Chapter 3
The day after I broke up with Ryan, Dylan hit me up and asked if I wanted to grab some comfort food.
The restaurant was small, but the food tasted just like home. We talked about everything—about teaching, about life, about everything. Honestly, it was crazy how much we clicked.
He spoke gently, his eyes always focused on me, actually listening when I talked about my students. That feeling of being respected and truly valued was something I'd never known with Ryan.
What really settled me was that Dylan had a government job.
Back where I was from, people online always joke that the ultimate life goal was to marry a guy with a stable job, pop out a son and a daughter, and just chill for the rest of your life.
Obviously, that was just a joke.
But Dylan was solid and dependable—so much better than Ryan and his party boy lifestyle.
That night, I was scrolling through my feed at home when I accidentally stumbled on Ryan's latest post.
Back when we were together, he barely posted anything—maybe three times a year tops. But now, he couldn't wait to show off a pic with Natalie, captioning it: [Back together and happier than ever.]
His friends were all flooding the comments with congratulations, and of course, someone had to throw shade at me, tagging me and commenting: [Hope you have a bright future, Sandra.]
I just dropped a quick "hope it lasts", then went off to wash up.
When I got back, my phone was lit up with a flood of messages from Ryan. They read: [Sandra, what the hell is that supposed to mean?]
[You're really just hoping it lasts? So you seriously don't care at all?]
[Did you already want to break up before?]
I replied: [Seriously, I hope it lasts.] A few seconds later, Ryan replied: [Wow, you've got some nerve.]
Just as I was about to type something else, I noticed my last message still had only one gray tick. It would never turn blue. Yep, blocked.
Just like I figured, Ryan was the type you had to go along with. The moment you didn't, he'd explode.
*****
A couple of days later, Hazel hit me up for dinner. We'd barely sat down before she leaned in, her eyes wide. "Wait, you actually broke up with Ryan? I thought you guys would drag it out all the way to the altar."
"Yup, it's real," I said, picking up my fork. "He's fun to date, but as for marriage? Hard pass. I'm not about to spend my life wondering when he'll come home or if he's seeing someone else. He can't settle, and that's not what I want."
I kept rambling on, completely missing the weird look on Hazel's face until I suddenly heard a cold voice behind me. "So that's why you left me."
It was Ryan!
I whipped around and saw his face was dark, like a storm about to break.
Guess I'd struck a nerve. His chest was heaving, and he snapped at me, "Say it. Is that true?"
I flinched at his sudden yelling, but I still nodded. "Yeah," I said, keeping my voice steady.
Ryan just stared at me, his expression all mixed up. After a few seconds, he spun around and stormed out, leaving his jacket behind without looking back.
Hazel let out a shaky breath, clutching her chest. "Why did he even show up here? Thank god he didn't lose it."
Still shaken, I paid the bill in a rush and headed home. After mulling it over, I called in sick at school and went back to my hometown to lie low for a bit.
What I didn't see coming was Dylan living right next door to my parents' place, and even more, I never thought Ryan actually managed to track me down there.