My Casanova Girlfriend

I am the definition of a quiet wallflower, yet my best friend, Serena, is the ultimate player.

I always thought she was too clever to ever get caught, but today, her luck finally ran out.

She burst into my apartment, her face pale with panic.

Im ruined, Paige!

I confessed to three different guys last night, and all three of them said yes! What am I supposed to do?

As she paced the floor in a frenzy, her eyes suddenly lit up.

"Hey, how about I give one of them to you?"

I thought she was joking, so I casually took the phone from her hand.

But the very next second, my breath caught in my throat.

One of the contact cards displaying a successful confession belonged to Liam, my high school classmate whom I had secretly loved for five long years. I thought I had buried those feelings years ago.

Yet, the moment I saw his face on her screen, my heart skipped a beat.

After a long silence, I looked up, keeping my voice as flat and casual as possible.

"Sure."

"Can you give this one to me?"

Serena went quiet for a few seconds.

She shot me a thoroughly surprised look.

"Wow, I didn't expect you to agree so quickly."

I scrolled through his profile, pretending to be indifferent. "He's handsome. Chatting with him isn't exactly a chore."

Serena didn't think much of it, tossing her hair over her shoulder. "True."

A quiet, bitter ache settled in my chest.

Serena was a breathtaking beauty. Whenever we traveled to different cities, street photographers would inevitably stop her, asking to take her picture.

She would flash them a radiant smile. "Is this free, or are you going to charge me?"

The photographers would laugh, their eyes filled with admiration for this stunning stranger. "For you? Absolutely free."

Meanwhile, I would stand awkwardly to the side, holding her coat and waiting for her to finish.

Life was rarely fair. I was always the one left in the shadow. I wasn't ugly, but I was entirely ordinary. Because of that, I hadn't dated once throughout my four years of college. I never initiated anything, and naturally, no one ever approached me.

So, being allowed to step into Serenas shoes and talk to Liam felt like winning the lottery. It was a tiny, stolen piece of luck.

Serena explained that she and Liam had met through an online game. I was stunned to learn that the straight-A student who used to top our class ranking was involved in something as casual as online dating.

"Hes actually very generous," Serena said, tilting her head. "Hes probably quite wealthy, too. He bought me several thousand dollars' worth of in-game skins."

Then, as if remembering something amusing, she giggled. "But my other guys are much wealthier, so... oops!"

I remained silent, not knowing what to say.

"Besides, the others are guys I know in real life. Hes the only one I met on the internet." Serena paused, looking at me seriously. "So, if you meet him in person and he turns out to be a catfish, don't blame me."

I jumped out of my chair in a panic.

"What?" I gasped. "We have to meet in person?"

Serena laughed at my dramatic reaction.

"Of course you do. Whats the point of online dating if you never meet in real life?"

"But... how can I go?" My mind was spinning. "What am I supposed to say?"

"Just tell him you're Serena."

"But I'm not you!"

Serena rolled her eyes, flopping onto my beanbag chair with the lazy grace of a cat. "He doesn't know what I look like, and hes never met you. The moment you show up, you are Serena."

She spoke with complete nonchalance, as if pretending to be someone else to go on a date was the most natural thing in the world.

"What if he asks about... my life? I don't know anything about what you told him."

"Thats why were having a crash course right now."

Serena pulled out her phone and began listing the various details of the persona she had built for Liam.

But I didn't hear a single word. My gaze was entirely fixed on the black profile picture on her screen.

Liam.

It was only after high school graduation that I had gathered the courage to add him on social media. But his profile had always been set to private, showing only three days of history, which consisted of nothing but generic landscape photos.

I had assumed we would remain strangers for the rest of our lives.

Yet now, his chat box was open right in front of me.

Can we meet tomorrow at seven in the evening?

Attached was a small sticker of a puppy scratching its head.

It was hard to reconcile this cute, sincere gesture with the brilliant student who used to deliver school speeches with a perfectly deadpan expression. The contrast was incredibly endearing.

"...so the key is to keep him hooked. Give him just enough attention to make him obsessed, and then pull back. Keep him wanting more."

Serena suddenly leaned in, catching me staring blankly at the screen. She furrowed her brow. "Are you even listening to me, Paige?"

Her voice snapped me back to reality. "Yes, I am."

She crossed her arms, demanding I repeat what she had just said.

I remained silent.

With a heavy sigh, she handed me her phone. "Forget it. Just read through the chat history from the very beginning. You have twenty-four hours before the date. My survival depends entirely on you, Paige."

She stood up to go start her skincare routine, leaving me alone with the phone.

I stared at the screen for a long time.

Tomorrow at seven. I was going to use another girl's name to meet the boy I had loved in secret for five years.

It was the cruelest joke fate had ever played on me.

I barely slept that night.

I spent hours in front of the mirror, practicing Serena's tone, her gestures, and her laughter.

Before leaving the apartment the next evening, I changed into a sleek, emerald slip dressa style Serena favored but I would never normally wear.

Standing in front of the full-length mirror, I could barely recognize myself.

Serena helped me curl my hair, nodding in approval. "Honestly, you actually look like me now."

Twenty minutes later, I arrived at the restaurant Liam had chosen, a quiet, upscale sushi bar in the city center.

Taking a deep breath, I pushed the door open.

The restaurant was relatively quiet, and I spotted him immediately.

He was slightly leaner than he had been in high school, wearing a thin black sweater with the sleeves casually rolled up to his forearms. His sharp jawline and clean profile were exactly as I remembered, yet there was a new, mature edge to him.

I paused at the entrance for a few seconds before forcing my feet to move. My heart was pounding so hard I could hear it in my ears.

As I approached the table, he looked up.

Our eyes met.

My mind went completely blank. Every single opening line Serena had prepared for me vanished into thin air.

Liam stood up and politely pulled out a chair for me. The gesture was simple and natural, a testament to his good manners, but it still sent a shiver through my veins.

During my high school years, I had dreamed of this moment countless timessitting across from him, sharing a meal, talking like a normal couple. But it had always been a fantasy.

Now, it was real. But I was playing a part.

"Hi," Liam spoke first, his voice low and smooth. "I'm Liam."

"I'm Serena," I replied, my voice trembling slightly.

He looked at me for three long seconds. Those seconds felt like an eternity.

Then, a faint, barely perceptible smile touched the corner of his lips.

When the waiter handed us the menus, I blurted out, "No wasabi for me, please."

The moment the words left my mouth, I froze in horror. Serena absolutely loved spicy food and wasabi. I had seen a bag of wasabi-flavored chips on her desk just before I left.

Hearing my request, Liam fell silent.

I scrambled to find a way to cover my mistake, but Liam simply nodded, his expression neutral. "Understood. I'll make a note of that."

He didn't ask any questions.

I let out a quiet sigh of relief, though a strange, uneasy feeling lingered in the back of my mind.

The rest of the dinner went much smoother than I anticipated. Liam was a man of few words, but he was incredibly attentive, ensuring the conversation never felt forced. He listened quietly, nodding occasionally with a soft smile.

After that evening, Liam began inviting me out regularly.

We had dinners, went for long walks, and visited art exhibitions on the weekends. Meanwhile, Serena seemed to lose all interest in him. She was far too busy managing her other relationshipsspending Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays with her younger boyfriend, and Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays visiting her older benefactor at his corporate office. She was a master of time management.

One evening, after we finished dinner, the sky was still painted with the pale colors of twilight.

Liam mentioned a quiet park nearby and asked if I wanted to take a walk. I agreed.

The late April breeze carried a gentle warmth, and the cherry blossoms along the path were in full bloom, scattering pink petals with every gust of wind.

He walked on my left, matching his pace perfectly to mine.

We talked about random things until he suddenly asked, "Which high school did you go to?"

My heart seized. I quickly named a school on the other side of town. "St. Jude's."

Liam paused in his tracks, then simply murmured, "Ah." He didn't press further.

As we turned down a quiet, winding path, the sound of familiar laughter drifted through the aira soft, sweet, melodic giggle.

I instinctively raised my eyes, and my entire body went rigid.

On a wooden bench just a few yards away sat Serena. She was draped over a young man's lap, her arms wrapped around his neck as they kissed passionately. It was her younger boyfriend.

Liam stopped walking. He had seen them too.

My stomach twisted into a tight knot, but then I realized there was no reason to panic. To Liam, the woman on the bench was just a stranger. I was the "Serena" he was dating. He had no reason to care.

Forcing a light, casual laugh, I murmured, "Kids these days are certainly adventurous."

I smiled, trying to ease the sudden tension in the air.

But there was no response from the man beside me.

I turned to look at him, preparing to say something else, when Liam spoke. His voice was incredibly low, cold, and sharp.

"What does she have to do with you?"

I froze, the sheer hostility in his tone catching me completely off guard.

We walked the rest of the way in suffocating silence. It was only as we neared the exit of the park that his steps finally slowed.

"I'm sorry," he murmured, his voice returning to its usual quiet warmth, as if his sudden outburst had been nothing but a figment of my imagination. "I lost my temper back there. That was uncalled for."

"It's fine," I whispered.

After that day, my dates with Liam became even more frequent.

I truly believed that I had successfully stepped into Serenas shoes, that I was finally the one he was falling for.

Until today.

I had left work early, wanting to surprise Serena for her birthday, only to be met with a reality that showed me just how foolish I had been.

As I neared the restaurant, I spotted Liam standing directly in front of Serena.

My blood ran cold. How did they meet? Why were they together?

Before I could process the shock, Liam reached out, grabbing Serenas wrist in a tight, desperate grip. I had never seen such a raw display of anguish on his usually composed face.

His voice was hoarse, thick with emotion.

"Would you rather send a complete stranger to meet me than face me yourself, Serena?"

Serena looked as stunned as I was, remaining completely silent.

"Who was the man carrying your shopping bags yesterday?" Liam pressed, his voice trembling. "And the one whose car you got into the day before? Serena, how many guys are you playing at once?"

Serena bit her lip, refusing to meet his gaze.

Liam let out a bitter, self-deprecating laugh, as if he had expected this exact response. Yet, he couldn't seem to let go.

"Is it really that hard of a question?"

He slowly released her wrist, taking a step back as if he had finally run out of strength.

"Let me ask you something else then..."

"Serena, did you ever love me? Even a little?"

Serena swallowed hard, her face pale. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Stop lying, Serena." Liam leaned back against the display counter behind him, his eyes completely hollow.

And then, he uttered a sentence that made my heart stop.

"What about Paige?"

Serena flinched. "Why are you bringing her up?"

Liam let out a heavy, tired sigh. "Did you really think sending one of my old high school classmates would be enough to get rid of me?"

He shook his head, his voice flat and devoid of any warmth.

"She is nothing but an irrelevant stranger to me. I could never love her."

"I only love you."

The late April wind suddenly felt like ice, making me tremble from head to toe.

I wanted to laugh, but my throat was tight, choked with a sudden, suffocating grief.

I tried to back away quietly, wanting to escape before they saw me, but my elbow caught a vintage porcelain vase on a nearby display stand.

Crash

The sharp sound shattered the silence of the restaurant. Shards of porcelain scattered across the floor.