents—only Grandma.
Near midnight, I was bent over my diary, writing.
The door suddenly flew open, Ryan storming in.
As I quickly shut the diary, a sticky note slipped out.
On it were the words: Ryan Cooper, I like you.
Ryan’s face darkened when he saw it.
“You like me?”
There was no joy in his expression—only disgust.
I stayed silent, turning my head away.
“Claire, we should keep our distance. You know perfectly well that I like Emily.”
My voice rasped.
“I will.”
And just like that, we stopped seeing each other.
“Claire, no matter how out of line you’ve been, I hope you won’t drag Emily into this. She’s a good girl.”
Eyes burning, I tilted my head up at him.
“In your eyes, does that make me a bad girl? Ryan, was there ever even the tiniest flicker of feeling for me? Not even a little?”
Ryan stayed silent.
And that silence was his answer.
“I understand.”
Ryan met my gaze.
“Claire, as long as you admit your mistakes and stop interfering, we can still be friends. On the way back, Emily was even defending you—she said you didn’t mean to, that it wasn’t all your fault.”
I let out a bitter laugh.
“So, what, I should thank her for that?”
My sarcastic tone only fueled Ryan’s displeasure.
“Claire, when did you become so unreasonable? I came here thinking I’d comfort you, but clearly that was a mistake.”
His brows knit tightly.
“You know I like Emily, so stay away from me. Don’t upset her.”
Ryan stepped back, widening the space between us.
“Claire, I think being liked by you is disgusting. I don’t want to see you in college. Stay away from our world.”
With that, Ryan left.
From behind me, I pulled out the diary.
The only proof that the twenty-eight-year-old Ryan had ever existed.
The only thing I had carried with me from the other world.
That night, I scrolled across Ryan’s social media.
He was planning a confession.
And the date was just three days away.
During those three days, I left Grandma with relatives and gave her all my part-time job savings.
I burned everything that had anything to do with Ryan.