Game Over, Pretty Boy. ♕ || STGOPB

♕ Chapter One ♕ - Fresh Start

Riley's POV

The first few months of college were a whirlwind. I threw myself into my classes, into building a new routine, hoping that the excitement of a new environment would drown out the lingering hurt. It worked, for a while. I made new friends, kept up with old ones, and tried to forget about everything that had happened. But every now and then, the memories would creep back in, catching me off guard.

One day, as I walked through campus, it hit me again. The weather was still warm, the sun beating down like it wanted to remind me of every harsh moment I'd just lived through. But as I walked, a cold breeze touched my face, cutting through the heat. It was the first time I felt something close to hope in a while—like maybe this was the start of something new, something better. I breathed it in, letting the coolness calm my thoughts, and kept walking, ready to embrace the life I was trying to build.

That's when I realized how much had changed since I started college. I wasn't the same person who had stepped onto this campus a few months ago, still raw and hurting from Lucas's betrayal. I had grown, little by little, finding strength in new friendships and in myself. Meeting Milo Kingsley in our Introduction to Theoretical Physics class was part of that change. It wasn't even my major, just a class I took out of curiosity, thinking I'd learn something interesting and maybe meet a few new people. Little did I know, that day would lead me to one of the best friends I could ever ask for.

Milo was different from anyone I'd ever known—brilliant, awkward, completely honest, sometimes to a fault. Our conversations ranged from physics to life's bigger questions, and before I knew it, he became one of my closest friends. It was unexpected, but after everything with Lucas, I needed something unexpected, something real.

Eventually, it was time for Milo to meet the two people who had been my rock for as long as I could remember: Maya and Farkle. I couldn't imagine going through college without them, and I wanted Milo to be part of that circle too. I was nervous, unsure how they'd all mesh, but I shouldn't have worried. Maya loved how Milo was an enigma, and Farkle—well, they bonded over quantum mechanics within minutes.

That first dinner together, sitting around Maya and my little apartment, Chinese takeout boxes spread out on the table, felt like the beginning of something new. We talked, we laughed, and for the first time in a long while, I felt like I was healing. Maybe I wasn't completely over what had happened, and maybe I wasn't ready to let new people into my heart just yet, but I knew I was surrounded by people who cared about me, who wouldn't hurt me like Lucas did.

As the cold breeze whispered through the campus that day, I realized that this was my fresh start. College was a time of change, and though I was still piecing myself back together, I was ready to move forward, surrounded by friends who made me feel safe. And that was enough—for now.

I sat across from Milo in the quiet corner of the library, my textbooks spread out in front of me, but I wasn't really paying attention. Milo was talking, animatedly as always, about the latest lecture we'd had. Something about quantum mechanics and how our professor had completely missed the mark on one of the key points. I could see the intensity in his eyes, the way he leaned forward, his hands gesturing emphatically as he broke down exactly why the professor was wrong.

I should've been listening. I usually tried to keep up with him, even when he went off on these tangents, but today, my mind just wouldn't focus. His words were a blur, a background noise that I couldn't quite grasp. Instead, I found myself staring out the large windows behind him, watching the leaves sway gently in the breeze outside. The campus was still bathed in that late afternoon light, soft and golden, but all I could feel was the weight pressing down on my chest.

It was one of those moments where everything seemed to slow down, where the noise around you fades, and all you're left with are your thoughts. My thoughts drifted back, unbidden, to that Christmas night. To the way I had felt when Charlie told me about the bet. To the confrontation with Lucas the same night. The look in his eyes when he finally admitted it, when he tried to tell me he'd changed, that he loved me now. The betrayal, the anger, the overwhelming sadness that followed me everywhere, even now.