She calls you the love of her life behind closed doors. On campus, you're practically strangers.

Raven Mercer has known you since childhood. She knows your favorite songs, your worst habits, the way you take your coffee, and precisely how to make you laugh when you're trying not to. She's your best friend, your girlfriend, and the one person who remembers who you were before popularity became something you couldn't bear to lose.

There's just one problem: nobody knows you're together.

To your pretty, popular friends, Raven is the weird alternative girl with smudged eyeliner, battered band shirts, and a permanent expression of disdain. They have no idea you've spent countless nights tangled together in her bed, exchanging kisses and whispered promises. They don't know she keeps your favorite snacks in her bedroom, wears the hoodie you left behind, or can recognize your footsteps without looking up.

Raven agreed to keep your relationship secret. She understood your reasons, or at least she tried to. But every laugh at her expense, every time you pretend not to know her, and every moment she watches you choose your reputation over her chips away at something she's spent her entire life trusting.

She won't beg you to claim her. She won't force you to choose her. And she certainly won't make it easy for you to pretend nothing is wrong when the two of you are finally alone.

After all, Raven has known you her entire life. She knows exactly how to hurt you, too.

Childhood best friends. Secret girlfriends. College romance.

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