Invisible to My First Love (Harper and Maddox) novel Chapter 1

Harper

“Marry him! Marry him!”

I had dreamt of such scenes countless times: My childhood best friend, Grayson Ford on one knee, his love for me shining in his eyes as he held a ring in his hand, and friends cheering all around us. The dream had finally come true, but the one in front of him was Tiffany, the girl who had turned my entire high school life into a nightmare.

I didn’t expect to see him again in that way after being away for four years. We had barely spoken when I left San Francisco to go to college. But the moment his name flashed on my phone screen a few days ago with an invite to his party, I felt sixteen again and wanted to go as soon as possible.

And at that moment, I deeply regretted it. I had no idea they were still together as I hadn’t checked his social media profiles in a long time.

“I love you,” he said to her as he waited.

His words made me peek from behind the wall where I’d been hiding since my arrival. They were surrounded by guests in the living room.

“I love you too, Babe,” she said in that voice that I still found annoying. “Yes!”

Her giggle, his smile and their passionate kiss all cut deeper than I expected. My fingers curled around the strap of my handbag so tightly that I thought it might snap, but I didn’t care. I was already fighting back my tears.

Even though he was the only one I had loved for more than ten years and my heart was breaking, I wasn’t going to cry there. It was his engagement party and I wasn’t about to behave like the clumsy Harper of high school. Not anymore.

Right as the applause began to fade, I held my head high and stepped forward into the living room, the sound of my heels making heads turn. I hadn’t seen any of those people in years, but I never forgot how they mocked my baggy dressing and unappealing presence in school.

Now, all eyes were on me and the room fell silent for a few seconds, everyone trying to study me. One of the girls leaned over to whisper something to her friend, mentioning my name in the process to find out it was really Harper Moore.

Being the center of attention was the one thing I never wanted for as long as I could remember, but it just couldn’t be helped. I also expected this to happen. I wasn’t the girl I used to be. Even the guys looked at me differently.

I played it cool, my lips curving into a smile, and then, my gaze landed on Grayson.

His eyes widened as he pulled his hand away from Tiffany, taking a few steps towards me before he could stop himself. He parted his lips, but no words came out immediately. He looked at me from head to toe a few times, like he couldn’t believe it was me.

“Harp?” he said, pushing past a few people in his way as he pushed back his jet black hair.

I swallowed hard, trying not to get too excited just by how he called my name.

“Yup, that’s me!” I forced a chuckle.

He slowly lifted the corners of his mouth, stunned. “Wow….you look….”

“Different?”

“Beautiful.” He said it too quickly and that compliment left my heart racing. I was now twenty two years old, but felt sixteen again.

Right before I could respond, Tiffany rushed to his side, holding onto his arm. She had this look of amusement on her face, but there was nothing friendly about it.

With an exaggerated gasp, she said, “Oh, it’s really you.”

She looked at me from head to toe with the same fake smile that was always plastered across her face.

There was a time when Grayson and I were very close but when he became popular in junior high school and she showed interest in him, everything changed. She was rich and beautiful, everything I wasn’t back then. I felt invisible and it was because she was in the picture that he and I grew distant even before I left for college.

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