It has been a week since Nia broke up with Ethan. Nia's lifestyle hasn't changed much since then. Her daily life consists of going to school, going to work, and ending her day by relaxing at home. With the day pretty much over, Nia returned to the dorms with a tired-looking expression.
"Tomorrow I finally get to sleep in!"
Nia sits down on the couch and looks up at the ceiling. Nia closes her eyes, and as she does, her mind starts to drift back to a year ago, when she met Ethan for the first time.
It was the first day of the 2023-2024 school year at Sunshine University. Nia, Luna, Raven, and Serena are sitting at the front of a classroom. Nia, who has not gotten the tips of her hair dyed yet, is currently writing in her journal.
"First day of college, and we all agreed to have science up first. I wonder if Sunshine University will actually be what my parents described to me," she says with a blank expression.
Luna looks into Nia's journal with a cheery expression.
"You're writing your feelings into that journal again. I hope this time it's something positive!"
"Well, I'm sorry to disappoint, but it's not."
"Come on, Nia. I know this school might not be exactly what you want, but you had no choice."
With a huge smile, Luna hugs Nia.
"Don't worry, Nia; you have all your friends here. We will make your experience at Sunshine University the best in the world."
The class starts, and in the middle of the class, the door bursts open. At the door is a younger Ethan.
"Sorry for being late, professor. Traffic was heavy on the way here!"
"It's fine. You don't have to apologize for being late. This isn't high school. I don't care if you show up at all."
"Oh alright!"
After hearing what the professor had to say, Ethan goes and takes a seat in the front, right next to Nia. The class continues going, and twenty-five minutes into the class, Ethan looks over to Nia. He looks at her up and down with a smile.
Nia notices Ethan looking at her.
"Why are you looking at me?"
"Oh, sorry, it's just that I got a little distracted, and I guess I ended up staring at you."
"Oh, alright then."
Nia goes back to looking into her journal, and as she does, Ethan starts to think to himself.
"She's one of the cutest girls I've ever met, but her face looks like she's trapped in a box or something. I wonder if I should try talking to her."
Ethan looks at Nia's journal and notices that she has filled up an entire page with thoughts.
"What are you writing about?"
Nia glances at Ethan for a few seconds and then looks back at her journal.
"I'm just writing my thoughts."
"That's it?"
"Yeah, well, writing down my thoughts helps me clear my head whenever I have something on my mind."
"Woah, that's cool. Do you do this often?"
"I actually do it every day. It is way easier to do this than to say them out loud to someone," she says with a blank expression.
"So are you going for an English major?" he asks with a smile.
"No, my major is computer science."
"Oh, so are you into programming and stuff like that?"
"I mean, I guess so."
Ethan puts out his hand toward Nia. Nia slowly turns her head toward him with an emotionless look in her eyes.
"Hi, I'm Ethan, and I'm majoring in business."
Nia smiles at Ethan and shakes his hand.
"Hello, my name is Nia!"
Nia's mind drifts back to the present.
"Hey Nia, wake up!"
Nia opens her eyes and notices drool slipping down her lip. Nia wipes her mouth and notices that the one calling her is Luna, who is sitting next to her.
"Oh, hi Luna, did I fall asleep?"
"Yeah, and on the couch too."
Luna looks at Nia's face and sees a tear coming from her right eye. Luna wipes the tear from her face.
"I see you're still broken up about Ethan."
"No, I'm fine. I guess tears just start coming out of nowhere."
Luna gives Nia a hug around her neck.
"It's ok, Nia. You just need time to get over him, and I'll be here for you through it all."
Nia, feeling the warmth from her best friend, touches her arm and smiles.
"Thank you, Luna."
As Luna comforts Nia after a long day of work, Serena is currently in her car, driving through the city. While she's driving, Serena is on the phone with Raven.
"Don't you think we should go over to Nia and check on her? I hate that slimeball, Ethan, but she was in love with him. Who knows what she's going through right now?" Raven screams.
"Calm down, Raven. I understand what you're saying, but right now, it would be best to leave her alone with Luna. They are best friends; if anyone can help her through this, it's Luna."
"Oh, alright, but I really do hope Luna can help her through this."
"I'm sure she will."
Serena parks in front of a grocery store and gets out of the car.
"OK, I'm going into the store now. I'll call you later."
"OK bye!"
Serena hangs up the phone and walks into the store.
Serena walks straight to the third aisle and picks up two loaves of bread. She throws them into her cart and checks "loaf of bread" off of her checklist.
"OK, now I need some milk, eggs, and maybe I'll get some fruit."
Serena walks to the fifth aisle, where a bunch of refrigerators are. She opens one of the refrigerators and grabs a carton of milk. She closes the fridge, but when she looks to the left, she sees a familiar face.
"Is that May?"
Serena starts to remember a few weeks ago, when Ethan brought May to dinner.
"You know, I have been wondering something ever since we found out Ethan was cheating."
Serena walks over to May, who is left to the fish, and May instantly sees her.
"Oh hi, Serena! I haven't seen you since Ethan invited me to dinner."
"Yes hello, May I hope you're doing well?"
"Yes, I am. Oh, I heard about what happened between Nia and Ethan. Please tell Nia I hope she can bounce back from the breakup."
"Yeah, speaking of the breakup, I wanted to ask you something."
"Yeah, go ahead and ask me anything."
"Well, all of us believe that Ethan was cheating on Nia with you; I just wanted to confirm."
"What! I can see how you could come to that conclusion, but me and Ethan are strictly friends; we've never once had sex."
"Oh, really, but we all saw you walk away from the dormitories with Ethan, and inside his dorm, Nia found condoms."
"Oh, you mean when we went to the movies! Well, I had never been inside his dorm. That one time we walked away from the dormitories was because he fell asleep waiting for me to arrive, so I had to go to his dorm and knock on the door since he wouldn't answer his phone."
As May speaks, Serena starts to go back and forth in her head.
"So she has never been to Ethan's dorm? Well, then again, she could be lying, but why would she do such a thing? To cover for Ethan?"
May pulls out her phone and shows a picture of what looks to be a doctor's note. When Serena sees what's on the note, her eyes open wide. May blushes out of embarrassment as Serena reads the note.
"Yeah, and if you still don't believe me, I have severe vaginismus. Please don't tell anyone but Nia. I've been working for quite a while to get it cured, but no luck yet. Right now, I just want to make sure I clear my name, so please trust me, I haven't had sex with Ethan."
"Yeah, this doctor's note is definitely real. Sorry for asking you that question out of nowhere."
"No, it's fine; it happens!"
"Well, do you know the person he was actually cheating with?"
"I have no idea, but he's a complete asshole for what he did to Nia, and I'll be sure to scold him later."
Serena giggles after hearing May's statement.
"Thanks; I hope I see you again in the future."
"Same here!"
May and Serena walk in the opposite direction. As Serena walks around the store, grabbing all her groceries, she continues to think about her conversation with May. After buying everything she needs and putting it in her trunk, Serena gets into her car. Then she sits back in her seat while still in deep thought.
"Does it even matter if I figure out who Ethan cheated on Nia with? For some reason, I feel the need to find out. Maybe that's supposed to tell me something."
Nia starts to think again as she thinks.
"OK, May is the only other girl we know Ethan could have been creating with, but it's not her. Who else could it be? I never got to see all the proof Ethan had in his room that clearly showed us that he was cheating. Actually, I think Nia took pictures of his drawers and sent them to the group chat."
Serena looks at the pictures, and then something catches her eye.
"All those hair clips are green just like—"
Serena's face turns to shock as she speaks.
"There's no way, but it makes too much sense!"
Back at Sunshine University in the Tiger dorms, Luna is currently cooking dinner for Nia, who is still sitting on the couch.
"Do you want sour cream on your tacos?"
"Yes please!" Nia answers with a happy look on her face.
"Alright, I'm getting started now!"
"Thanks again for making dinner, Luna."
"Of course, that's what best friends are for!"
As Luna starts cutting lettuce with a knife, Nia's phone starts ringing, and she answers it.
"Hello, Sere—"
"Nia!"
"Woah, what's wrong, Serena?"
"Ethan didn't cheat on you with May; she has vaginismus, which blocks her from having sex!"
"Wait what? Oh well, if it's not May, that's fine. I'm done with Ethan now, so there's no need to look into it."
"No, Nia, that's not all. I know who he cheated on you with!"
"Oh, then who is it?"
As Serena and Nia speak, Luna continues cutting the lettuce.
"The person whom Ethan had sex with is someone who has been near us the entire time and is someone who wanted to break the relationship between you two."
"Wait, someone close to us, how do you know?"
"I know because it was right in front of our faces the entire time! Your loyalty to Ethan was so strong to the point where you wouldn't even question him, but there's only one person who can convince you otherwise."
As Serena speaks, Nia starts to become concerned.
"What are you saying, Serena?"
"I kept thinking about why she would do something like this, especially to you, but after thinking for so long, I chopped it up to one thing: "jealousy."I know you're smart, Nia, so you probably already know who I'm talking about."
"No! Serena, have you lost your mind? Why would she set me up?"
"I don't know why, Nia, but please just think about it. When the idea of looking into Mays and Ethan's relationship came up, who convinced you to look into it? Who told us to split up and for you to go to the dorms where you found the condoms? Who is the one who slightly pushes you every time towards breaking up with Ethan? She wasn't as aggressive as Raven, so that's why we weren't able to notice her sneakily pushing you to discover Ethan cheating and breaking up with him!"
"But she's my—"
"Wait, there's one more thing!"
Nia flinches after hearing Serena's statement.
"Think back to when you searched in Ethan's dorm. You saw some hair clips, and they were the color of another hair clip we see often!"
Nia starts breathing heavily with a devastated expression.
"Nia?"
Nia looks over to Luna and sees the green clip she always has in her hair in the same place as usual.
"I'll call you back, Serena."
"Nia wa—"
Nia hangs up the phone before Serena can finish and then gets up.
"Hey, Luna?"
When Luna hears her name called, she stops chopping the lettuce and drops the knife.
"I guess there's no point in hiding it anymore."
With the light from the moon seeping into the room, tears start to spill from Nia's eyes.
"Please tell me it's not true," she says as her voice cracks.
Luna turns around to look at Nia, and when she does, Nia sees her sadistic smile.
"Well, there's no point in hiding it anymore; I already reached my goal!"
"What are you talking about, Luna?" Nia screams with a saddened expression.
Luna chuckles a little after hearing Nia scream.
"Yeah, I'm the one who Ethan cheated on you with, and I enjoyed every second of it!"
Chapter 6 end