Part 1Graduation trip

My post-high school graduation trip with my childhood best friend, Ryan, was all planned out. Yellowstone. It was supposed to be epic.

But as I was heading to the airport, I got a notification: my flight had been canceled.

As I stood there, totally confused, words started scrolling across my vision, like comments on a livestream.

【Here we go! This is the part where the male lead, feeling sorry for the heroine who’s never been on a plane, cancels the side character’s ticket and gives it to her. The side character is about to totally lose it and have a huge fight with him.】

【Even when she buys a Greyhound ticket and finally gets there, the main couple will have already had a super romantic day together. They’ll be all over each other, and he won’t even have eyes for the side character anymore.】

【This is the fight that makes him realize how high-maintenance the side character is. Every time they argue, he discovers another amazing thing about the heroine. He pulls away from the side character, falls for the heroine, and boom, happily ever after. I ship it!】

【OMG, look! She’s about to text him! The drama is starting! Get your popcorn!】

I hesitated, my thumb hovering over Ryan’s contact. Should I text him? Before I could decide, my phone buzzed with a message from him.

【Hey Tatum. Winnie’s never been on a plane before, so I refunded your ticket and gave it to her.】

【Just buy a bus ticket and meet us there. We’ll wait for you in Wyoming!】

When I didn’t reply right away, another one came through.

【Are you mad? I know you’re not used to roughing it, you’re kind of a princess.】

【But Winnie can handle anything. Why is it always such a big deal with you?】

I stared at the screen, my blood running cold.

The comments… they were all true.

I bit my lip, opened the Greyhound app, and bought a ticket.

Only, the destination wasn't Wyoming.

It was Denver.

*

* * *

“Change of plans,” I told the Uber driver. “The bus station, please.”

【Weird. Why isn’t she fighting with him? If she doesn’t throw a fit, how is he supposed to get annoyed and see how much better our girl Winnie is? Ugh, she’s not following the script!】

【Right? She didn’t even text him back. And she bought a ticket to Denver? She's just trying to make him feel guilty. What a classic mean girl move. No wonder he doesn’t like her. Growing up together means nothing!】

【Seriously, she's the worst. Not like our Winnie. Winnie might not have money, but she’s strong and independent. A total girlboss.】

【This stupid side character needs to get with the program! Doesn't she know she's just an NPC? Her only job is to move the plot forward! How is Winnie supposed to shine if she has no one to contrast with?】

【OMG, switch screens! The main couple is checking in at the airport! Their sweet romance is about to take off in a few hours! Squeee!】

My grip on my phone tightened. Ever since Winnie transferred to our school, I couldn’t count the number of times Ryan had put her first and made me feel small.

He always said she was strong and independent, that she knew the value of hard work because her family struggled. Meanwhile, I was just a spoiled princess who didn’t appreciate anything.

We’d make plans to see a movie, and he’d cancel last minute.

“Winnie said a $15 ticket is what she makes in three hours at her part-time job. She thinks it’s a waste.”

“You should just go by yourself, Tatum. My parents work hard for their money, you know?”

This from the guy whose parents had just bought him a $1,500 gaming laptop.

Lunch for two became lunch for three. The grilled salmon and steak I ordered would somehow end up on Winnie’s plate.

“You should eat more veggies, Tatum. You need to watch your figure.”

I weighed 110 pounds.

It went on and on. It got to the point where he even blew off my eighteenth birthday. I’d waited, refusing to blow out the candles until he showed up. Ten o’clock, eleven, then midnight. Not a single text. I tried to tell myself something important must have come up.

Then I saw the video on someone’s Instagram story: Ryan and Winnie on his motorcycle, her arms wrapped tightly around his waist as they tore down an empty street, laughing.

The next day, all he said was, “Oh crap. I completely forgot it was your birthday.”

The boy I grew up with was slowly being replaced, and there was always a Winnie-shaped shadow standing next to him.

This trip was supposed to fix things. We’d planned it three years ago. Back then, his grades were terrible, and I was a shoo-in for the best magnet high school in the state. He begged me to go to the same public school as him, and like a fool, my heart melted and I agreed.

He promised me then. After graduation, we’d go to Yellowstone. And there, under the big sky, he would officially ask me to be his girlfriend. We’d go to the same college, get married after we graduated.

I actually believed him.

For three years, I dragged his grades up from the gutter until he was getting the same scores I was.

But ever since Winnie showed up, it was like I didn't exist. He was tutoring her, taking her to do all the things she’d “never done before.”