If someone asked Andrea Paisley how she was doing during the first months of high school, she would always give the same answer.
"Fine."
It was the easiest lie in the world.
Andrea quickly learned something important about people: if you act like you're okay, most of them won't look any deeper.
So that's exactly what she did.
She laughed when others laughed. She joined conversations. Sometimes she even made jokes herself. To someone watching from the outside, Andrea looked like she was slowly becoming part of the class.
Like she was finally adjusting.
But hiding feelings didn't mean they disappeared.
Especially when Samuel Daňko existed.
It started with the class group chat on Instagram.
At first, it was harmless—people sending memes, asking about homework, complaining about teachers.
Then one night, Samuel replied to something Andrea wrote.
His response was short.
"That's cringe."
Andrea stared at the message for a moment.
Then she replied.
"No one asked you."
That was the beginning.
Soon their conversations turned into arguments. Not quiet ones either. Long message threads filled with sarcasm, insults, and comments that made the entire class group watch like it was entertainment.
Samuel always had something sharp to say.
Andrea always had something sharper.
The strange part?
In school, they barely spoke.
When they passed each other in the hallway, nothing happened. No insults. No fights.
Just silence.
Like the battlefield only existed through their phones.
Meanwhile, something else slowly faded from Andrea's thoughts.
Matthew Neyman.
For years his name had lived somewhere in the back of her mind. But now, with new classmates, new drama, and new distractions, she didn't think about him as often.
Not as much as before.
At least… that's what she told herself.
One evening, Andrea was lying on her bed, scrolling through her phone, when her older sister leaned against the doorframe.
"Hey," she said casually. "Do you want to go out tonight?"
Andrea looked up.
"Out where?"
"There's a party at Luna."
Andrea frowned slightly.
"What's that?"
"A club. Well… more like a party place. It's 16+ tonight."
Andrea hesitated.
She had never really been a party person.
But maybe that was the problem.
Maybe she needed to try something different.
"Okay," she said.
That night changed something.
Luna was loud, crowded, full of flashing lights and music that shook the floor.
Andrea felt awkward at first, standing near the bar while people danced around her. But then she took her first drink.
Then another.
Alcohol had a strange effect.
It didn't erase her fears—but it made them quieter.
Suddenly talking to strangers didn't seem impossible anymore.
And that was when a pattern began.
Every Friday.
Every Saturday.
Andrea started going to Luna.
At the parties, she met different boys almost every time.
They would talk.
Laugh.
Sometimes flirt.
For a moment, Andrea would feel something she didn't feel often during the day.
Wanted.
Chosen.
But the nights always ended the same way.
Sooner or later, the boys would ask her for something.
Something Andrea wasn't ready to give.
Something she preferred to keep to herself.
When she refused, they usually left.
Just like that.
One night.
Gone the next.
It happened again.
And again.
And again.
After a while, Andrea started expecting it.
But she still kept going back to Luna.
Because the music, the lights, and the alcohol made it easier to forget everything else.
It became her strange kind of therapy.
Her escape.
The third time she went to Luna was different.
That night, she met a boy who wasn't from her city.
He was German.
Andrea had already been drinking when they started talking. She barely remembered how the conversation began.
But she remembered his smile.
They went outside together to escape the noise.
The cold air hit Andrea's face immediately.
They talked for a long time.
About nothing important.
About everything.
At some point, the distance between them disappeared.
Their kisses were hungry and messy, fueled by alcohol and the strange excitement of two strangers meeting in the middle of the night.
Andrea felt her heart racing.
For once, it didn't feel like she was the only one chasing something.
Then the boy looked at her with a soft expression.
"You know," he said quietly, "you have a really good heart."
Andrea blinked.
She wasn't used to hearing things like that.
But then he asked for the same thing the others always asked for.
The words hit harder this time.
Andrea looked away.
"I… can't," she said quietly.
He frowned slightly.
Andrea swallowed.
"I've never… done that before."
The words felt embarrassing leaving her mouth.
For a moment she expected the same reaction she always got.
Disappointment.
Annoyance.
Leaving.
But the German boy didn't walk away.
Instead, he smiled gently.
"That's okay," he said.
And somehow… he stayed.
For the rest of the night, he followed her everywhere.
When Andrea went back inside, he followed.
When she danced, he stood nearby.
Sometimes he winked at her.
Sometimes he just smiled.
Even after she rejected him.
That was the first time Andrea felt something she rarely experienced.
Chosen.
Like someone decided she was worth staying for.
But nothing good ever lasted too long in Andrea's life.
A few weeks later, Luna changed its rules.
Now it was 18+.
Andrea couldn't go there anymore.
And she never saw the German boy again.
Just like that.
Another person.
Another almost-story.
Another memory that disappeared before it could become something real.
Andrea told herself it didn't matter.
But deep inside, she felt something else grow quietly.
Another scar.