Chapter 3

"What are you looking at?"

Chloe suddenly leaned over.

I locked my screen. "Nothing."

"I clearly saw you changing your college portal. Sera, are you really retaking the SATs just for Ethan?"

Before I could argue, Chloe patted my shoulder. "It's fine, I know you're embarrassed. You want to surprise him, right? I won't tell."

The party ended quickly.

When I walked out, Ethan was nowhere to be seen.

I waited for half an hour until everyone had left, but he still didn't show up.

"Has Ethan not come out yet?" I asked a classmate.

"He left ages ago. He got in an Uber with Chloe."

But before the party, he had told me to wait for him at the entrance.

Just then, Ethan called.

"Are you out yet? It's late, and it's not safe for Chloe to go home alone."

"I'll drop her off first and then come back to get you."

Chloe's voice came through the speaker:

"Sera, if you're in a hurry, I can let him go back for you right now."

"What rush could she possibly be in?" Ethan snapped. "Besides, it's about to storm, and you're terrified of thunder. I need to stay with you."

A sudden crack of thunder sounded, and the line went dead.

When we were kids and I was terrified of thunder, I begged Ethan to walk with me to school. He complained I was a nuisance and walked faster to leave me behind.

Now, not only did he remember Chloe's fear of thunder, but he also insisted on staying with her.

I bit my lip hard to keep the tears from falling.

Chloe's house was only seven miles away, but an hour and a half passed, and Ethan still hadn't returned.

I opened Instagram. He had posted a story.

"My little greedy girl got hungry again, so I had to take her out for round two."

The picture showed the two of them feeding each other at a restaurant.

I stared at the food on the table.

Ethan had never cooked for me, nor had he ever taken me to a nice dinner. He only ever criticized my UberEats orders, telling me, "Stop eating junk, it's bad for you."

I looked down at my soaked dress, laughed at my own stupidity, and called an Uber home.

By dawn, my body was aching. I checked my temperature—100.8°F.

My phone buzzed. It was a message from Ethan.

A tiny spark of hope flared in my chest.

[Chloe's swim goggles broke. Buy a new pair and bring them over.]

No explanation for why he never came back for me.

No question about whether I made it home safe.

Just treating me like an errand girl.

[Go directly to the pro shop downtown. Don't get the rubber ones, Chloe is allergic.]

Going downtown and back would take two and a half hours.

To make sure they had them when they woke up to go swimming, he texted me before the sun was even up.

I didn't reply and closed Snapchat.

I slept again, and when I woke up, my fever was gone.

Ethan called again.

"Why aren't you replying? Did you get the goggles? Chloe is waiting. Can you hurry up?"

In the past, when I asked him to teach me how to swim, he always said he was too busy with school and we would do it after the SATs.

It had been weeks since exams ended, and he hadn't mentioned it once. Instead, he was teaching Chloe.

"I have a fever."

Silence on the other end.

"Don't you have anything else to say?" I asked.

"You clearly have enough energy to argue with me, which means you're fine."

"Drop them off at the pool near Chloe's house. Don't go to the wrong one."

I didn't go. I warmed up some food instead.

I remembered my library books were due today. After returning them, I checked out two more books. Walking out of the library, I saw Chloe and Ethan buying matching bracelets at a boutique.

Ethan threw the braided friendship bracelet on his wrist into a trash can and replaced it with a pink one that matched Chloe's.

That braided bracelet was a good-luck charm I had spent hours making for him before the exams.

"Sera? What are you doing here?" Chloe asked.

Ethan pulled her back. "Stay away from her. You might catch whatever she has."

Chloe pointed at the books in my hand.

"Oh, I really wanted to read that book! But they were all out. Do you mind if I borrow it first?"

Before I could answer, Ethan snatched the book from my hands.

"Go read something else," he told Chloe.

Then he turned to me. "Besides, you need to study to retake your exams next year. Reading novels will only distract you."

That book was out of print, and I had waited on a waitlist for months to get it.

I stepped forward to grab it back, but Ethan blocked me and shoved me away.

My body was still weak from the fever. My legs gave out, and I fell hard onto the concrete. A sharp, needle-like pain shot through my lower back.

"You claimed you had a fever, and I let the goggles slide. But I didn't expect you to be healthy enough to wander around and fight over a book. Sera, I really underestimated your ability to lie."

"Go home and think about what you did. Don't contact me until you've cleared your head."

As I applied ointment to my bruises at home, I told my mom I wanted to pack our things and move early. I asked her to come with me to Boston.

My mom didn't ask a single question. She just nodded and agreed.

Once I left this place, I was never coming back.

And I never wanted to see him again.