On day two of orientation, when everyone was exhausted and went to bed early, Bryce snuck out with River to go street racing all night.
Back then, we’d just had a fight, so when I called him a million times, he ignored every single one.
Until I saw some local video of a motorcycle accident.[]
That’s when I panicked.[]
That night at like 3 AM, I drove out in my pajamas to the overpass, so frantic I didn’t even park properly before throwing open the car door and tumbling out.[]
I rolled across the asphalt several times, scraping up my leg pretty badly.]
But when I looked up, there was Bryce holding a shaken River in his arms, whispering comfort.
That moment, I was finally done.]]
I thought to myself: That’s it.]
Sometimes you gotta accept that nothing lasts forever.
W
Two weeks later, eating lunch in the cafeteria, I got the notification that my passport had been approved.]
Mom said it was already being shipped.]
Barring any surprises, I could leave in three days.
Right then, Bryce and River walked into the cafeteria.]
Just my luck–they sat right in front of me.]
River acted all girlfriend–y, dumping her unwanted food into Bryce’s plate.
Bryce ate it without caring, but kept glancing my way.]
Like he was waiting for me to make the first move.]]
Two weeks. I hadn’t contacted Bryce once.
When I ran into him, I treated him like air.]
This time was no different.[]
I picked up my tray and just left.]
That night, my photo from the cafeteria got posted on the campus confession page.]
Someone wanted to know if I was single.
I commented: [Yep.]]
A little later, Bryce’s account replied:
[?]]]
[Getting bold, babe. Saying you’re single?]
That’s when I realized we were still following each other on Instagram.]
Two minutes later, Bryce slid into my DMs:]
[Two weeks over a water bottle? Our little princess sure knows how to hold a grudge.]]]
[So… miss me yet?][]
When I first decided to break up, Bryce was all I could think about.]
But now? I could face him pretty calmly.
Without saying much, I replied: [Got something to say? If not, I’m deleting you.]]
[Fine, delete away. /eye roll]]]
Bryce sounded relaxed, thinking I just needed a way to save face.
[Wanna grab dinner tomorrow? I won’t bring River.]]
[Fall break’s coming up, and we gotta fly home together anyway. You’re not seriously gonna ignore me the whole time, right?]]]
[Be good, Maddie. Listen to me.]
Even now, Bryce still thought I was just throwing a tantrum.]]
Just a longer one this time.
In the past, when he sweet–talked me a little, I’d probably take the olive branch.]
I was easy to win over.
But only when I actually wanted to stay together.[]
Instead of replying, I blocked and deleted Bryce from everything.[]
Even blocked his number.]
Next day, Bryce cornered me in the cafeteria.]
“Getting rebellious, huh, Maddison?”
Chapter 3
“I unblocked you ages ago, but you didn’t notice. What’s with the attitude?“]
He was grinning, reaching for my phone.[]
“Add your boyfriend back.“]
I slapped his hand away and said loudly:
“Nobody tell you to stay away from your ex’s life?“]
“Nope.” Bryce smirked. “My experience says keeping distance just makes certain people throw tantrums.“[]
I actually laughed.]
I started to leave, but Bryce pressed me back into my seat.]
“Okay, okay, you’ve made your point. I came all this way to get you these gourmet sandwiches–at least eat them.”
“Saw you eating alone yesterday–kinda broke my heart. Without me, you don’t have anyone to talk to at this school.“]
“Oh, did you book your flight home for break?“]
Me: “Already booked.“[]
Just not a flight home.
“Show me the details later. I’ll get a seat next to you.”
Before I could answer, River’s angry voice cut in.[]
“BRYCE!”
“Didn’t you say you had something important to do?”
Sometimes I seriously wondered if River had some tracking app on Bryce’s phone.[]
How else did she always show up at the perfect moment to interrupt us?]
