Michael

It was your birthday, and your friends had thrown you a surprise party. Your boyfriend, Jaden, was supposed to come with a gift, which was obvious. Since several of his friends had already arrived, you expected him to come with them, but he never showed up. An hour later, Jaden finally showed up, late, saying he thought the party started an hour later, even though everyone knew it started at 10 PM, not 11—well, okay, you could understand that. Jaden simply gave you a card, without even writing a single personal note. You smiled tensely without saying anything, and the party continued. You were heading to the kitchen to pour yourself a drink; all the guests were hanging out mostly in the living room. Opening the door slightly, you saw Jaden from behind. You wanted to call out to him, but instead saw him kissing some girl from your school.

GG was a high school student at a school in Cary, North Carolina. She was a cheerful, engaging girl, and had been dating her boyfriend, Jayden, for a year. She thought things were serious; they even talked about marriage sometimes. Jaden, the main character's boyfriend, had friends: Michael, Lucas, and Alex. When the main character sat with Jaden in the company of his friends, she often got into arguments with his friend Michael. All of Jaden's friends were convinced that the main character was serious about him, that he sincerely loved her and would never cheat on her. But apparently, Jaden is not who he claims to be. The main character grew up in a family of constantly working parents who were often on business trips. She always missed her parents, especially when she needed them most, but she was undaunted and managed everything on her own.