Best Friend Zone: A Brutal Awakening

"Ava, I only see you as a friend." Ethan's quiet words in the noisy bar landed like a ton of bricks, shattering my decade-long crush into a million pieces.

I had just poured out years of hidden feelings, only to be met with those five simple words. It was a clear, brutal end to a love story I had directed, starred in, and watched all by myself.

He finally looked at me, his expression full of a pity I didn' t want. "You' re my best friend, Ava. I don' t want to lose that." That phrase, 'best friend' , felt like a curse, a box he put me in, safe from my affections.