Chapter 4

Over the next few days, Chase called me one more time.

Under the guise of checking if I'd managed to snag a ticket, he wanted me to help him and Anna buy discounted movie tickets.

I really wanted to ask him - what am I, some kind of desperate bargain hunter glued to discount apps all day?

But I held back.

I turned him down, saying I was broke.

Meanwhile, Anna posted something on Facebook.

The photo showed her in a sparkly white wedding dress, holding a bouquet, looking up at the sky - exactly the kind of shot I'd once wanted to take with Chase.

The caption read: "Craving love like a starving person craves bread; longing to be loved like someone freezing longs to be wrapped in warmth."

Chase's comment below practically burned my eyes: "I'll always love you like a starving man loves bread."

I clicked on his profile with zero expression and blocked both of them.

Those cheesy lines were things I'd once said to Chase.

The day before the trip, someone knocked on my dorm door.

I opened it to find the two people I least wanted to see - Chase and Anna.

Anna flashed the most fake, over-the-top smile.

"Quinn! Chase and I came to check on you."

Chase just pushed past me and barged into my room.

His eyes swept every corner of the dorm, and his expression darkened.

"What do you want?"

I regretted staying up too late last night. I'd been groggy when I woke up and didn't react fast enough to stop him.

"We're leaving tomorrow. You're always forgetting things, so Anna was worried. We came to check on you."

Chase examined every inch of my dorm room.

"Did you get a ticket? Plane or train?"

"Yeah, yeah!"

Anna sidled up to me with fake concern, trying to link arms with me. I stepped aside to avoid her.

She didn't seem embarrassed at all:

"Did you get a plane ticket or train ticket? What time? If we're leaving around the same time, we could share a ride to the station."

Watching their phony act, I lost all desire to keep playing along.

I didn't say a word, just shook my head coldly.

"Oh no!" Anna looked concerned but was clearly enjoying this.

"You didn't get one? What are we gonna do? You won't be able to come with us."

Chase's face turned ugly as he snapped at me:

"Quinn, I told you to get a damn ticket! What the hell have you been doing? Throwing another one of your little princess tantrums?"

Anna quickly stepped in to restrain Chase.

"Chase, don't talk to Quinn like that. I'm sure she has her reasons. It's just too bad she won't be able to make this trip."

I watched their little performance, laughing bitterly inside.

"Don't worry about me. I'll get there. I have my own way."

"You? What way could you possibly have?"