Goodbye for Good

Derek clearly had not expected me to find out the truth. The joy on his face vanished in an instant, replaced by anger, followed by a barrage of accusations."Lily, what is your problem? It's just a spot on the cheer squad. Will it kill you to give it to Anna? She's a young woman trying to make it on her own in a new city. Can't you have a little compassion?"My head buzzed. A wave of hurt washed over me, and tears spilled down my cheeks before I could stop them.Derek froze for a second, then spoke with obvious impatience. "Anna's from my hometown. I promised my mom I'd look out for her. Can't you do this for me? Lily, just give her the spot. Come on. You're always the reasonable one."I took a step back. For the first time, Derek felt like a stranger.Ever since Anna had barged into our lives under the excuse of hometown people looking out for each other, my relationship with Derek had been hanging by a thread.Nine out of every ten arguments we had were because of Anna. And ev

Derek frowned. "What… What did you say?"I took a deep breath, feeling an unexpected sense of relief. "We're breaking up."He stared at me in disbelief. "Why? Just because I gave your spot to Anna? Lily, when did you become so petty? You were never like this."Before I could respond, Anna stepped forward, looking as fragile as ever."Lily, I'm sorry. This is all my fault. I never meant to come between you and Derek. If you're uncomfortable with us being around each other, I'll leave right away. Just… please don't be mad at Derek, okay?"She cried so pitifully that anyone watching would have thought I had done something unforgivable to her.Derek immediately moved in front of her, flustered. "Lily, this has nothing to do with Anna."The woman he insisted had nothing to do with any of this flashed me a triumphant smile the moment he was not looking."Derek—""That's enough." He cut me off dismissively. "It's just one spot. There's no need to keep making such a big deal out of it

I walked down the street alone. The sun had just risen, and the soft morning light wrapped around me with a gentle warmth. But my heart still felt cold.Three years ago, Derek had traveled everywhere chasing his dream. And I had followed him everywhere because I was chasing Derek.I thought that as long as we stayed united, we could build a good life together. I believed he'd achieve his dream.But three years later, I had nothing. I had arrived surrounded by excitement. Now I was leaving completely alone. I had nothing left.Love. Dreams. I had failed to hold on to either of them. Only then did I realize what a joke the past three years had been.How could anyone be as foolish as I was? Foolish enough to love someone with everything I had. Foolish enough to give up everything for him. Foolish enough to abandon my own dream just to support his.It had to end here. I would treat this pain as a warning from life.… Derek spent the entire day looking for me after he woke up. He c

More than half a month had passed, and Derek still hadn't been able to reach me. Another weekly league match came around, but Derek never spotted me among the cheer squad.He had always assumed I'd left in a fit of anger and that I couldn't bear to walk away from him. He never expected me to leave so decisively. To him, my departure had been so abrupt that he hadn't even had time to process it.Derek was so lost in thought that he didn't even notice the ball coming his way."Derek, what are you spacing out for? Didn't you see the ball?"It was a shot he could've stopped, but the other team scored because he'd been distracted.Halftime arrived, and the cheer squad took the field. Anna flung herself around just as badly as ever.I watched it all on my phone, my lips inadvertently turning themselves upside down in distaste. I had tuned in to watch Owen, but instead I got treated to this joke of a performance.I had no interest in watching Anna's grade-school routine, so I closed th

This time, I immediately called the coach for help. By the time he arrived, Owen already had Derek pinned against the wall.Derek refused to give up, struggling as he shouted threats of making Owen pay.I stared at the scene before turning to speak with the coach. "Derek has seriously violated the team's rules. I don't think he's fit to be on the field."The coach raised an eyebrow. Judging by the look he was giving me, Owen's gossip held more than just a nugget of truth. The coach had clearly been considering the same thing I'd just suggested."Coach, Derek has already allowed his emotions to affect the last match, and now he's gotten into a fight with a teammate over his personal affairs. If this keeps up, I'm afraid he'll end up hurting the entire team's chances."Even though this soccer league was part of a tourism promotion program, any negative publicity would reflect badly on the city's reputation.The coach thought it over and reviewed the security footage. In the end, he