The words come out hot and sharp, and maybe a little desperate.
“Al, come on. Please.” His voice is soft, almost pleading. “I don’t want to fight with you again.”
“But, Hay?—”
“I just can’t. Not today.”
His fists clench the table edges, his knuckles going white. He won’t even look at me anymore.
And that’s when I know.
Reallyknow.
It doesn’t matter what I say or do. He’s already chosen her.
He always chooses her.
I was a damn fool to think this time would be any different.
Heat stings the corners of my eyes as I step away from the table. I don’t walk—I flee. Because if I stay, I’ll shatter in front of both of them, crack open and bleed all over the floor. And I can’t let that happen. I can’t let them see what this is really doing to me.
I make it to my car, dive inside, and yank the doorshut just in time. An instant later, the tears come. Hot, stinging, unstoppable.
Rejection.
Humiliation.
Loss.
A part of me always knew this day would come. I just didn’t realize it would come so soon.
My shoulders shake as I slump forward, burying my face against the steering wheel. The ache inside me swells until it spills over, raw, relentless, and hollow. It eats at everything in me, scraping me clean, until there’s nothing left but exhaustion, followed fast by a crushing emptiness.
And then I remember.
Shit.
I forgot the damn food.
Because of course I did. As if the night wasn’t already a complete disaster, now I’m going to starve.
Fucking perfect.
Idon’t hear from Hayes after our run-in at Souvlaki’s. He skips French on Monday, and I don’t spot him anywhere on campus—not in the quad, not at the student union, not even lurking by the dining hall.
He’s definitely avoiding me. No question about it.
Until now, the longest we’d ever gone without talking was twenty-three hours and fifteen minutes. We were twelve. I’d broken my wrist falling out of his treehouse after he dared me to climb up without using the ladder. I never could say no to a dare.
I don’t remember much. Not the climb. Not the moment I slipped and fell. Not the drop. Just a flash of sky, a rush of wind, and then… nothing. I blacked out.
When I came to, Hayes was there, holding me, eyes wide and terrified. One hand was clutching mine, the other pressed firmly against my back to keep me upright. My wrist was already swelling, my whole body aching. But somehow, I was alive.
My mom had to leave work to take me to the emergency room. She yelled at us the entire drive while I sat in the backseat with Hayes, crying as he held my hand—the good, uninjured one.
It wasn’t until later that I learned how serious it really was. The doctor said if I’d landed just a fewinches differently, I could’ve broken my neck and been paralyzed. Maybe worse.
I was lucky. A miracle, apparently. Hayes helped to break my fall.
