Chapter 6
Bryce went quiet for a second.[]
“Maddie, did you actually listen to what I told you yesterday?“[]
“I listened. You’re gonna get closer to River, right? Beshes.”
Bryce laughed, but not in a good way.
He said through gritted teeth:[]
“Fine. Perfect. Absolutely perfect.‘
“I PROMISE you, Maddison–if I baby you after this, I’m a total loser.“[]
I stayed quiet.[]
I could hear his friend’s voice in the background.[]
“Dude, your girlfriend is seriously high–inaintenance.“]
“Don’t wait around, Bryce. River’s still at the hospital starving, she asked you to bring sandwiches.”
Bryce said “got it.“]]
Before hanging up, I said:[]
“Bryce, if you call me again, I’m changing my number.“]
Bryce let out a cold laugh: “Who gives a damn.“]
After ten–hour flight, I landed in London.]]
New environment meant tons of stuff to handle.[]
I was so busy I barely had time to think about anything else.
By the time I actually got settled, several days had passed.]]
Opened Instagram–River had basically spammed my feed.]
She’d posted tons of photos, every single one featuring Bryce.]
As time went on, their poses in the pictures got more and more intimate.]
I even saw a shot of Bryce sleeping next to River.]
[Bryce you ass, crashed and stole my bed when I’m literally the patient. I’m still a girl, you know. /pissed]]]
Chapter 6
I stared at that picture for a long time.[]
No matter how close Bryce and River used to be, it was never THIS close.]
Remembering his threat about “getting closer to her“-he probably knew I hadn’t deleted River yet.[]
So he was being shameless about putting on a show for me.]]
Soon there was a confused comment from a mutual friend under River’s post:]
[Okay but doesn’t Bryce have a girlfriend? This seems kinda inappropriate.]]]
River replied:
[What are you barking about? They broke up ages ago. Keep being passive–aggressive and I’ll block you.]]
locked at it and just smiled.[]
Deleted River with a tap.[]
Over the next few weeks, I changed my phone number and all my social media accounts, gradually fitting into my new school’s social circle.
Two weeks later, Mom called.]]
Her tone sounded super frustrated:[]
“Honey, did you tell Bryce you were going abroad? He’s been looking for you like a maniac.‘
I was confused: “What happened?“]
“That boy’s really something. Break ended over a week ago, and that’s when he realized you never came back to school. He couldn’t reach you, thought something happened to you, went and filed a police report.“]
“Later he found out from the school that you’d withdrawn, so he flew home overnight to ask us. Thought maybe you were planning to repeat senior year. I told him you went to study abroad, and he flat–out refused to believe it. Said you never mentioned it.“]]
“I got tired of dealing with him and told him to leave, but now he shows up every single day begging to see you. Gets all emotional and starts crying. It’s driving me nuts. Maddie, you need to set him straight.”
I was speechless.
To stop Mom from being bothered by Bryce anymore, I logged back into my old account.[]
The second I unblocked Bryce on messaging, his video call came through.]
