Chapter 4

After Millie moved into my room, Marcus and the others came by almost every day.

Marcus brought her meals. Ryan helped organize her college prep materials, and Julian bought a projector and installed it on my wall himself. He was worried she would get bored while recovering.

While setting it up, he finally noticed that half the bookshelf was empty. “Where’s all your stuff?”

“Packed away.”

His eyes flicked toward the suitcases outside the door. “Getting ready for college this early?”

I nodded.

Julian did not think much of it and went back to fiddling with the remote. “Your college is a local one anyway. If you need anything, you can always come back for it. There’s no need to bring so much.”

Millie, leaning against the headboard of my bed, bit her lip. “Does Hailey not want me here?”

She threw off the covers and started to get out of bed. “I can go back home. I don’t want to make things difficult for Hailey.”

Her toes had barely touched the floor when all three boys rushed over.

Marcus put a hand on her shoulder, Ryan pulled the covers back over her, and Julian turned to me with a frown on his face.

“She’s only staying here for two months. Do you really have to make her feel unwelcome?”

I froze for a moment. Apparently, not smiling counted as making someone feel unwelcome now. “I didn’t say anything.”

“You didn’t have to. You’ve already made Millie feel like she needs to leave.”

My mother walked in carrying a plate of fruit and happened to hear that last sentence. “I’m the one who asked Hailey to give up her room. Don’t blame her.”

She placed the mangoes beside Millie, then turned to me. “Millie’s sensitive. Watch what you say and do around her.”

I stared at the plate of mangoes without saying a word.

I had been allergic to mangoes since I was little.

My mother used to never allow them in the house, but Millie said she loved them, and suddenly, there were always several boxes of mangoes in the fridge.

My mother remembered exactly what Millie liked. She had simply forgotten what I could not have.

I left the room and dragged my last suitcase into the study.

That afternoon, Ryan sent me a floor plan. They had rented a four-bedroom apartment near the local university, and it was only a ten-minute walk from campus.

[Millie needs plenty of sunlight. Can she have the main bedroom with the bay window?]

I replied with a simple: [Sure.]

A few minutes later, he sent another message: [There’s a storage room next to the living room where we can put a folding bed. You can stay there. You can always go home on weekends.]

The storage room was less than 60 square feet. It did not even have a window.

Before I could respond, Marcus sent a voice message in the group chat, “Hailey can sleep anywhere. Let’s get Millie’s room sorted out first. The doctor said she needs more sunlight, so letting her have the main bedroom makes the most sense.”

Julian sent me a cash gift: [Sorry you have to put up with this. I’ll take you out for dinner once the semester starts.]

I did not accept it.

Instead, I opened the lease agreement the out-of-town agent had sent me and paid six months’ rent upfront.

…

A few days later, the four of them received their college admission results one after another. Just as expected, they were all accepted into the same local university. Millie barely made the cutoff for the tourism management program.

When the news came, my mother immediately booked a restaurant to celebrate.

At dinner, Marcus brought a polaroid camera, saying they could use it to document their four years of college.

In the first photo, Millie sat in the middle, with the three boys standing behind her.

As the photo slowly developed, she glanced at it, then suddenly lifted the camera toward me. “Hailey, let’s take a photo of all five of us.”

Before I could even get up, Marcus took the camera from her. “There are only a few shots left. Save them for when school starts.”

Millie looked disappointed. “But we still don’t have a graduation photo of the five of us.”

Ryan looked down at the film pack. “We’ll be in the same city. We can take one anytime.”

Julian handed me the photo they had just taken. “You’re the best at keeping things safe. Please hold on to this for us.”

Four of them were smiling brightly in the photo. I took it and slipped it into my bag.

They always said there would be plenty of time later, and they used that as a reason to keep me on the sidelines. What they did not know was that there would be no later.

Halfway through dinner, Millie suggested another beach trip before school started. “Hailey couldn’t come to the mountains last time. She has to come this time.”

Marcus immediately agreed, “Sure. I’ll drive.”

Ryan started looking up hotels on the spot. “How about September 3rd? It’s right before orientation.”

Julian looked at me. “And don’t back out at the last minute this time. Bring your camera and take a proper graduation photo for us.”

I calculated the date in my head. By September 3rd, I would already be 1,600 miles away.

“Okay.”

They excitedly discussed the route. Not one of them asked which university I had gotten into.

…

Late that night, I placed the four-person photo in the bottom drawer of my desk beside the answer boards from our game, the ones with my name written on it.

Millie was the one the boys had chosen to save first if both of us were stranded, and in another question, I was the one out of the group of five they had chosen to leave out.

The next morning, I left with nothing but a carry-on bag.

My three suitcases had already been shipped to my college. There was nothing of mine left in the study.

Before I left, I said no goodbyes and left no explanation. On the way to the airport, my phone would not stop buzzing.

Millie asked if I could pick up some dessert from that place in Southside for her.

Marcus sent me a list of household supplies the apartment was missing and asked me to grab them on the way.

Ryan told me to organize the enrollment documents for all five of us, especially Millie’s medical exam report.

Then came Julian’s message: [Why aren’t you answering?]

[Are you still mad about the game?]

The boarding announcement echoed through the terminal. I turned off my phone and walked toward the gate.

…

For the next month, they continued making plans for my life in the group chat.

They asked me to pick up Millie’s packages, to revise their travel itinerary, and to go ahead of them and set up the storage room in the apartment.

I never replied.

Somehow, not one of them came looking for me.

Then came September 3rd, the day we had planned to go to the beach.

At 6:00 am, Julian parked outside my house.

Marcus texted in the group, telling me to hurry up, and Ryan reminded me not to forget the camera.

Millie sat in the passenger seat, holding the snacks they had bought for the trip while waiting for me.

Ten minutes passed. Still, I did not show up.

Julian finally lost his patience, went upstairs, and knocked on my family’s door.

My mother opened the door, still bleary-eyed from sleep. “Hailey isn’t here. You guys didn’t know?”