The Boy I Was Meant to Hate
There were three things Lena Hart absolutely hated.
One—people who chewed with their mouths open. 🤢
Two—people who walked painfully slowly in the middle of a crowded sidewalk.
And three...
Adrian Blackwood.
Unfortunately, fate seemed to have a terrible sense of humor.
Because on the exact morning Lena had promised herself she would have a peaceful day, all three appeared at once.
The freshman sitting beside her in the university cafeteria was chewing his sandwich like he was personally trying to destroy it.
CRUNCH.
CRUNCH.
CRUNCH.
Lena's eye twitched.
She slowly turned her head.
The boy continued chewing.
CRUNCH.
Lena's fingers tightened around her coffee cup.
"Are you... okay?" she finally asked.
The boy looked at her.
"Huh?"
Lena pointed at his sandwich.
"Your sandwich."
He looked down.
"What about it?"
"Nothing."
She smiled.
A very fake smile.
"Absolutely nothing."
CRUNCH.
Lena's eyelid twitched again.
She stood up.
"Enjoy your meal."
The boy blinked.
"Thanks?"
Lena grabbed her bag and walked away before she committed a crime involving carbohydrates.
She had exactly ten minutes before her first lecture.
Ten.
Beautiful.
Peaceful.
Wonderful.
Until she reached the sidewalk.
An elderly man was standing directly in front of her.
Texting.
Slowly.
Very slowly.
Lena stopped.
She waited.
The man didn't move.
Lena looked left.
People.
She looked right.
More people.
She looked at the sky.
"Seriously?" 😐
The man moved one step.
Lena waited.
He stopped again.
Her eye twitched.
"Sir..."
Nothing.
"Sir?"
Still nothing.
Lena leaned closer.
"Are you perhaps waiting for the next century?"
The man finally looked up.
"Excuse me?"
"Nothing."
Lena smiled.
Again.
That same fake smile.
"Have a lovely day."
She squeezed past him.
And that's when she saw him.
The world didn't stop.
There were no dramatic fireworks.
No angelic music.
No magical wind blowing through her hair.
Honestly?
That would have been embarrassing.
But Lena stopped walking anyway.
Because standing in front of her—
looking completely out of place among ordinary university students—
was the last person she ever expected to see.
Tall.
Dark hair.
Sharp jaw.
Perfect black suit.
Expensive watch.
Cold expression.
Annoyingly handsome.
Lena's eyes widened.
Her brain immediately screamed one word.
NO.
Absolutely not.
She turned around.
Immediately.
She was leaving.
She didn't care where she went.
She could transfer universities.
She could move countries.
She could even move to the moon.
Anything was better than this.
"Lena."
She froze.
Oh no.
That voice.
She slowly closed her eyes.
Please don't.
"Lena Hart."
She turned around.
There he was.
Adrian Blackwood.
Her childhood enemy.
Her personal nightmare.
The son of the man she blamed for destroying her family.
And, unfortunately, the most irritatingly handsome man she had ever seen.
Adrian raised one eyebrow.
"Are you running away from me?"
Lena stared at him.
"Why would I run away from you?"
"You just turned around."
"I forgot something."
"What?"
"My dignity."
Adrian blinked.
Lena smiled.
"Still looking for it."
For a second, Adrian said nothing.
Then his mouth moved.
Just slightly.
Lena's eyes widened.
"Did you just smile?"
His expression immediately returned to normal.
"No."
"You did!"
"I didn't."
"You absolutely did!"
Adrian walked past her.
"It was a muscle spasm."
Lena stared after him.
Then she gasped.
"YOUR FACE HAS MUSCLE SPASMS?!" 😳
Several students turned around.
Adrian stopped.
Very slowly.
He turned to look at her.
Lena immediately covered her mouth.
Oops. 😬
Adrian's eyes narrowed.
"Lena."
"Yes?"
"Do you ever stop talking?"
She thought about it.
"No."
"Clearly."
"Thank you."
"That wasn't a compliment."
"I'll take it anyway."
Adrian shook his head.
He started walking again.
Lena followed him.
Not because she wanted to.
Obviously.
She just happened to be walking in the same direction.
For approximately three seconds.
Then Adrian glanced over his shoulder.
"Why are you following me?"
Lena gasped.
"Following you?!"
"Yes."
"Don't flatter yourself."
"You've been walking behind me for thirty seconds."
"This is a university."
"Exactly."
"People walk here."
"You're walking behind me."
"Maybe you're walking in front of me."
Adrian stopped.
Lena almost crashed into him.
She quickly stepped back.
Adrian looked down at her.
Lena looked up.
Silence.
One second.
Two.
Three.
Oh.
This was too close.
Lena could suddenly see the tiny details of his face.
The faint scar near his eyebrow.
The dark color of his eyes.
The way his hair fell slightly over his forehead.
Her heart made a strange little—
thump.
Lena immediately stepped back.
No.
Absolutely not.
That was not happening.
Adrian tilted his head.
"Are you okay?"
"Perfect."
"You look confused."
"I'm thinking."
"That's dangerous."
Lena's mouth fell open.
"Did you just insult my intelligence?"
"I thought it was obvious."
"You're unbelievable."
"And you're loud."
"And you're arrogant."
"You're dramatic."
"You're—"
"Late."
Lena froze.
Her eyes widened.
She looked at her phone.
Her lecture started in two minutes.
"Oh my God!"
She immediately ran.
"Lena!"
She stopped.
"What?!"
Adrian pointed at her coffee.
"Your cup."
She looked down.
Her coffee was empty.
She had been carrying the empty cup for the last ten minutes.
"Oh."
Adrian stared at her.
Lena stared at the cup.
Then she looked at him.
"Don't say anything."
"I wasn't going to."
"Your face is saying something."
"My face?"
"Yes!"
"You've been staring at my face."
Lena froze.
Adrian's eyebrow lifted.
She immediately looked away.
"I was checking your muscle spasm."
Adrian's lips curved.
This time, he didn't deny it.
He was smiling.
Lena's heart did that stupid thing again.
Thump.
She frowned.
Why?
Why was her heart behaving like a traitor? 😑
This was Adrian Blackwood.
The boy she had hated since she was ten.
The boy whose family name had been connected to the worst day of her life.
The boy whose father had been driving the car that killed her mother.
She had spent twelve years blaming the Blackwoods.
Twelve years.
And now Adrian was standing in front of her...
smiling.
Lena looked away.
"Goodbye, Blackwood."
She turned to leave.
"Lena."
She stopped.
"What now?"
Adrian's expression had changed.
The smile was gone.
His eyes were suddenly serious.
"How have you been?"
Lena's heart sank.
It was such a simple question.
But coming from him...
It felt complicated.
She slowly turned around.
"Fine."
Adrian watched her.
"Really?"
"Really."
"You're lying."
Lena's smile disappeared.
"Don't."
"I didn't mean—"
"Don't talk about my life like you know anything about it."
Silence.
Adrian's jaw tightened.
Lena immediately regretted her words.
But she couldn't take them back.
She had spent years building walls.
Adrian Blackwood was not supposed to walk back into her life and casually knock them down.
He looked at her for a long moment.
Then he nodded.
"Okay."
He walked away.
Lena watched him leave.
Something inside her felt strangely heavy.
"Idiot," she whispered.
She wasn't sure whether she meant him...
or herself.
---
That afternoon, Lena sat in the university library.
She had promised herself she would study.
Instead, she had spent forty-five minutes staring at the same page.
The words were beginning to blur.
She sighed.
"Why did he have to come back?"
Across from her, her best friend Mia Carter slowly lowered her book.
"Who?"
Lena looked up.
"No one."
Mia narrowed her eyes.
"Lena."
"What?"
"Who?"
"Nobody."
Mia leaned closer.
"Was it a guy?"
"No."
"Was he handsome?"
"No."
"Rich?"
"No."
"Mysterious?"
"No."
Mia's eyes widened.
"Oh my God."
Lena frowned.
"What?"
"Adrian Blackwood."
Lena nearly fell out of her chair.
"HOW DO YOU KNOW?!" 😳
Mia grinned.
"Because you only look like that when someone has ruined your day."
"Nobody ruined my day."
"Your ears are red."
"They are not!"
"They are."
Lena covered her ears.
Mia burst out laughing.
"Oh my God! You still like him!"
Lena's mouth dropped open.
"I would rather marry a cactus."
Mia laughed harder.
"A cactus?"
"Yes."
"Why?"
"Because a cactus has better manners."
Mia was practically crying with laughter.
Lena crossed her arms.
Then she noticed something outside the library window.
A golden light.
Her smile slowly disappeared.
There.
Between the trees.
A thin golden thread floated in the air.
Lena blinked.
Once.
Twice.
The thread disappeared.
She stood up.
"Lena?"
She didn't answer.
She walked toward the window.
Her heart began beating faster.
She had seen that light before.
Once.
A long time ago.
The night her mother died.
"Lena?"
Mia stood beside her.
"What are you looking at?"
Lena pointed.
"Did you see that?"
"See what?"
"The light."
"What light?"
Lena stared outside.
Nothing.
Just trees.
Students.
Cars.
Normal life.
She swallowed.
"Nothing."
Mia frowned.
"You're acting weird."
"I'm always weird."
"True."
Lena turned away.
But the feeling remained.
Something was wrong.
Something had changed.
---
That night, Lena couldn't sleep.
She stood beside her bedroom window, staring at the city lights.
Her mother used to tell her something when she was little.
Everyone has a thread.
Lena had always thought it was just a story.
A bedtime story.
Until the night she saw them.
The threads.
Thin.
Golden.
Glowing.
Connecting people to their futures.
She had never understood why she could see them.
Or why sometimes...
they changed.
Lena closed her eyes.
"Don't think about it."
She opened them.
And froze.
Across the street, standing beneath a streetlight—
was Adrian.
Lena's heart jumped.
"What the—?"
Why was he here?
She moved closer to the window.
Adrian was talking on the phone.
His expression was tense.
Lena couldn't hear the conversation.
But she could see something else.
A golden thread.
It came from somewhere behind her.
It crossed the room.
Passed through the window.
And connected directly to Adrian's chest.
Lena stopped breathing.
"No..."
The thread pulsed.
Once.
Twice.
Then—
it turned black.
Lena's blood ran cold.
She had never seen that before.
Not once.
She pressed her hand against the glass.
Adrian suddenly looked up.
Their eyes met.
Lena froze.
He couldn't possibly see the thread.
Could he?
Adrian stared directly at her window.
Then his phone slipped from his hand.
Lena's heart pounded.
Adrian looked terrified.
Not annoyed.
Not arrogant.
Terrified.
Lena stepped closer to the glass.
"Adrian?"
The moment she said his name—
something appeared above his head.
Glowing red numbers.
Lena's eyes widened.
Her breath caught in her throat.
17 DAYS.
She stumbled backward.
"No."
The numbers remained.
17 DAYS.
"What does that mean?"
The room suddenly became freezing cold.
The lights flickered.
Once.
Twice.
Then—
a whisper came from directly behind her.
"Don't change it."
Lena froze.
Slowly...
she turned around.
Nobody.
Her heart hammered against her ribs.
"Who's there?"
Silence.
Then the voice came again.
"Let fate take its course."
Lena's eyes filled with fear.
She turned back toward the window.
Adrian was still there.
But now the golden thread around him was tightening.
Slowly.
Like invisible hands were pulling it closed.
Lena's face went pale.
"Stop."
The voice whispered.
"If you save him..."
The thread tightened again.
Adrian suddenly grabbed his chest.
Lena gasped.
"Adrian!"
She didn't know how.
She didn't know why.
But she knew one thing.
The man she had spent twelve years hating...
was going to die.
And somehow—
she was the only person who could stop it.
The voice whispered its final words.
"Someone else will have to die."
Lena stared at Adrian.
Her heart broke.
Not because she loved him.
Not yet.
But because she knew exactly what it felt like...
to lose someone you loved.
And she had already lost her mother once.
She wasn't going to watch someone die again.
Not if she could stop it.
Lena wiped the tears that had unexpectedly gathered in her eyes.
Her expression changed.
Determination replaced fear.
"Fine."
The supernatural presence behind her went silent.
Lena looked at the glowing numbers above Adrian's head.
17 DAYS.
She clenched her fists.
"Let's see what happens when I break fate."
The golden thread suddenly exploded into thousands of glowing pieces. ✨
And somewhere in the darkness...
someone smiled.
Because Lena Hart had just made the biggest mistake of her life.
She had challenged fate.
And fate...
had been waiting for her to do exactly that.
