Chapter 1
Tanner’s words hit me like a physical blow, stealing the breath from my lungs.
Applying to MIT together–that promise we’d made on our very first day of middle school. []
Just two days ago, both our families had sat around the dining table, deliberating for hours before solemnly submitting our early
decision applications.
And now he’d changed his. Without a word to me.[]
From inside the private dining room, his friends pressed with curious laughter: []
“How do you even know Calista will check your application portal again?”
“What if she doesn’t notice…“[]
Tanner snorted like he’d heard the world’s biggest joke:
“Notice? That’s all she does. You don’t know her like I do.”
“She probably checks that thing right hundred times a day, paranoid about messing up some detail and ending up in a different program than me.
His tone carried that familiar note of exasperation.[
You wouldn’t understand. Try having a shadow following you around since birth–someone you can never shake off.”
Laughter rippled through the room.[]
Jake persisted, still skeptical: “Even if she finds out, you’re that confident Calista will just switch her application to match yours?”
Tanner glanced up from his phone game, his laugh sharp and dismissive:[]
“Dude, please.“[
“Calista hasn’t been apart from me for longer than a week since we were born. Who else would she go to college with?
Connor couldn’t resist climing in: Tanner, man, this is kind of a dick move, though.“[]
“Couldn’t you just tell her you changed your mind?”
Tanner’s fingers paused on his screen, irritation flickering across his face:
Honestly forgot. It’s such a hassle–I didn’t want to deal with explaining everything”
“If she knew I switched to Georgia Tech for Harper, she’d throw a complete fit.”
“Besides, it’s not like I changed on a wlum. Harper said she’s nervous about going to Atlanta alone, and she’d feel better with a familiar face around.“]]
His frends exchanged knowing looks, their voices taking on that conspiratorial tone: “Makes sense. Harper’s gorgeous, and with her family situation…. hard not to want to look out for wer
Ryan added with a sanitk: “1
“Not like your linle puppy dog Calista–always looking half–dead, nose buried in textbooks. Honestly no comparison to the campus quern |
Marcin laughed: “Damin, giving up aerospace engineering for a girl? That’s our Tanner, always the gentleman. “[]
The laughter and gaming sounds continued to drift through the door
But I stood frozen in the hallway, my world crumbling to ice around moc:[]
My nails bit crescents into my palms.
Every fiber of me wanted to burst through that door, grali Tanner by the shoulders, and demand answers.]
But my feet felt anchored in concrete.
I couldn’t move.[]
Istood there in that suffocating silence for what felt like hours.[]
In the end, I couldn’t find the courage|||
I simply turned and walked away, my steps echoing hollow against the restaurant floor
