Boyfriend Cheated with Cheer Captain, I Left

At the National High School Football All-Star Game, my boyfriend Evan had just been named MVP. Sophia, the cheer captain, immediately posted on Instagram.

Caption: "Guess who got a little something from the champion himself~"

The photo turned out to be a pair of Evan's worn underwear!

Scrawled across them in lipstick were the words: "For my dearest Sophia."

She held them up with her long acrylic nails, pouting for the selfie.

The internet exploded. "Why does she have his underwear?" "Isn't it obvious? They're totally together." "Sitting here waiting for the official couple photo."

Within seconds, a close-up of the two of them cheek-to-cheek surfaced in the comments.

Congratulations and teasing flooded the feed.

I gripped my phone, a chill spreading through my entire body.

Evan had promised to go public about us ages ago but kept putting it off, saying he needed to prove himself first. He'd been stalling ever since.

Now here I was, his actual girlfriend, and I didn't even get an invite to his victory party.

I took a deep breath and called him.

"Explain."

On the other end, Evan's voice was lazy, almost amused. "The fans grabbed everything off me. Jersey, pads, all of it. Sophia insisted on keeping something as a souvenir, so I gave her the underwear. No big deal."

"The Instagram post is just riding the hype. Don't be so uptight about it."

Then Sophia's voice chimed in. "Yeah, honey, Evan and I are like brothers! I've seen everything on him already. It's just a pair of boxers, so don't be so petty."

I listened to their increasingly flirtatious banter through the speaker, then slowly pulled off my engagement ring and tossed it aside.

"Fine," I said to Evan. "I'll be the bigger person. Why don't you skip the 'girl bro' thing and just make her your girlfriend? I'm tired of watching this act."

The other end went dead silent, and then Evan's voice shot up.

"Lillian, are you threatening me?"

"This is publicity. A marketing strategy. Do you even understand that? We're a friendship duo. Sophia's helping me build buzz. This is the most critical time in my career, and you're pulling this crap?"

I swallowed the ache in my throat.

"Do you even remember what you promised me?"

A pause. Then a sigh, and his voice came drifting over, light as air.

"Lillian, I know. You've been waiting for me to go public with you."

"But have you ever considered what kind of damage it would do to my image if I suddenly announced some no-name girlfriend? I'd take a massive hit."

"I didn't have a choice. If you could help my career the way Sophia does, I wouldn't need to do any of this."

My knuckles whitened around the phone.

He was right about one thing: I was nobody compared to Sophia. She had the body, the face, and she'd been the most popular cheer captain in the country for years.

All I had was eight years. Eight