Eliya was not panicking.
She was troubleshooting.
Sitting at the back of the school library, hoodie up, laptop open, and caffeine levels dangerously high, she was deep inside the backend of her app, scrolling through lines of code that had once made sense.
Now? They mocked her.
Match ID #0045: Eliya Park + Theo Rivera – 92.06% Compatibility.
She stared at it like it was a virus.
“Why you?” she whispered, dragging a hand through her hair. “Out of literally everyone.”
“Some say love is random,” came a voice behind her, “but in this case, it’s just hilarious.”
She didn’t need to turn around. She could feel the smirk.
“You followed me here?” she said flatly.
Theo slid into the seat across from her, plopping down like he had all the time in the world. “Don’t flatter yourself. I came for the vending machine. The chips were sold out, but watching you meltdown is honestly better.”
Eliya narrowed her eyes. “There is no meltdown. I’m fixing a minor system glitch.”
“Sure. And I’m the Easter Bunny.”
She flipped her laptop screen just slightly, blocking his view. “You don’t get it. This app is supposed to make sense of love. Take the guesswork out. Make it reliable.”
“And yet here we are,” Theo said, leaning in. “Matched. Doomed. Romantically entangled.”
“Stop.”
“What if it’s fate?”
“What if it’s sabotage?”
Theo laughed. “You think I hacked your app just to mess with you? That’s flattering and offensive.”
“You’ve literally spent two years interrupting my presentations, stealing my parking spot, and giving me nicknames like ‘Robo-heart.’”
“I never said they weren’t accurate.”
She glared. He smiled wider.
“Okay, look,” he said, suddenly a bit more serious. “You really think I’m happy about this match? I’m the fun guy. You're... spreadsheets.”
“I’m layered.”
“You’re a control freak.”
“And you’re reckless.”
“Perfect match,” he said.
Eliya shut her laptop. “This isn’t happening.”
---
Later That Night
She couldn’t sleep.
The glitch still didn’t make sense. There were no bugs in the match logic. No errors in the compatibility function. She’d even reweighted the emotional intelligence variables just to be sure.
Still… 92%.
The highest match in the entire app.
What if the problem wasn’t the code?
What if the problem was her?
She thought back to the day she wrote the algorithm. After the worst argument her parents had ever had. The night her mom cried herself to sleep and Eliya decided emotions were just chemical malfunctions.
Love didn’t protect anyone. It failed people. But maybe just maybe she had wanted the app to work too badly. Maybe that’s why her own results weren’t hidden like they were supposed to be.
And why they matched her with the one person who made her feel the most off-balance.
She opened her laptop again.
Just to look.
---
Monday Morning
Everyone was still talking about it.
LoveMatch had gone from school curiosity to full-on obsession. Some people were dating now. Others were mad about their low scores and claiming the app ruined their lives. Someone had even written “MatchMe Pls <3” on the bathroom wall.
Eliya had half a mind to shut it down.
But then she saw her inbox.
Subject: LoveMatch – Press Inquiry.
From a tech blog. A real one.
Her stomach flipped. If this app got picked up outside the school? She could get published. Not just enter competitions win them. Get noticed by colleges. Start something real.
She bit her lip.
Theo Rivera was not going to ruin that for her.
---
“There’s a bug,” she told Mina at lunch. “That’s all. I’ll fix it, and we’ll pretend the Theo thing never happened.”
Mina raised a brow. “You’re sure it’s a bug and not... destiny?”
Eliya gave her a look.
“Okay, okay.” Mina held up her hands. “Just saying. You two already fight like a married couple.”
“I will delete you from the algorithm.”
“You can try.”
---
After School
She found him leaning against her locker.
Like he’d summoned himself.
“You again?” she muttered.
“I come bearing an offer,” he said.
“Oh joy. Does it involve never speaking again?”
“Nope. It involves helping you.”
That made her pause. “With what?”
“The PR problem. Everyone’s obsessed with the match thing, right? So why not lean into it?”
“What does that even mean?”
“We fake it,” Theo said, eyes gleaming. “Pretend we’re dating. Make it public. Prove your app really works. People love drama. You get attention, data, downloads. I get to annoy you legally.”
Eliya stared at him like he’d grown two heads. “That’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard.”
“Maybe. But it’ll boost your app’s credibility. And let’s be real your other matches are boring.”
“And what do you get out of it?”
He shrugged. “Free snacks? Slightly more interesting week?”
She hesitated.
It was ridiculous. Unpredictable. Messy.
But so was high school. And maybe… this was exactly what her story needed.
YOU ARE READING
The Love Algorithm
Romance"She coded the app that could predict love until it matched her with her worst rival." Eliya Park doesn't believe in love. She believes in logic, data, and coding especially when it comes to her senior project: LoveMatch, a matchmaking app that uses...
