Chapter 4

It was the first time I had ever stood up for myself in front of anyone and demanded to be acknowledged.

There was still time. If Elaine would just say one thing in my defense, I could give her one more chance.

It did not take long before my comment was screenshotted too. The campus forum post had a headline that made my stomach drop.

[Freshman couple living together? The real boyfriend shows up? Who's the third wheel here?]

The comment section exploded.

[She has a boyfriend and she's living with another guy? Doesn't that make Bradley the other man?]

[Come on, I saw Elaine and Bradley at freshman check-in. They looked like a couple to me.]

[I went to the same high school. I definitely saw Elaine and Leo going on dates all the time.]

[I heard Bradley lost his parents young and the Hartwell family basically raised him.]

[Losing your parents doesn't mean you get to ignore boundaries. The girl has a boyfriend and he's still moving in with her?]

Bradley posted a lengthy response in the group chat not long after. He said he was only staying there temporarily and that Elaine was looking after him out of respect for their families' long history.

He said losing his parents had been hard enough, and he never expected to start college being labeled a homewrecker. He also said that if I had a problem with it, he was willing to move out and keep his distance from Elaine.

The post kept spreading. People in the department group chat were talking about it too.

The next morning, the resident advisor called all three of us into her office. She set her phone on the desk, the screen still showing the viral post.

"This has already made its way to the department group chat.

"Normally I wouldn't get involved in students' personal lives, but there's a conduct review going on right now, and you're all brand-new students. This kind of attention is not a good look. We need to clear it up."

She asked Elaine whether the living arrangement was real. Then she asked me what I had meant by calling myself her boyfriend.

The office went quiet.

I looked at Elaine. All she had to do was say I was her boyfriend, and it would all be over. But she said nothing for a long time.

Then she took out her phone and pulled up old messages where I had asked her if we were together. She only showed the parts where I was the one reaching out. She left out every message where she had said we would make it official once we got to Kellmore.

"Ma'am, Leo has had feelings for me for a long time, but I never formally agreed to be with him. He and I were never in a relationship."

"Bradley isn't a third party. He and I are the ones who are actually together."

I could not move. Every cautious, careful piece of affection I had ever offered her had just been twisted into evidence that I was the one who would not let go.

Bradley looked uncomfortable. "I just started school. I can't have people thinking I broke up someone's relationship."

Elaine responded immediately. "Bradley would never do something like that."

Then she lowered her voice and turned to me. "Leo, just apologize to Bradley first."

I stared at her. "For what?"

"His reputation can't take a hit like this. He's already been through enough without parents.

"You know I don't mean it that way. Just don't put him in an awkward position right now."

I asked her, "So from your perspective, I was never your boyfriend?"

Elaine's throat tightened.

Bradley reached over and placed his hand on hers, signaling her to stop.

She closed her eyes. "At the very least, not right now."

At that moment, I heard something inside me break for good. It was not loud, just a quiet snap. However, it was the kind of thing that could never be put back together.

I stood there for a long time. Then I turned to Bradley.

"I'm sorry."

Everyone in the room exhaled, but only I knew what I was really apologizing for. It was not about the misunderstanding. I was apologizing to the version of myself who had spent all this time believing he was loved.

I did not explain anything after I walked out. I opened the final confirmation page for Pennington's late enrollment.

[Do you confirm your enrollment at Pennington University?]

I stared at it for a long time. Then I pressed confirm.

When the submission confirmation appeared on the screen, I finally swallowed the tears back down.

Elaine did not come after me. I looked back once, and she was still in the office, speaking to Bradley in a low voice.

She probably assumed I would do what I always did, wait outside while she finished dealing with Bradley, then accept whatever scraps of an explanation she felt like offering.

That evening, she finally came to the dorm building to look for me. Her messages had gone unanswered for hours. She tried asking a student passing by to relay a message, only to realize she did not even know my room number.

With no other choice, she went to the building manager. He checked the records and said, "Leo Chambers checked out this afternoon. He took all his luggage with him too."

The color drained from Elaine's face. "What?"

A freshman volunteer happened to walk by and answered without thinking.

"He's transferring to Pennington.

"He came in today just to process the checkout. Weren't you guys high school classmates? How'd you miss that?"