Chapter 2

Hearing the laughter coming from inside the room, I couldn't handle it anymore. I rushed out, unable to stay another second.

I wandered through the streets, my mind drifting back to the very first time I laid eyes on Felix.

Seven years ago, as a freshman at Havenfield University, I was carrying my orientation welcome bag past the basketball court when I spotted Felix, cold, handsome, and impossible to miss.

Back then, I had no idea he was the campus heartthrob. All I knew was that he was the most gorgeous guy I'd ever seen in my life.

My roommate, noticing I couldn't take my eyes off him, teased, "That's Felix Warwick, a junior here. He's loaded and drop-dead gorgeous. Too bad he already has a girlfriend of five years, studying at a university just across town."

"What's there to feel bad about? There's always someone better," I said, trying to sound casual.

But there really was no "next." At Havenfield University, no one else ever caught my eye the way he did.

It wasn't until three years later that I saw Felix again. I was a senior at that time, doing my internship at a hospital.

He was gaunt, his wrists covered in a patchwork of old and new scars. With a vacant stare, he sat on the hospital bed, letting the nurse tend to his wounds.

Later, I found out that after losing his parents in a car accident and his girlfriend leaving him to study abroad, Felix ended up struggling with depression.

Just then, my phone buzzed with a new WhatsApp notification.

I opened it up, and there was another photo from Sabrina.

In the picture, Sabrina was lying in bed wearing the matching pajamas I'd bought for Felix and me. A familiar, slender hand was wrapped tightly around her, pulling her close.

I zoomed in, catching the faint glimpse of Felix's pajamas, and I just felt completely crushed inside.

Ever since we started dating, I'd bought all kinds of couple stuff, but Felix never once wore or used any of it. He'd frown and say, "I don't like all this cheesy stuff. Don't make me do things I don't want to."

But now, he was slipping into those pajamas for Sabrina, like it was the most natural thing in the world.

The tears I'd finally managed to hold back started falling again. I typed out a reply. [They're yours now, both the pajamas and Felix.]

Then I blocked Sabrina without a second thought.

I sat in the stairwell all night until sunrise. Sabrina never came out.

I stretched my numb legs, stood up, and started down the stairs, texting Felix as I walked.

[Let's end things cleanly. We're done. When I come home tonight, I don't want to see you or anything that belongs to you.]

After sending the message, I deleted Felix from my contacts completely.