Chapter 3

3

After dropping Jade off, I went home to my empty house.

I opened my bedroom door and began packing every gift Caleb had ever given me. It was all going in the trash.

As I moved a heavy box, a small, ugly clay figure fell out and shattered.

Memories hit me like a tidal wave.

When we were kids, my parents were always busy. I spent a lot of time alone.

There was a large park near our old neighborhood where I used to play.

That's where I first met Caleb. A snake had slithered out of the grass, and I was paralyzed with fear.

Caleb had appeared out of nowhere and scared it away with a rock.

Once the danger was gone, I collapsed on the grass and sobbed my heart out.

He had tried to comfort me for ages, but I couldn't stop shaking.

Finally, in desperation, he promised to take me to a pottery class to make clay figures. That was the only thing that calmed me down.

His family had just moved in next door. We became inseparable almost instantly.

From that day on, I followed him everywhere.

The adults used to joke that I was his little bride and that he had to protect me.

He took that promise seriously back then.

In middle school, some bullies cornered me in an alley. Caleb took on four of them by himself to get me out.

I cried while cleaning his cuts and bruises later.

Even with a swollen face, he smiled and told me not to worry. He promised he'd always be my knight.

In high school, I fainted from low blood sugar during a track meet. He carried me all the way to the nurse's office, frantic with worry. He didn't stop shaking until the nurse said I was okay.

Over those long years, loving him became as natural as breathing.

When did everything start to rot?

It was junior year of college when he introduced Ruby to me.

He said his mother had taken her in as a foster daughter after her parents died in an accident. His family wanted to take care of her.

At first, I felt sorry for her.

I shared everything with her. I introduced her to all my friends.

But slowly, the red flags started appearing.

She would say things to Caleb and our friends that made it seem like I was bullying her.

Whenever Caleb and I had plans, she suddenly had a crisis that only he could fix.

At first, Caleb would hesitate. Eventually, he stopped hesitating. He chose her every single time.

We fought about it constantly, but I always ended up being the one to apologize. I couldn't bear the thought of losing him.

Until last week. My birthday.

My parents were away for work, and Caleb had promised we would spend the day alone at home.

I waited all day. He never showed up.

I got hungry and grabbed some cookies from the pantry, not noticing the "contains peanuts" warning on the back.

My throat started closing up almost immediately. Cold sweat poured down my face as I struggled for air.

I managed to call an ambulance before dialing Caleb's number.

As I lay on the floor, gasping for breath, I felt a terrifying sense of loneliness.

I wanted him there. I needed him to hold my hand.

I called him over and over, but he never picked up. Eventually, his phone was turned off.

I blacked out before the paramedics arrived.

The next morning, I woke up in a hospital bed. I checked my phone and saw Ruby's Instagram post.

It was a photo of her and Caleb kissing.

The caption read: "The best graduation gift a girl could ask for."

In that moment, the love I had for him finally died.

Life is too short to let someone treat you like an option.