I Blocked My Childhood Friend Chapter 1

The golden boy’s Bluetooth speaker accidentally disconnected, broadcasting his phone’s audio to the entire room.

A familiar, cool, and tender female voice drifted through the air:

"Baby."

I froze.

Declan Vaughn’s face flushed as he scrambled to lock his screen. "The rest is R-rated," he teased, waving his phone. "Not for your innocent ears."

When the guys in the room pressed him for details, Declan just tilted his head back, shooting a brief, sidelong glance in my direction.

"It’s just some untouchable ice queen who finally melted for me," he said with a lazy shrug. "It’s really no big deal."

I knew that voice.

It belonged to Eden Monroe—the girl I had grown up with, the girl I had loved for years, and the girl I was just about ready to give up on.

* * *

Right at the height of the locker-room banter, Eden walked into the classroom.

Declan immediately closed the distance between them, dropping his voice to a theatrical whisper. "That audio recording from last Friday night… I accidentally just played it—"

He cut himself off abruptly. What followed was a pair of bright red ears and a look of practiced, deliberate timidity aimed directly at me.

Declan tugged gently at the cuff of Eden’s sleeve. "Eden, maybe you should explain things to Jude? Tell him nothing actually happened between us last Friday." He sighed, playing the victim. "Otherwise, he’s just going to throw another tantrum at you."

Last Friday was my birthday.

No wonder Eden hadn't shown up. She was too busy losing herself in someone else.

Eden’s brows drew together. When her eyes met mine, they were brimming with raw impatience.

"Jude, you know what kind of person I am. I’m not cheap," she said. "That night—"

"You don't have to explain," I interrupted, my voice surprisingly steady. "You said it yourself. We’re just friends. You have no obligation to answer questions that cross a boundary."

The air in the room went dead.

Declan stepped squarely in front of Eden, blocking my view of her. "Jude, you’re a guy. Can’t you be a little more mature about this? Why are you always picking fights with her?" He lowered his voice, coated in false sympathy. "Eden told me your constant paranoia is exhausting. You’re draining her."

My chest tightened on instinct. A Pavlovian response to the heartbreak.

Clutching my books to my chest, I turned toward the door, desperate to escape the amused, predatory stares of our classmates.

As I passed Eden, I looked at her properly for what felt like the last time.

"Declan is right," I said quietly. "Eden, I won’t bother you anymore."

She just turned her head to look at me. Her beautiful eyes were entirely devoid of emotion. "Suit yourself."

The familiar, suffocating weight of drowning finally pulled me completely under.

The first time I confessed my feelings to Eden was in high school. Back then, she told me that as long as we got into the same university, we would be together.

But once we actually enrolled at the same college, she threw herself entirely into launching her tech startup.

I still remember the day of my second confession. Eden couldn't even be bothered to look up from her laptop.

"Jude, don't you have your own life to live? Do we absolutely have to date "right now"?"

She told me to keep being friends. As for a relationship, we would talk about it later.

So, I waited. And I waited.

I waited until Eden and Declan started spending all their time together.

I waited until I was practically forced to abandon the idea of her entirely.

The childhood promise I’d clung to had completely expired.