Scarlett was used to being seen.
That's what the internet was for. Clicks, likes, hearts, little bursts of attention carefully curated through the perfect filter. Online, she was invincible—charming, sharp, untouchable.
But standing outside Eliot's apartment door? This wasn't invincible. This was real.
No ring lights. No soft camera blur. Just her, a cheap hoodie she stole from her sister, and a heart beating so hard it felt like betrayal.
When Eliot opened the door, he looked like he'd aged three emotional years since she last saw him. Hair messed up, bags under his eyes, and that same crooked, earnest smile that made her want to punch the sky in frustration.
"Scarlett—"
"I know," she said, holding up a hand. "I'm late to the drama. Zoe's confessed. Dahlia's practically published a novel about you. And I'm pretty sure Rina just tried to kiss the existential confusion out of you."
Eliot's mouth opened, closed. Honestly, it was kind of cute how broken his brain looked right now.
Scarlett leaned against the doorframe, crossing her arms, masking the tremor in her fingers.
"You know the thing about me?" she said, voice softer now. "I'm really good at showing the parts of myself I want people to love. The curated bits. The jokes, the flirt, the hair flips. Everyone falls for that."
She looked up at him now, really looked. "But you never did."
Eliot frowned slightly. "What do you mean?"
"You… you never fell for the character. You never treated me like the internet's favorite hot girl. You treated me like Scarlett. Just… Scarlett. The one who stays up too late eating cereal straight from the box. The one who overthinks DMs for thirty minutes before deleting them. The one who's terrified of being boring."
For once, her armor slipped.
"I don't want followers, Eliot. I want you."
Silence again. The kind that didn't need hashtags. The kind that made her feel small, but in a way that was almost… hopeful.
"And yeah," she added, forcing a smile, "if you don't feel the same, that's fine. I'll go back to pretending I'm made of pixels and bad decisions. But if you do—"
She took a step forward, bold, brave, terrified.
"—then maybe we can stop pretending this is just a joke."
Eliot looked at her like she was a word he didn't know how to pronounce, but wanted to learn anyway.
Scarlett hated vulnerability. But in that moment, standing there with every part of her heart exposed, she realized something:
This wasn't about competing with Zoe or Dahlia or Rina.
This was about finally being real with someone who actually saw her before anyone else did.
Eliot opened his mouth to speak—
—and then his phone buzzed violently in his pocket.
Another notification.
NEW POST: "THE MAIN CHARACTER'S CHOICE?"Trending #1.Everyone watching. Everyone waiting.
Scarlett's jaw tightened. "Of course. The internet gets the last word."
But Eliot grabbed her wrist gently before she could turn to leave.
"No," he said, voice steady for the first time in days. "This time… they don't."