Part 1The Eleventh Hour

The night before the study abroad applications locked, our friend group chat exploded.

[Jake]: HOLY SHIT! Liam, why'd you switch your preference to the UK? Aren't you and Mia supposed to be doing the Paris program??

Liam’s reply was so casual it made my blood run cold.

[Liam]: Eh, I switched. She has my login. It's fine.

He followed it up with a voice memo, his laugh echoing.

[Liam (Voice Memo)]: “She’ll see I switched, and she’ll follow me. C'mon, you guys know my shadow. She can't live without me!”

My phone slipped from my hand. My mind went completely blank.

My suitcase, half-packed on the floor, was full of things I’d bought for him. For Paris.

I left the group chat. I took the gifts and dumped them in the trash. I never looked at the application portal again.

He had no idea.

He could throw away our future for Chloe, but I could just as easily throw him away and choose my own.

All those all-nighters, all that work... it was never just for him.

Liam’s words were like glass in my stomach.

The Paris program. Twelve years of dreaming, three years of AP French, and countless late-night study sessions. A goal we had set together.

And he just… changed it.

He didn't even have the guts to tell me to my face.

Someone in the chat was still typing.

[Sarah]: What if Mia doesn't see it? The portal closes tomorrow at midnight, Liam.

Liam’s text was sharp, mocking.

[Liam]: Are you kidding? Mia’s been checking that portal every ten minutes since it opened. She’s more on top of it than my mom. Tsk, you guys don't get it.

A few guys replied with "true" and "savage."

Then, someone else chimed in.

[Jake]: But what if she doesn't change? That Paris design program is way better for her.

Liam’s reply was slow this time, and cold.

[Liam]: Bullshit.

[Liam]: Mia’s got major separation anxiety. She freaked out that one time I was gone for a day and drove three hours to find me. If she doesn't come with me, she won't see me for three years. You do the math.

[Liam]: She cares more about me than some stupid school. She’ll pick me.

The chat went silent.

Finally, Sarah typed again, slowly.

[Sarah]: Liam, that's… not cool. We all saw how hard she worked for this. You should at least tell her.

Liam’s response was just an emoji: 🙄

[Liam]: Ugh. It’s annoying. I don't want to explain it. You guys know how Mia is. If she knew it was because of Chloe, she’d start crying and I don’t have the energy for that drama. This is just… less hassle for me.

The chat instantly lit up again.

[Guy 1]: Yeah, I get it. Mia's cool, but Chloe is… well. 🔥

[Guy 2]: Liam, you dog!

...

The joking messages piled up, each one like a boot on my chest.

I wanted to call him. To scream. To demand an explanation.

But my fingers wouldn't move.

In the end, I just turned off my phone, pulled the covers over my head, and let the darkness swallow me.