Love Blooms Under the Cherry Tree

When it was time to submit our college applications.

My childhood best friend insisted I apply to the exact same local university as him.

I believed him. I packed my bags, my heart brimming with absolute joy, just waiting for orientation day.

That was until I accidentally overheard him joking around with his buddies.

"You are a savage, man. Tricking Ashley into staying at Northwestern while you go off to USC. Halfway across the country. It's going to be pretty damn hard for her to cling to you from that distance."

"Aren't you worried Ashley is going to be miserable these next four years? Just because you were scared she'd ruin your chances with Serena?"

My childhood best friend didn't say a word. But he didn't deny it, either.

In a single heartbeat, the fog in my mind cleared.

Right before the application portal closed, I quietly changed my early application from Northwestern to Brown.

If he wanted me far away, I would give him exactly what he wished for.

The casual chatter inside the private dining room kept going.

No one noticed me standing frozen in the hallway.

Seeing Carter stay silent, one of his friends couldn't help but speak up in his defense.

"Honestly, she's like a shadow he can't shake. The funniest part is when Serena invited you for an all-nighter duo queue at the gaming lounge, Ashley actually went and snitched to your mom. Total buzzkill behavior."

Hearing them insult me, Carter's brows knitted together.

But it only lasted a fraction of a second.

He still didn't say a word to defend me.

A suffocating mix of anger and sorrow expanded in my chest until my mind went completely blank.

Another guy chimed in with a laugh.

"That's just how those innocent wallflowers are. They don't know a thing about the real world outside of their textbooks. Ashley is high maintenance, too. She micromanages you worse than your own mother. No skipping class, no drinking, no getting into fights. If a girl even breathes in your direction to hand you a note, she gets totally jealous and throws a fit."

At that, the irritation on Carter's face became obvious. He couldn't hold it back anymore and muttered a curse at his gaming teammate on screen.

Finally, someone couldn't stomach it anymore and tried to talk some sense into him.

"Alright, Carter, wrap it up. Joke all you want, but don't mess with her future. Besides, aren't you worried Ashley will actually get mad this time and run off with some other guy?"

The moment those words hung in the air, the entire room erupted into roaring laughter.

Even Carter couldn't hold back. He collapsed against the leather sofa, laughing so hard he doubled over.

"Ashley? Run away? If she actually managed to pull that off, I'd go to the nearest church and light a candle just to thank God."

The guy who tried to defend me awkwardly shut his mouth.

Once the laughter died down.

Carter suddenly paused, offering a half-hearted explanation.

"It's not like I intentionally hid my USC application from her. But the thought of spending the next four years of college being suffocated and bossed around by her just killed the vibe. I just needed her out of my hair for a while."

The room filled with snickers once more.

I couldn't bear to listen to another syllable.

I turned and fled.

I ran without stopping until I reached a place where nobody knew me.

Only then did the tears finally break through the dam.

All those years of growing up side by side.

To Carter, my loyalty was nothing but a nuisance.

All my well-meaning advice.

To him, it was just me being a control freak.

Just a few days ago, he stood in my living room, looking my parents dead in the eye, giving them this passionate speech about how they couldn't possibly let me go away to college alone.

It was all a calculated lie.

If he was so annoyed by me, if he found me so repulsive, he could have just looked me in the eye and said it.

He didn't need to treat my entire academic future like a chess piece.

And he certainly didn't need to pull me into his arms under the oak tree on the night of my eighteenth birthday.

He had kissed me so tenderly that night.

I was lost in a haze of naive bliss, responding clumsily, letting him hold me close.

My heart had been completely full, entirely convinced that our feelings were mutual and that we would be together forever.

Eighteen years of childhood memories dragged past my eyes like a long, slow-motion film reel.

Amidst that tidal wave of overwhelming grief, a sudden clarity washed over me.

Maybe it had always been unrequited.

All those intimate moments.

That fiery kiss.

Just like my college application, they were nothing but harmless entertainment to cure his boredom.

I wiped my face with the back of my hand.

Checking my phone, I saw I had exactly ten minutes before the admissions portal closed permanently.

Thank God.

There was still time to fix everything.

Once I caught my breath, I logged into the university portal on my phone.

Without a second of hesitation, I wiped my first choice clean.

Truthfully, I had scored exceptionally well on my final exams. Way above expectations.

Good enough to get into Brown, the school I had dreamed of since I was a little girl.

But when it was time to submit our choices, Carter had relentlessly chipped away at my parents' resolve.

He convinced them my scores would only get me bare-minimum entry into Brown, meaning I wouldn't get to pick my preferred major.

He swore that if I stayed local at Northwestern, I would have my pick of the litter.

Selfishly, I hadn't wanted to be separated from Carter either.

So I agreed in a heartbeat, promising to stay right there in Chicago with him.

The most pathetic part was that I even selected the exact same major as Carter.

It wasn't even a subject I was passionate about.

Now that I was switching my choice to Brown, I didn't have the luxury of a competitive edge. I just picked a major that sounded vaguely interesting and checked the box to accept any reassignment.

As long as I made it to Rhode Island, that was enough.

Carter wanted me far away.

So I would give him an ocean of distance.

I double-checked my selection until my eyes blurred.

With exactly three minutes left on the clock, I pressed submit.

From this moment on, I could finally grant Carter his deepest wish.

East Coast and West Coast. I would never be an inconvenience to him again.

I still went back to the restaurant.

Tonight was the farewell dinner organized by our homeroom teacher.

With graduation looming, I didn't want to break my promise and disappoint the teachers who had guided me.

By the time I pushed open the doors to the private hall, almost all the students and staff had arrived.

Three massive round tables filled the space.

The moment I stepped inside, my eyes instantly locked onto Carter at the table closest to the door.

He was always the one who stood out in a crowd.

And sitting shoulder-to-shoulder on his right side was Serena, the most popular girl from the class next door.

My footsteps grew heavy.

She was the "goddess" those boys had kept mentioning in the hallway.

Even though I had just made the ultimate decision to cut Carter out of my life, a bitter, sour ache still clawed at my throat.

For as long as I could remember, the seat to Carter's right had always belonged to me.

I took a deep breath.

Lowering my eyes, I prepared to walk straight past them to the table at the very back.

Thankfully, Carter was too busy playing the perfect gentleman, pouring Serena a glass of iced tea, to notice me walk in.

Serena was undeniably gorgeous, her whole aura soft and inviting.

Even if I couldn't stand her, I had to admit the truth.

Sitting there next to Carter, they looked like a perfect match.

For some reason, that stray thought flickered through my mind in a chaotic blur.

Just as I kept my head down, rushing past their table, a sweet, melodic voice called out.

"Ashley! Over here!"

I turned my head.

Serena was beaming at me, her eyes sparkling with absolute sweetness.

Hearing my name, Carter turned his head.

He raised an eyebrow at me, then let his gaze flick down to the empty chair on his left.

He didn't speak to me.

But the command in his eyes was crystal clear.

"Come on, Carter specifically saved this seat for you. A bunch of the guys tried to sit next to him for the drinking games earlier, and he shut them all down."

Serena's tone was teasing and perfectly pitched.

Her words were directed at me, but her eyes were glued to Carter, brimming with playful affection.

A smirk tugged at the corner of Carter's mouth. He reached out and lightly tapped the top of Serena's head.

"Talks too much."

Serena playfully batted his hand away, puffing her cheeks in mock anger.

"Carter! You're ruining my blowout. You are so dead."

Saying that, she reached out and pinched his cheek lightly.

They laughed and bickered naturally, acting as if the rest of the room didn't exist. They looked exactly like the star-crossed lovers from a teen movie.

A chorus of wolf-whistles erupted around the table.

"Oh man, give us a break! Don't act like we aren't sitting right here."

"What's the deal, man? Is the golden boy finally making it official?"

"Are you blind? You're just noticing now? Why else would the homecoming queen from next door crash our class dinner?"

"Damn, Carter, you kept that locked down tight."

Serena's face flushed a delicate shade of pink as she waved her hands.

"No, stop it, don't say that. The teachers are right there."

As she spoke, she shyly buried her face against the sleeve of Carter's letterman jacket.

The shrieks and laughter from the table practically blew the roof off the restaurant.

I stood rooted to the spot, entirely out of place.

Before I could walk away, Carter offered a helpless, boyish grin.

"Relax, guys. We're just good friends. She only came to taste-test the menu before her class books this place."

Someone immediately fired back.

"No way, man! No plus-ones allowed unless she's the missus!"

Carter looked down, a genuine smile spreading across his face, which only made the crowd cheer louder.

I didn't want to stand there acting as their awkward audience for another second.

But the moment I turned my heel to leave, Serena called my name again.

"Ashley, seriously, come sit right here. Otherwise, they're just going to keep making fun of Carter and me and starting rumors. Guys, stop hyping it up. Ashley walks to school with Carter every single day. Why aren't you teasing her? You're just bullying me because I'm from a different class."

Hearing that, the students around the table noticeably froze.

I had no idea what Serena's endgame was with a comment like that.

But I absolutely refused to be a pawn in whatever twisted little power play she was running with Carter.

My expression remained entirely blank. I turned my head and looked her dead in the eye.

"I'm good. I prefer sitting by the window."

The second those words left my mouth, Carter visibly stiffened.

The looks the other students gave me suddenly carried a heavy layer of awkwardness.

I didn't wait for a response.

I completely ignored their side of the room and walked straight to the only empty seat by the window.

Right next to Mrs. Higgins, our notoriously strict homeroom teacher.

Usually, she terrified most of the class. Honestly, she intimidated me too.

But at this exact moment, there was nowhere on earth that felt safer than sitting by her side.

Mrs. Higgins paid no attention to the teenage drama. She just smiled warmly and asked about my college plans.

"It's a real shame you didn't apply to an Ivy League with your grades, Ashley. But staying local at Northwestern gives you a lot of flexibility with your major. It's still a wonderful choice."

I didn't say a word. I just offered a polite nod.

Her words were meant to comfort me, but I could hear the faint undertone of disappointment.

Still, I decided to wait until the official acceptance letters rolled in before telling anyone the truth.

As I zoned out, my phone buzzed frantically against my leg.

I opened my messages.

It was Carter.

[Why the hell are you sitting all the way over there?]

[Don't you usually avoid Higgins like the plague?]

[Come sit your ass down over here.]

[?]

[3]

[2]

[1]

The moment the number '1' materialized on my screen, I blocked his number.

It was always like this.

Since we were kids, he always used that stupid countdown to threaten me into obedience.

He clearly had someone else by his side now.

Did he really need to drag me over there just to be a front-row spectator to his new romance?

I didn't care what he thought anymore. I kept my head down and focused on my plate.

But the entire night, I could feel a heavy, burning gaze landing on me from across the room.

It made my skin crawl.

We didn't exchange a single word for the rest of the evening.

When the dinner wrapped up, I stood on the sidewalk waiting for my Uber.

Carter's pristine Ferrari suddenly pulled up and stopped right in front of my toes.

The passenger window was rolled down.

Carter stared at me with a completely deadpan expression, the exact same face he always wore when he was giving me the silent treatment.

Our families lived in the same gated community. We always rode home together.

My feet stalled. Just as I hesitated, Serena slipped past my shoulder, casually pulling the car door open and sliding into the passenger seat.

Carter leaned over the center console, patiently clicking her seatbelt into place.

The sports car only had two seats.

A bitter realization washed over me. I felt like an absolute clown.

I quickly spun around and power-walked toward the rear of his car.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Serena's face flush bright red as she leaned over and pressed a secret kiss to Carter's cheek.

Carter froze for a split second, the tips of his ears instantly turning scarlet.

In a flash, the neon lights and the bustling street noise completely blurred out, like I was suddenly trapped behind a thick pane of foggy glass.

A dull, suffocating weight settled in my chest, dragging my heart down into my stomach.

I dug my nails into my palms.

I forced myself to look completely unbothered.

Even though they were buckled in, Carter still hadn't put the car in drive.

I couldn't help but glance back in his direction.

Through the glow of the rearview mirror, his eyes locked straight onto mine.

He was watching me, his face wiped clean of emotion.

I knew exactly what he was doing. He was waiting for me to cave first.

Just like I had done in countless petty fights before.

But what he didn't know was that I would never, ever bow my head to him again.

My ride finally pulled up to the curb.

I practically sprinted to the door, diving into the backseat.

The thunderous roar of the Ferrari's engine violently echoed down the street the exact second my door clicked shut.

Two cars, driving off in completely opposite directions.

Neither of us looked back.

Lying in the dark, my mind was a chaotic loop of Carter and Serena acting like a couple.

I squeezed my eyes shut, forcing myself to stop being pathetic.

But before I knew it, my pillowcase was entirely soaked with tears.

I must have drifted into a restless sleep, because I jolted awake to the aggressive vibrating of my phone in the dead of night.

A call from Carter.

I hesitated, letting it ring out.

It rang several times before a string of texts flooded my screen.

[Ashley, get your ass downstairs, or I'm climbing the damn trellis to your window.]

Carter had the keypad code to my driveway gate.

He had scaled my house before, sneaking me late-night snacks when we were younger.

Terrified that he would actually pull a stunt like that, I grabbed a hoodie and crept silently down the stairs.

Out in the garden, Carter was leaning casually against the large oak tree.

He was holding a vintage Spider-Man thermos in his hand.

Seeing my messy bedhead, a familiar smirk pulled at his lips. He instinctively reached out to mess up my hair.

Muscle memory almost let him, but I jerked my shoulder away, dodging his hand.

Carter blinked, his hand awkwardly suspended in the chilly air.

He stared at me for a long moment before letting out a low, raspy chuckle.

"Come on, princess, are you seriously still mad at me?"

"Look, I drove all the way across town to bag up your favorite spicy garlic wings."

"And yet someone is being completely heartless. You didn't even wait for me to give you a ride, you ignored my calls, and you actually had the nerve to block me?"

While he was talking, he caught me off guard.

He dropped the thermos onto the grass and grabbed my wrist, yanking me hard against his chest.

My spine hit the rough bark of the tree. A towering, broad-shouldered wall of muscle trapped me in place.

I couldn't move an inch.

Carter smelled faintly of bourbon, wrapped up in the warm summer breeze. His breath ghosted hot and heavy against my ear.

Bathed in the moonlight, his dark eyes reflected nothing but my face.

The unbearable proximity. The exact same spot.

The memory of our first kiss came crashing down on me like an avalanche.

Hot tears pricked the corners of my eyes all over again.

Carter was the golden boy of our school. Every girl wanted him.

I had watched him toss countless love letters into the trash without a second thought.

But how could a person be this incredibly cruel?

If he didn't love me, why did he kiss me?

If he was moving on with someone else, why was he back here messing with my head?

Was I really worth so little to him that he could just toy with my feelings like this?

Seeing the actual tears spilling down my cheeks, Carter let out a heavy sigh. He reached down and snatched my phone right out of my hand.

He unlocked it effortlessly, tapped the screen a few times, and shoved it back into my pocket. He sounded exasperated.

"Alright, that's enough. Just don't let it happen again. I don't stay on anyone's blocked list."

"Try blocking me one more time and see what happens. If you actually manage to lose me, you'll be the one crying about it."

A flare of pure rage ignited in my blood. I stomped my heel down as hard as I could onto his expensive sneakers.

Taking advantage of his flinch, I ducked under his arm and spat back.

"I'll cry wherever the hell I want! It has absolutely nothing to do with you. Back off!"

Carter winced, a flash of real anger crossing his features. He glared down at me.

"Fine, Ashley. If you're so tough, don't even think about tagging along on my Europe trip this summer."

"Oh, and don't come crying to me to help you move into your dorm at Northwestern either."

I didn't look back.

The irony tasted like ash in my mouth.

I suddenly found myself wondering just how long Carter planned on dragging out this pathetic little stage play.

After that disastrous night, I didn't see Carter for weeks.

The only updates I got were screenshots of Serena's Instagram stories popping up in the class group chat.

Things between her and Carter seemed to be going perfectly.

I accidentally clicked on one of the photos. They were glowing, smiling effortlessly into the camera.

That familiar, hollow ache twisted in my chest.

I exited the app and muted the group chat completely.

I asked my mom to book me a one-way ticket to London to stay with my grandma for the summer.

I planned to stay until August and fly straight to my university orientation.

My mom was incredibly confused.

I had spent the entire year hyping up this grand post-graduation Euro-trip Carter and I had planned.

She couldn't understand why I was suddenly bailing on him.

I couldn't bring myself to say I was running away to build a tolerance against the pain of losing him.

My emotions were a chaotic mess. I couldn't articulate the betrayal to my parents without breaking down.

So I threw together a flimsy excuse and brushed it off.

But on the morning of my flight, fate decided to play a cruel joke.

Walking through the VIP departure lounge, I ran headfirst into Carter. And Serena was right there glued to his side.

Carter was pulling Serena's blush-pink carry-on. Serena had her arm looped tightly through his, giggling at something he said.

I didn't have time to dodge them. My feet froze to the marble floor.

Carter just stood there, his expression turning to ice. He didn't speak.

Serena, however, practically vibrated with excitement, waving at me like we were best friends.

"Ashley! Oh my god, what are the odds? My bestie and I have never been to Europe, so Carter is playing tour guide for us."

"Are you... traveling all by yourself? Do you want to tag along? We'd love to have you."

"Right, Carter? You wouldn't mind, would you?"

Serena tugged on Carter's sleeve, pouting her lips perfectly.

That was when I noticed the matching silver Cartier rings glinting on their fingers.

The exact same rings I had pointed out months ago. The ones Carter had completely trashed, calling them "basic" and "tacky."

Carter cast a cold, indifferent look my way, then gave Serena a lazy shrug.

"Whatever you want."

I took a half-step back, keeping my voice completely hollow. "Thanks, but I'll pass."

I didn't wait to see their reactions.

I spun around, gripping my suitcase handle, and vanished into the bustling crowd.

As I brushed past Carter, I could practically feel the rigid tension radiating off his body, completely cloaked in hostility.

But his mood wasn't my problem anymore.

Right as I reached the boarding gate and pulled up my digital pass, my phone buzzed.

I opened the notification.

It was a text from Carter.

[I'm flying back to the States next week.]

[I'll take you on our trip then.]

10

I locked my screen.

Then I paused, unlocked it, and permanently blocked his number through my cellular provider.

From now on, we were walking completely different paths. There was absolutely zero reason to stay in touch.

I spent a long, quiet month at my grandma's estate in London.

I slept for days, making up for the brutal sleep deprivation of senior year.

Maybe it was the distance, being completely removed from a city where Carter's ghost haunted every street corner.

Or maybe it was because I strictly forbade myself from looking at any social media updates from home.

But slowly, surely, he stopped being my first thought in the morning.

Sometimes, late at night, a sad song would shuffle onto my playlist and I'd still cry.

But I let the tears fall until I was completely exhausted. Until my eyes were dry.

And then, I felt fine again.

About halfway through the summer, Carter actually tried to video call my grandma's iPad to get ahold of me.

My grandma, fully aware that we had had a falling out, smoothly lied and told him I was out traveling with friends.

Carter didn't push it. And he never called back.

Not long after that, the official university acceptance letters were mailed out.

The moment the envelope arrived at my house in Chicago, my parents practically screamed through the FaceTime call.

They were initially furious that I hadn't told them about changing my application.

But that anger instantly melted into pure, unadulterated pride that I had actually gotten into Brown University, a school most people only dreamed of.

Hearing the confirmation, I burst into happy tears.

I felt an overwhelming wave of gratitude that I hadn't let my attachment to Carter ruin my future.

That same night, the news hit the high school group chat.

The handful of us who made it into Ivy Leagues were tagged and publicly congratulated by the faculty.

The school even posted a digital honor roll banner.

I had no choice but to hop back into the group chat to thank my teachers for all their help.

Someone immediately chimed in.

[Whoa, Ashley actually picked Brown! That's amazing! I felt so bad thinking you settled for staying local.]

Mrs. Higgins was in a fantastic mood. She sent a digital gift card into the chat and tagged everyone to claim it.

The chat exploded into chaos, scrolling so fast it looked like New Year's Eve. Notifications hit 99+ in seconds.

Then, after a long lull.

A brutally familiar default avatar popped up on the screen.

Carter: [Damn, look at all these messages. What's everyone so hyped about?]

11

For some inexplicable reason, the group chat went completely dead for three full seconds.

Seeing that avatar after so long made my breath hitch.

Eventually, a brave soul replied.

[Yo Carter, where are you partying with the queen right now? Haven't seen you all summer.]

[Dude, just scroll up. You're too lazy to read?]

[Mrs. Higgins is handing out gift cards. Our class crushed it this year. Half the top twenty students are from our homeroom. We got a bunch of Ivy League acceptances. Look at the banner.]

The guy even replied with a screenshot of the school's digital honor roll.

My name sat right there at number ten.

Seeing my name in bold letters, a spike of panic hit my chest.

In my darker, more petty moments, I used to wonder how Carter would react when he realized I picked an Ivy League on the East Coast.

Not the local school he manipulated me into choosing.

But now, I had my answer.

He didn't care. He didn't care at all.

He didn't even bother to ask a single question.

And why would he? He got exactly what he wanted. He was heading to USC with his gorgeous girlfriend.

Where his boring childhood friend went to college meant absolutely nothing to him.

Right before I closed the app, someone pointed out the elephant in the room.

[Wait, didn't Carter swear he was staying in Chicago? When did he switch to USC?]

[Bro, Serena always said she wanted to go to Cali. You think he'd let her go alone? Man packed his bags for love.]

[Who cares? Carter, we're doing one last massive class dinner next week before everyone leaves for college. Don't ghost us.]

The conversation quickly dissolved into arguments about which steakhouse to book.

I stared at the glowing text, feeling completely hollow.

I couldn't quite put a name to the emotion.

But at least the sharp, stabbing pain was gone.

I didn't stick around to see Carter's reply. I locked my phone and went back to my life.

I wasn't flying back for the dinner anyway.

My plan was to fly directly from London to Rhode Island for freshman move-in.

But as it turned out, Carter didn't show up to the class dinner either.

A mutual friend told me he flew Serena out to Antarctica for an expedition cruise. It sounded like they wouldn't be back for weeks.

He was probably going to fly straight to LA for his orientation.

Antarctica.

The exact place I had obsessively talked about visiting as a graduation trip when the stress of senior year was crushing me.

Back then, he had rolled his eyes and told me I was crazy.

Now, he was checking off my bucket list destinations, just with a different girl in the passenger seat.

It wasn't that he hated the destination. He just hated the idea of going with me.

I didn't humor my friend by asking follow-up questions.

Taking the hint, the friend never mentioned Carter to me again.

The next morning, my mom texted me a photo.

A massive package had arrived from Iceland. Sent by Carter.

12

The box was huge. I had no idea what was inside.

Carter's parents had personally dropped it off at our front door.

My mom asked if she should forward it to London or just open it herself.

I sat in silence for a minute before declining her offer.

I gave her a brief, sterilized version of what happened between Carter and me. Then I asked her to return the box to his house.

While she was at it, I asked her to take the three large moving boxes stacked in my closet and drop those off at his house, too.

Those boxes contained every single birthday and Christmas gift Carter had ever given me.

From the scribbled macaroni art in kindergarten, to the framed butterfly specimens in middle school, right down to the pink diamond pendant he gave me on my eighteenth birthday.

Everything I used to treat like sacred treasure.

I had boxed it all up before I left for London.

I just hadn't found the courage to throw it back in his face yet.

When my parents heard the truth, they were absolutely livid.

They had been neighbors and close friends with the Carters for two decades, and they couldn't fathom how their son could be so vicious.

Messing with a college application wasn't a prank. It was gambling with someone's entire future.

Even though my family had more than enough money to secure my future regardless, getting into an Ivy League was a point of immense pride for them.

It gave them bragging rights at every country club dinner.

So, not only did my parents return every single gift, but they also severely cut ties with Carter's parents.

Even after Carter's mother saw the boxes and came over crying, begging for forgiveness, my mom refused to let it go.

My mom told me later that when Carter found out I returned the gifts, he completely lost his mind.

He apparently still had no idea I was going to Brown.

Because the second his parents tried to lecture him about the application stunt and mention my acceptance letter, he stormed off.

He was so furious that he demanded his parents never speak my name in his presence again.

He called me petty, saying I was throwing a tantrum over a harmless joke, and that if I wanted to burn a lifelong friendship to the ground over nothing, then we were done.

Hearing that stung, but it didn't surprise me.

Returning those gifts was my way of deleting eighteen wasted years.

I peacefully counted down the days on my calendar.

A week before college started, I flew back to Chicago.