Chapter 4

Ned sent me a few photos, along with captions, just before his flight.

Both he and Scarlett were in the photos, looking at the camera with wide smiles on their faces.

He wrote in his caption, "We're off now, Mimi! See you in a week at Jafferton!"

I stared at the photo for a very long time before quietly setting my phone down.

…

For the following days, Ned occasionally shared some of his travel photos with me. There were photos of both of them hiking in the mountains, surfboarding out at sea, and having fun at an outdoor barbecue restaurant.

Every single place he went had been places I'd been dearly wanting to go for a long time.

I couldn't help the bitterness crawling into my heart. I was the one who was supposed to be with Ned while we experienced all of these, but now, he was doing them with another woman.

After that, I started wholeheartedly preparing the things I would need for my enrollment at Dayward University. Eventually, I received the acceptance letter from them as well.

At the same time, Ned and Scarlett uploaded a photo on each of their Instagram accounts.

They were standing at the entrance to Jafferton College with their acceptance letters in hand, wide smiles on both their faces, surrounded by a huge group of curious onlookers around them.

Plenty of our classmates left comments under their photo posts.

"Congratulations on getting into Jafferton College!"

"Oh wow, you both look so good together. Have you guys made it official yet?"

Yet, amidst the throes of congratulatory comments were a few comments from the people who were close to me and Ned. Many of them asked the same thing.

"Where's Miranda? Why is she missing from the photo? Is she not with you guys?"

Ned answered each of them patiently, explaining, "Don't get the wrong idea. Scarlett and I are just regular friends. Mimi wasn't feeling well, so the both of us came over first."

Just as I was done scrolling through to the last comment, I received a text message from him.

"Mimi, have you set out yet? We'll both be waiting for you before enrolling at the college admissions office! Just let me know when you're about to land, okay? I'll come and get you at the airport!"

I quietly placed my Dayward acceptance letter into my backpack before answering him with an "Okay".

Then, I put my phone away and wheeled my suitcase across the airport and boarded the plane heading for Dayward University.

…

I stood at the entrance to Dayward University and took a photo of the main gate. Then, I uploaded it to my Instagram account with the caption saying, "Saying hi to a fresh start at my dream university."

The photo hadn't been uploaded for long before my inbox was full of messages.

Ned called me so often that I thought my phone was about to combust. He also left me dozens of text messages.

"Mimi? What did you mean by that photo and caption on your Instagram? How did you end up in Dayward?

"Pick up my call, won't you? Weren't you supposed to be coming with me to Jafferton College? I'm still waiting for you before going to the admissions office!

"No, wait, you must be lying to me. Why aren't you replying to any of my texts?

"Mimi, I'm at the admissions office now, but I don't see your name anywhere on the list. Why?"