Chapter 18 Taplyer and Kartini bergke up the following week sew tad appeared on the school Discord almost immediately.
didrs same dames, but the implications were crystal clear:
I was getuned as the obsessive ex who couldnât let go, who deliberately sabotaged his relationship with Katherine, who used my body to manipulate fum back into my life.
Through everyone was ordered to by initials, it was painfully obvious who was being discussed.
The post cluded eerily specific details about past interactions with Zephyr.
Katherineâs digital fingerprints were all over it.
I read the entire thread during lunch and felt... nothing.
Tavas out, letting go of someone becomes surprisingly easy once you actually decide to do it.
When you finally peel someone elseâs name off your heart, you discover your own voice had been there all along Iâd reclaimed nyself, and that was worth more than any relationship.
During AP Cals, a girl 1 barely knew passed me a note asking if it was true Iâd âstolen Z back from K.â
Fed up with the high school drama, I made a public post that evening:
Phoebe. [Going offline to focus on finals and college prep. Stop tagging me. If you can solve this problem, maybe then we can discuss my personal life]
I attached the hardest differential equation from last yearâs national competition.
The comments filled with people posting â?â and calling me everything from âice coldâ to âacademic queenâ
Only Sid replied with a complete, elegant solution.
The Ruined Bride of Velvet Nights 43.6%
Chapter 13 Adding: [Does your desk partner pass the test?]
I responded: [Youâve definitely seen this before. Doesnât count)
Sid: [Give me your hardest problem then. Iâll earn it]
Me: [â]
Zephyr commented too: [See you at UC Davis @Phoebe]
UC Davisâthe school I had once rearranged my entire future around.
A reminder that meant absolutely nothing to me now.
I closed the app without replying.
Zephyr stopped his inâperson ambushes.
Instead, my desk began accumulating carefully selected giftsâcherryâflavored everything, indie band merch Iâd once mentioned liking, premium stationery for my notes.
I donated all of it to the freshman mentor program.
He cycled through borrowing his friendsâ phones to text me.
Sometimes demanding to know what was happening with Sid, sometimes swearing nothing physical had happened with Katherine.
He even sent photos of the rabbit plushie sitting on his nightstand, claiming heâd âtaken it back where it belongs.â
I blocked each number methodically.
Never once typed a response.
The gossip mill churned out a romantic narrative: after my dramatic exit, Zephyr had experience an epiphany.
He was supposedly studying with newfound determination, working to earn a spot at UC Davis, planning to prove himself worthy of a second chance.
4 Pride of Velvet Nights 43.9%
My friends told me, âGuys always realize what they had once itâs gone. Classic.â
That Zephyr was experiencing this storybook redemption arc.
But I didnât need that storyline anymoreâI was writing my own.
After graduation, I handled one final piece of unfinished business.
When Zephyr arrived at my house that June evening, UC Davis acceptance letter in hand, proudly knocking on our front door-
All he found was an empty house with a SOLD sign in the yard and a sealed wooden box on the porch.
Inside were all the artifacts from our shared history Iâd methodically collected.
On top was the little dog plushie heâd made for me so many years ago.
A simple note attached to its worn ear read:
Goodbye, Zephyr.
Iâm choosing a different story.
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