Chapter 3

When I got home, I closed the door behind me. The air still carried the faint scent of citrus perfume that Ruby often used.

I took a deep breath, pulled open the drawer, and started clearing out everything that reminded me of her.

The first thing I pulled out was that blue scarf. She knitted it for me herself during the winter of our first year in high school.

We'd only just met, and she spent two weeks clumsily learning how to knit, poking around with the needles.

Her fingers got stabbed by the needles more than a few times, but she still stuffed the scarf into my hands with a big smile. "Michael, make sure you wear it every winter, okay?"

Now I ran my fingers over the uneven stitches, and for a moment, I could almost see her cheeks turning pink back then.

Next was a stack of movie ticket stubs. From Zootopia to Avengers, every single one was from a movie we'd watched together.

Ruby always liked to hook her pinky around mine secretly in the dim theater, and after the movie, we'd argue about the plot for ages. Back then, I was the only one in her eyes.

My hand froze when I felt something hard under my fingertips. It was a box, and inside was a silver keychain with M&R engraved on it.

It was the summer after our sophomore year. After we made a promise to get into Central State University together, she pulled me into a craft shop to make it.

She stood on her tiptoes and whispered in my ear, "Michael, let's stay together forever, okay?"

I thought we'd be together forever.

But then Ryan transferred to our school. The first time he showed up at the classroom door, I could tell something had changed in the way Ruby looked at him.

She was always cold to strangers, but for the first time, she actually went out of her way to say hi to him.

They became friends almost instantly and were spending more and more time together.

At first, Ruby was worried I'd overthink things, so she'd try to reassure me, "Ryan's a new classmate. I'm just helping him get used to things."

But little by little, his name started popping up in her conversations more and more. "Ryan's good at playing basketball. Ryan won the math competition. Ryan..."

I tried to ignore all these changes, but then came that class picnic.

Ryan "casually" grabbed Ruby's water bottle and drank straight from it.

Ruby was stunned for a second, but she didn't get mad. Instead, she smiled at him and said, "Slow down. Don't choke."

Right then, it felt like a needle stabbed straight into my heart, leaving me with a bitter, swelling pain.

Ruby was a total neat freak. She never let anyone else touch her water bottle, not even me.

After that, Ryan's "casual" kept happening.

At the sports meet, he put his arm around Ruby's waist, saying he was "keeping her from falling."

On rainy days, he'd insist on draping his jacket over her shoulders, though I was right there holding an umbrella.

Even on my birthday, Ruby showed up late because she was at the library with Ryan.

Every time I brought it up, Ruby would frown and say, "Michael, don't overthink it. Ryan and I are just friends." But her gaze grew increasingly evasive.

What broke my heart most was that class party. Ryan pulled Ruby up to dance right in front of everyone. Though she knew I hated it, she still smiled and rested her hand on his shoulder.

On the way home, I didn't say a word.

Ruby took the initiative. "Can you not be so petty? Ryan was only making things more fun."

Petty? I gave a wry smile. If worrying about my girlfriend flirting with another guy made me petty, then so be it.

I closed the box and dumped the keychain in the trash.

There was still a photo tucked under the corner of the desk, taken during our freshman year scouting trip.

Under the scorching sun, Ruby snuck me a chilled bottle of water, but the instructor caught her and made her run laps.

I ran alongside her. Though she was gasping for breath, she couldn't stop laughing. "Michael, are you dumb or what?"

Back then, she was all about me. But now, all she saw was Ryan.

I picked up the photo, tore it in half, and tossed it into the trash.

After I finished clearing out the last thing, the room felt much emptier.

I leaned against the window, staring out at the night sky.

The class group chat kept blowing up, my phone screen lighting up again and again in the dim room.

I swiped through the messages, and the screen was flooded with pictures of Ruby and Ryan together.

They were all cozied up together, their smiles so dazzling it almost stung to look at.

[Now that's what you call a perfect couple!]

[Some folks should have taken the hint and stepped aside long ago.]

[Ryan and Ruby are totally meant for each other!]

[Heard Ryan's going for Central State University too, so they'll be together for sure.]

I kept scrolling through the chat, face blank, until I saw one of Ryan's friends type: [What does a bookworm like Michael have to offer compared to Ryan?] A bunch of mocking emojis followed.

I stared at the screen for a few seconds, then powered off my phone.

At last, everything was silent.