Chapter 4

Sunday morning, I got a reply from my academic advisor. She wanted me to come see her.

At her office, she said to me, her tone serious,

"Kitty, I've already submitted your transfer request. If it goes through, you'll be moving to the new campus this Monday."

This Monday was tomorrow.

I gave a small nod.

She asked again, "Are you sure you've really thought this through?"

"The new campus is in another city. The train alone takes hours. Once you transfer, there's no coming back."

I said firmly, "Thank you. I've thought it through."

She glanced down at the marks on my arm, let out a soft sigh, and in the end said nothing more.

Walking out of her office, I went back to my dorm and started looking at train tickets.

A six-hour train ride was enough to put me far away from those two sworn brothers.

I opened my social media feed and saw Kirsten's post sitting at the very top.

Just a few simple lines, but enough to set anyone's mind running.

'Nothing beats a brother you can count on.'

'Checked, and yep, that mole on my big boy's butt is still there.'

The photo showed Victor and Kirsten lying under the same blanket, fingers laced together.

Victor was bare from the waist up, the lower half of him buried under the thick covers.

I was about to scroll down when Victor's call came through.

His voice was low. "What are you playing at?"

"Throwing out a breakup like it's nothing. Is that what your parents raised you to do?"

I touched my face, still faintly aching.

"I almost got raped last night."

"I waited a long time for you, and you told me you weren't coming."

The impatience came through the line.

"So I don't come, and you can't head back on your own?"

"Someone's harassing you, and you can't call the police yourself?"

"Are you a giant baby? You can't even manage that?"

His words struck me as absurd.

I stayed silent, and I heard Kirsten's voice on his end.

She said, putting on a brave face, "It's all my fault. I shouldn't have gotten so drunk yesterday. Now Kitty's got the wrong idea."

I asked Victor, "You slept in the same bed as her last night?"

He gave an impatient, cold laugh. "We're close, like brothers. She was drunk and feeling awful, so I looked after her all night. I was tired, we slept in one bed, what's the problem?"

"You just love nitpicking. You even get jealous over Kirsten for no reason."

"Kirsten and I have been friends for years. If anything were ever going to happen, you think it'd wait for you?"

Something in my chest stung, like a bee had gotten it, a dull ache.

I said to him, my voice very quiet.

"I'm done nitpicking. I'm out. I'll stay far away from the both of you."

He scoffed, his voice full of contempt.

"Kitty, didn't I tell you I hate it most when people threaten me?"

"Everyone knows you're my little tagalong. You think you could bear to leave me?"

"But since you said it, you'd better follow through. Don't show up in front of me again and make me look down on you."

His voice was so certain, the mockery in his laugh plain to hear.

Tears dropped onto the screen. I didn't say another word.

For all these years he'd always told me to be the bigger person, and all I could do was give in, again and again.

I never imagined my swallowed hurt and all that giving in would only earn me his contempt.

He didn't think any of it was wrong, and he certainly didn't think I'd actually leave him.

It wasn't that he had no heart. His heart just wasn't with me.

He treated me this way, so cocky and sure, only because he believed I couldn't live without him.

When I didn't answer for a long time, he hung up on me.

I looked down at Victor's profile picture.

It was a group shot with his high school buddies, and he and Kirsten stood dead center.

The two of them looked so close in it, like a real couple.

I closed the chat, cleanly blocked him and Kirsten both, and bought a ticket on the next train out.

While packing, I boxed up every gift Victor had given me over the years and threw it in the dumpster downstairs.

The couple's shirts I'd never once worn went into the clothing donation bin.

Dragging my empty suitcase, I headed for the train station without looking back.