Chapter 1
Do you remember how we first met?
Your family had just moved to town, and your younger sister ended up in the same year as me as we started sixth form. Somehow, without even trying, she became my best friend almost instantly.
You, on the other hand, were four hours away at university. Untouchable, really. Just a name I heard in passing, a face in the framed photos scattered around the house — glimpses of a life that didn't include me. I never thought twice about you.
Not then.
That changed the weekend you came home.
You showed up with an overstuffed bag of laundry slung over your shoulder, and your sister didn't miss a second before calling you lazy. We'd gone into the kitchen to make lunch while you caught up with your parents, and in the ten minutes it took us to throw together sandwiches and pour drinks, she told me everything about you — like she'd been waiting for the chance.
By the time we walked back in, I felt like I already knew you.
She teased you straight away, saying she was surprised you'd even managed to get into a good university — let alone survive two months there. You called her an idiot.
And I laughed.
That's when it happened.
You looked at me — properly looked at me — and smiled for the first time.
And just like that...
My crush on you began.
Neither of you had any idea.
