number one girl

by sneakoutat4am

The hallway buzzed with the usual after-class chatter, lockers slamming, sneakers squeaking against the linoleum floor.
Daniela stood by her locker, pretending to check her phone. She didn’t need to look up — she knew the sound of Sophia’s laughter instantly.

She peeked.
Sophia was there, walking with Manon, their hands brushing.
They looked perfect together — the kind of couple that made sense. The golden girl and the artist. The soft and the fire.

Manon leaned closer to whisper something, and Sophia’s laughter — soft, melodic — filled the hallway.

And that was when Daniela felt it.
That familiar sharpness in her chest, the ache that came every time she saw them together.
She forced herself to look away, to swallow the words she could never say.

Isn’t it lonely? I’d do anything to make you want me.
Rosé’s voice echoed in her head from the playlist Sophia had made her last year.
Back when they were still just friends — before Manon, before everything changed.

 

[Later that evening – Rooftop above the gym.]

The city lights blinked below, a thousand tiny stars trapped in glass.
Daniela sat on the rooftop, knees pulled to her chest, hoodie zipped up to her chin.
The air was cold, biting, but the ache inside her burned hotter.

She had come here after practice — to the one place where she could finally fall apart.

She remembered the way Sophia used to come up here with her.
How they’d talk about everything — dreams, fears, dumb jokes.
Sophia once told her, “You’re my person, Dani. No one gets me like you do.”

And maybe that was the problem.
Because Daniela had started believing it meant something more.

She tilted her head back, staring at the sky. “Isn’t it lonely, Soph?” she whispered, her voice cracking. “I’d do anything to make you want me.”

The words dissolved into the night air, carried away by the wind.
Somewhere below, she could hear faint laughter — maybe Sophia’s, maybe just her memory playing tricks.

Daniela closed her eyes, tears slipping down her cheeks.

She could live with being invisible.
She could live with being the friend, the classmate, the one always watching from the sidelines.
But she couldn’t live without loving Sophia — not anymore.

 

[Next day]

“Hey, Dani!”

Sophia’s voice.
Daniela froze mid-step.

When she turned, Sophia was running toward her, hair bouncing, eyes bright as ever.
She was holding two drinks — one strawberry, one coffee. Daniela’s usual order.

“I got you one,” Sophia said, breathless. “You didn’t show up to lunch yesterday. Everything okay?”

Daniela forced a smile, taking the cup. “Yeah. Just… tired.”

Sophia studied her for a moment, that gentle concern in her eyes that made it hurt even more.
Then she smiled — the kind of smile that made Daniela’s stomach twist and her heart shatter in the same breath.

“Don’t overwork yourself,” Sophia said softly. “I care about you, you know that, right?”

And then she was gone — off to meet Manon waiting by the gate, their hands intertwining like it was the most natural thing in the world.

Daniela sat at the same desk, staring out at the fading orange sky.
The coffee had long gone cold beside her, untouched.
She could still hear Sophia’s voice in her head — “I care about you.”

A tear slid down her cheek before she could stop it. She pressed her forehead against the cool glass, whispering into the empty room,

“Isn’t it lonely… I’d do anything to make you want me.”

Outside, laughter echoed down the courtyard — Sophia and Manon, walking home together.
Daniela didn’t turn to look.
She didn’t need to.

Because she already knew that the one person she wanted most was someone she could never have.

And that was the cruelest kind of love there was.