Love's Inevitable Breakup Rule

Synopsis

So I wouldn't get messed around by guys, my mom handed me two hardcore breakup rules. Rule one: if it turned into a long-distance thing, break up, no questions asked. Rule two: if some other girl suddenly popped up around my boyfriend, that was a red flag, and I was out. I looked at my boyfriend Ryan Parker and bestie Annie Hughes, both of whom had just landed offers from big companies in Bexford. Suddenly, I blurted out, "Are you guys going to take me to Bexford with you? The two of them, who had been chatting away, suddenly went quiet. Annie looked really conflicted. "Emily, living in Bexford is expensive. With your degree, it's going to be tough to land a decent job." Ryan, who had just finished picking the fish bones out of Annie's plate, said lazily. "Annie's right. You should just head back home and take whatever dead-end job you can get," he said. Before I could even respond, they went right back to chatting about aerospace engineering, stuff that was way over my head. Thinking back to those two rules, it finally hit me. I was already just the outsider in their little world, the one they'd left behind in this so-called trio.