Josh and Kellan listened with wide eyes. “And then he ghosted you?” Josh asked, indignant. “What the fuck?”
“Normally, I’m a pessimist, but it doesn’t add up,” Kellan admitted, scratching his chin. “Something else is going on. You need answers.”
“Well, in order to get answers, I need the person who has them to actually talk to me.”
“Then, you need to go over to his place,” Josh said.
“No, that would be crazy.” I paused for a heartbeat. “Wouldn’t it?”
Kellan brushed off my concerns with a flippant wave of the hand. “Yes, but so is the situation. You need to hear what he has to say. Even if it’s just bad excuses.”
“At least then you’ll have something to work with other than this.” Josh gestured to the phone.
I nodded, getting to my feet. “Okay, I’ll go over there.”
“Not dressed like that you won’t.” Kellan gave me a once-over.
I felt suddenly self-conscious, realizing I was wearing my old sweats and a worn-out hoodie.
“You should put on something a bit sexier if you’re trying to leave Grey’s place with anything but a broken heart.”
“Thanks,” I muttered. Nowthatpossibility would be at the forefront of my mind for the rest of the night. Anxiety struck my chest again with a pang. Suddenly, talking to Grey seemed like an impossible task. “Maybe I should wait.”
“No!” Kellan and Josh said in unison.
Josh continued after seeing the look of alarm on my face. “You won’t be able to relax until you know what’s going on.”
Kellan nodded. “Just look at how crazy you were last semester.”
My ears went hot with embarrassment. “I wasn’tcrazy.” Damn, I didn’t even fool myself.
Instead of responding to my feeble attempt at a lie, Kellan went to my closet and began rifling through my belongings.
“What are you doing?” I demanded. Everything felt like too much, like I’d somehow lost control of a vehicle and was desperately trying to regain it to no avail.
“Picking out clothes for you because you can’t be trusted.” Kellan tossed me a green sweater that made my eyes pop and a pair of dark jeans. “Here, get changed.”
I changedas quickly as I could with trembling hands. Josh had been right. I wouldn’t be able to relax until I had some closure, but the dread mixed with nerves to make the most annoying cocktail of emotions I’d ever experienced—fear,anxiety, concern, and desire all waged war within my chest. My heart felt like it was beating lopsided.Thatcouldn’t be healthy.
Impulsively, I glanced at my phone. Still no text.What is goingon?
I opened Instagram half out of reflex, and the first post was from Grey, which caused a fresh spike of adrenaline to shoot through my chest. It took a few blinks to calm down enough to actually read the post. It was a picture of a handwritten note.
I don’t normally post things about my personal life, but this news is already spreading all over campus, so I thought I should address it. My girlfriend, Carina, and I have decided to end our relationship. We still love each other very much, but we’ve decided this move is what’s best for both of us going forward. Please respect our space at this time as we heal and grieve.
- Grey
P.S. Don’t you worry about me. It’s just another broken heart.
I read it over four times before the words began to sink in. Part of me numbly recognized the postscript as being a lyric to one of his songs. It was official. The rumors of his dead relationship were, in fact,notgreatly exaggerated.
Which made the continued silence between us all the more annoying. He had to know I would see everything happening online, especially if he’d made a post about it. And judging by the post’s time stamp, he’d announced his break upafterI sent themost recent text. So, that meant he’d been on his phone to see it and still chose to ignore me.
Shaking my head, I closed my phone and walked out to the living room.
Josh gave me a playful wolf whistle when I entered. “No way he’ll be able to resist you like that.”
“He’ll be putty in your hands,” Kellan agreed.
