Meanwhile, back in Boston.
Ryan dragged Nina’s suitcase through Harvard’s campus while she practically bounced around like
an excited golden retriever.
“Ryan, look at that building! It’s like Hogwarts!” Nina grabbed his sleeve, her fingers brushing
against his wrist as she pointed at the Gothic architecture.
Ryan followed her gaze, something twisting in his stomach.
Last fall when he’d brought Sienna here for academic competitions, she’d stood under these same trees looking amazed. Except Sienna would steal sips from his coffee and complain about him
walking too fast in his long legs.
He checked his phone. Still no response to his text from the airport.
[Babe, when’s your flight? Send me your itinerary so I can pick you up]
“Let’s get you settled in the dorm first,” he said, pocketing his phone.
While Ryan made Nina’s bed with the sheets her mom had packed, she perched on her desk chair
just watching him with these, adoring eyes.
“You’re so good to me,” she said softly. “I wish you could take care of me like this forever.”
Ryan focused on tucking the fitted sheet corners, not really knowing how to respond to that.
That evening, Nina clung to his arm as they walked around campus. “There’s some welcome bonfire
thing tonight. I don’t really know anyone yet…”
“I’ll come with you,” he said automatically.
His phone buzzed and he grabbed it hopefully, but it was just a weather alert.
The bonfire was classic college stuff – s’mores, acoustic guitars, way too much PBR. Nina kept trying to feed him marshmallows, giggling when their fingers touched.
People around them were making jokes about the “cute couple,” but Ryan kept checking his phone every five minutes.
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“Sienna still hasn’t texted you back?” Nina’s voice had this fake concerned tone. “Maybe she’s mad
about something?”
Ryan frowned at his screen. “That’s not like her. She doesn’t do the silent treatment thing.”
“Oh…” Nina looked down, playing with her bracelet. “Her phone’s probably dead or something.”
Ryan spent the whole night distracted, eventually wandering off to lean against some building while firing off increasingly desperate texts.
[Where are you?]
[Just let me know you’re okay]
[Are you ignoring me?]
The message thread showed delivered, but nothing else.
Just radio silence from the girl who used to text him back within minutes.
Maybe Sienna was just exhausted from everything. Ryan hovered over his keyboard, typing and
deleting “good night” about five times before giving up.
The next morning, his alarm went off at 6 AM and he immediately grabbed his phone.
Nothing.
Day three: still nothing.
Day four: radio silence.
A week later, his message thread with Sienna looked pathetic – just his texts piling up unanswered.
He couldn’t take it anymore. Ryan drove to Emerson College, the school Sienna was supposed to
attend.
That’s when everything fell apart
The admissions lady checked her computer twice, then shook her head apologetically.
“Sienna Hart? I’m sorry, that student never enrolled here. She’s not in our system.”
Ryan felt like the ground had disappeared under his feet.
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He’d literally watched her submit her application. They’d planned their whole college life around being in the same city. If she wasn’t at Emerson, where the hell was she?
He speed–dialed her number, hands shaking.
“The customer you are trying to reach has disconnected service.”
What the fuck was happening?
“Ryan?” Nina appeared beside him with coffee and this concerned expression. “You look awful. What’s wrong?”
“Sienna never enrolled.” His voice sounded hollow. “Her phone’s disconnected. She just… vanished.”
Nina’s face flickered with something – surprise? guilt? – but she quickly handed him the coffee.
“Maybe there was some mix–up with her paperwork? We could check other schools in Boston?”
Ryan stared at his dead phone screen, that sick feeling in his stomach getting worse.
For the next two days, he basically turned into a private investigator. Called every mutual friend,
checked every social media platform, even contacted other universities.
He posted on Instagram asking if anyone knew where Sienna was. Hundreds of people responded, but nobody had a clue.
ཋའ་ཟའ་
Nina stuck by him through all of it – bringing him food he couldn’t eat, sitting quietly while he made
frantic phone calls, being the perfect supportive… friend.
But Sienna Hart had completely disappeared.
It wasn’t until the third evening, when Ryan was sitting on the library steps looking completely defeated, that everything started to unravel.
Nina had gone to grab them drinks from the vending machine, leaving her phone on the bench
beside him.
The screen lit up with a text notification.
It was from Nina’s bestie: [So Sienna really didn’t show up? Damn girl, you’re ruthless]
Ryan could see Nina’s reply from the night before in the preview: [Lol that dumb bitch will never make it to Boston. Ryan’s completely obsessed with me now]
The autumn wind scattered leaves around his feet as Ryan stared at the phone, his hands starting to
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shake.
He clicked into the conversation thread and scrolled up, his stomach dropping with every message he read.
His phone felt like it was burning in his palm when he heard Nina’s voice getting closer.
“Ryan! I got your favorite energy drink!” She was jogging toward him with this bright, innocent smile. “You need to eat something, you look terrible.”
Ryan quickly shoved her phone back where she’d left it, forcing his face into some approximation of normal as he accepted the bottle from her.
But inside, his mind was racing through every conversation, every “coincidence,” every time Nina had conveniently shown up when Sienna needed him.
He looked at the girl sitting beside him – all wide eyes and concerned frowns – and for the first time, he saw her clearly.
What the hell had Nina done?
