Chapter 8

Less than half an hour after he left, Sarah sent me a screenshot.

It was Jessica's Instagram story.

[✨Magic breakfast appears when you're hungry✨ Is this what they call mutual crush?]

The photo showed an Einstein Bagels packaging bag identical to the one on my dining table.

I didn't reply.

I just silently wiped away my tears and knelt down to clean up the coffee Jacob had spilled.

After trying for a long time, I was upset to find that the stains on the wooden floor had seeped into the grain and couldn't be wiped away.

In a fit of anger, I contacted a flooring company to come refinish and reseal it.

After all, this was the eco-friendly sealant that Jacob and his parents had specially recommended to my family after returning from their vacation in Hawaii.

While I was at it, I gathered up Jacob's sweatshirt, toothbrush, game console, and all the gifts he had given me over the years.

I even went through the photos of us together on my phone, sorting them all out.

I was busy until late at night before I finished packing everything into donation boxes.

He probably wouldn't care about these old things anyway.

After Jacob left that day, there was no news from him for several days in a row.

I guess things were going well with the cheerleading captain.

Or maybe he was waiting for me to contact him first.

In the past six years, every time we had a cold war, I was always the first to give in, without exception.

But this time I didn't reach out to him.

There was no need to reach out to him anymore.

I blocked his phone number and all his social media accounts, changed the password on my front door, and deleted my old Instagram.

After doing all this, I called my parents who were on a business trip in China.

I told them I wanted to go to San Francisco to stay with Aunt Linda during spring break.

My plan was to fly directly to the University of Florida with Sarah when the break was over.

Besides Sarah, no one else knew I had changed my ED application.

This plan should perfectly avoid any chance of running into Jacob.

Mom laughed on the phone and asked, "Sweetie, are you going to California with Jacob?"

I gave a vague answer, not wanting to explain too much.

I just said I wanted to keep Aunt Linda company after her recent surgery.

Dad booked me on the earliest flight the next day, and I packed my bags overnight to prepare to leave.

As I was heading out, I unfortunately ran into Jacob's mom in the driveway.

She enthusiastically rolled down her car window:

"Emily, why are you alone? Isn't Jacob picking you up?

"Didn't he say he was taking you to Cancun for spring break? Have fun you two!"

I was a bit confused.

During the most stressful part of senior year, I had indeed mentioned to Jacob that I wanted to see the blue seas and skies of Cancun, Mexico.

But how could we possibly travel together now, given our current situation?

But my Uber had already arrived, so I just said a quick goodbye and left.

What I never expected was that at Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport, I would actually run into Jacob.