You Are Most Beautiful Through the Lens Chapter 4

The next day at school, everyone was discussing Ethan’s Instagram post.

Wherever I went, I could feel the curious and gossipy stares.

Even more awkward, the class president organized a pre-graduation dinner. Tyler and Sophia would be there.

"You have to go," Madison said, pulling my arm. "If you don’t, people will think you’re guilty or hiding."

She was right.

So, Friday night, I appeared in the private room of the sushi restaurant.

Tyler sat across from me. When he saw me, his eyes were complicated.

Sophia sat next to him. When she saw me, a flash of unnaturalness crossed her face.

"Skylar’s here!" Someone greeted me enthusiastically.

Just as I sat down, Sophia smiled and said, "Tyler, I want to drink that plum wine."

"Didn't you say you're getting your period?" Tyler frowned. "Don't drink anything cold."

"Oh, it's fine," Sophia whined, shaking his arm playfully. "You'll take care of me anyway."

After saying that, she leaned over and took a sip from Tyler's lemon water, using his hand to guide the cup.

People at the table started teasing. "Whoa, you guys are too sweet!"

Tyler looked a bit uncomfortable and moved the cup away. "Stop it."

But Sophia was already leaning on his shoulder with a beaming smile.

Madison kicked me under the table and mouthed: Gross.

To ease the tension, someone started talking about college applications.

"Sophia, where did you apply?"

"CUNY," Sophia smiled sweetly. "It’s right next to Tyler’s school (NYU). That way I can visit him on weekends and cook him good food."

"Wow, that’s so thoughtful!"

Tyler frowned, wanting to say something, but remained silent.

"What about Skylar? You definitely applied to NYU too, right?" Someone asked me.

Before I could answer, Tyler beat me to it. "Of course she’s going to the same school as me. Her SAT score is only thirty points lower than mine, she’s totally qualified."

The whole table looked at me.

"I applied to UC San Diego," I said calmly. "I’ve already received the acceptance letter."

The air suddenly went still.

Tyler’s face instantly turned livid. "Skylar, you—"

"Also," Sophia suddenly chimed in, her tone carrying a faint mockery. "I heard Ethan applied to San Diego too? Skylar, did you guys... plan this?"

As soon as she said this, everyone put on a knowing expression.

"Just a coincidence," I said flatly.

"Is it?" Sophia smiled. "But you’re right, you guys only met yesterday, how could you plan it ahead? I’m overthinking it."

She sounded like she was giving me the benefit of the doubt, but her tone was clearly implying something else.

Tyler stood up abruptly. "I need some air."

When he walked out of the room, his face was terrifyingly dark.

...

After the dinner, Tyler blocked me in the parking lot.

"Let’s talk." His voice was low.

"There’s nothing to talk about."

"Skylar," he took a deep breath. "Are you really breaking up with me?"

"Yes."

"Because of Sophia?"

"Not just because of her." I looked into his eyes. "Tyler, do you know? For eleven years, I’ve been waiting. Waiting for you to see me, waiting for you to value me, waiting for you to put me first."

"But you never did."

"I did—" He tried to argue.

"No." I cut him off. "You always said I was your exclusive model, said you’d hold an exhibition for me. But you never posted a single photo of me on Instagram. You said it was because I wasn’t photogenic."

"But after Sophia came, you took hundreds of photos of her. Carousels, edited to perfection, captions, everything."

"Tyler, if I’m really unphotogenic, then why could Ethan take photos like that?"

He was speechless.

"The answer is simple," I whispered. "It’s not that I’m not photogenic. It’s that you never looked at me with your heart."

"Skylar—"

"Don’t contact me again." I turned to walk toward my car. "I wish you and Sophia happiness."

"Sophia and I have nothing going on!" He shouted from behind, his voice desperate. "She’s just like a sister to me!"

I stopped but didn’t turn back.

"Tyler, wake up. Your care for her went beyond 'brother' a long time ago. You just won’t admit it to yourself."

I walked away without looking back.