Cat Monroe
Tuesday, 5:52pm, September 11, 2025
The house smelled like heaven and chaos.
Meat pie, potato gains soup, and that creamy, spicy potato salad Tia always made like it was magic. Our house was packed wall-to-wall. Aunties laughing too loud, uncles arguing over whose car was faster, kids running like the floors were lava, and Tia herself shouting from the kitchen like the queen she was.
And me? I was trying not to let the sweat melt my eyeliner.
I'd retouched my lipstick twice already—deep red, bold enough to scream confidence even when I didn't feel it. I was wearing a cropped jean jacket over my fitted black dress, the one that made my legs look miles long. Not that anyone here noticed.
Except Joy.
She noticed everything.
She flopped onto the couch next to me, her long braids swinging over one shoulder. Joy always dressed like a cartoon character from a Gen-Z fever dream—tight black sweater, white Mickey Mouse pajama pants, and big gold hoops. Somehow, it worked.
"So…" she said, stretching out the word like it was about to start something. "How's Elijah?"
I rolled my eyes. "Oh boy. Here we go."
"What?" she grinned. "I'm just asking. You two are a thing now, right? Everyone's talking about it. You're, like, Oakridge's hottest couple."
I gave her my best don't-start-with-me look. But she just raised an eyebrow, all smug and knowing.
"Elijah's fine," I said. "Sweet. Predictable. He gives good hugs."
"Mmm-hmm," Joy hummed, leaning forward like she wanted gossip for dessert. "So what's it like? You falling hard?"
I paused.
And then I said it.
The thing I hadn't even admitted to myself yet.
"I'm not falling," I said, leaning back and sipping my soda. "I'm just… riding the wave. He's popular. I'm already loud, already out there—but with him? People listen more. Teachers cut me slack. Girls at school try to copy my outfits. Even that psycho in AP History—Janey-something—complimented my eyeliner. Me."
Joy blinked. "So you're using him."
"Don't say it like that."
"But you are."
I shrugged. "Look, I'm not evil. I like Elijah. He's a good guy. But I'm not going to write poetry about him under my pillowcase to prove I do. I'm not stupid. High school ends. Popularity doesn't last. You either burn bright or disappear. I'm choosing to burn."
Joy stared at me like I'd just grown horns.
"Damn," she said, a slow smile forming. "That's cold."
"It's survival," I said simply.
And I meant it.
Because love? Love gets messy. Love makes you weak. But being wanted? Being seen?
That's power.
And right now, I had it.
Even if it meant lying a little.
Even if it meant Elijah didn't really know me at all.
The laughter around the table faded into the background as my phone buzzed in my lap.
I didn't even think much of it—probably just Rosa texting me to come tomorrow to meet up or Maddie complaining about homework. I unlocked my phone, still chewing a piece of meat pie.
But when I saw the name on the screen, I stopped chewing.
Elijah.
And the message?
Short. Direct. Brutal.
Hey Cat. We need to talk. I don't think this is working anymore. I think we should end things.
I stared at the screen.
The words didn't even make sense at first. I read it again. And again.
End things?
He wanted to end things?
I felt heat rush to my cheeks—not the flirty kind, the humiliating, slapped-in-the-face kind. My fingers hovered over the keyboard, but I couldn't type anything.
Joy looked up from her plate and narrowed her eyes. "What? What's wrong?"
I shook my head. "Nothing."
But my face said otherwise.
Because no matter what I told Joy earlier about using him—this still stung. This wasn't part of the script. I was supposed to call the shots. Not him.
He blindsided me. In the middle of my grandma's dinner. On Joy's birthday.
I got up from the table.
"Cat?" Tia called after me. "Where you going? You didn't even finish your plate!"
I didn't answer.
I climbed the stairs two at a time and locked myself in the bathroom. My reflection in the mirror looked back at me with a flicker of something I didn't want to admit.
Not pain.
Not heartbreak.
Just disbelief.
Because if Elijah Ward thought he could end things with me that easily...
Then he didn't know who he was dealing with.
Not yet.