Chapter 2

With my grip loosening, the album slid out of my hands.

The photos within scattered all over the floor.

Giselle bent down to pick them up.

Derek pulled a long face.

"You don’t have to look at the pictures if you don’t want to. Why throw them to the ground?

"It took Giselle four years to put the album together."

My gaze fell on the floor covered in photos.

"What about me? I tried calling you more than a dozen times when I was running up a fever.

"Did you ignore my calls because you were busy posing for these pictures for her?"

Derek paused.

His brows quickly furrowed.

"That happened a long time ago."

He leaned down to help Giselle gather the pictures.

The pair kept their heads down, organizing the photos without giving me the time of day.

My phone buzzed.

It was a text message from Mom.

"You need to decide by the end of your graduation trip.

"Are you coming back with us or sticking with Derek and moving to his work location?"

Two weeks ago, I had the answer drafted.

"Derek and I made plans to live together after college. We’ll have our happily-ever-after."

The typed message had been sitting in my text box ever since.

I stared at the line long and hard before deleting it character by character.

The passengers were on their feet when the train pulled into a station.

The aisle was filled with people in no time.

Giselle stood up, only for someone in the back to bump into her.

Derek put his hand out to keep her safe, shielding her between himself and the seat.

"Keep still. Wait until the crowd clears out a little."

I was squeezed to the back by the surge of people.

My shoulder slammed into the luggage rack, throbbing with numb pain.

Derek saw it happen but only spoke to Giselle, "Hold on tight. Don’t trip."

Once I finally got off the train, it occurred to me that my two suitcases were still sitting by my old seat.

One suitcase was stuffed with clothes and makeup that Giselle had dumped on me at the last minute.

Claiming her suitcase was overpacked, she made me carry her stuff for the whole trip.

I fought my way against the flow of the crowd and dragged two heavy suitcases off.

By the time I stepped out of the station, it was raining heavily.

Derek and Giselle were nowhere to be found.

All Derek left was a message on my phone.

"Giselle is getting cramps from not eating. We went ahead to a restaurant.

"You are taking too much time. Just get a cab over."

Rainwater dripped down through my hair.

Hauling a suitcase in each hand, I stood outside the unfamiliar station exit.

My phone screen lit up again.

Mom asked in a text, "Have you thought things over?"

I stared down at my cleared-out text box.

For once, I didn’t second-guess myself. "Mom, I’ll go with you and Dad when I get home."

Still, I had dreamed of visiting this city for ages. I wasn’t going to ruin a trip I’d anticipated for months because of Derek and Giselle.

I hailed a cab right outside the train station and traveled to the hotel on my own.

The two suitcases were so heavy that the driver helped unload them. He asked curiously, "Where are your friends? Why are they leaving you to haul all these heavy bags by yourself?"

I didn’t give a response.

The hotel restaurant was right next to the lobby.

Through the glass window, I spotted Derek and Giselle right away.

The pair cozied up in a booth.

Giselle snatched the drink out of Derek’s hand and took a sip through his straw.

Derek pushed her head away in fake annoyance, while she kicked his shoe in retaliation.

Giselle collapsed onto his shoulder, giggling away, but Derek didn’t even nudge her off.

I wheeled the suitcases along.

First to notice me, Derek wiped his grin off his face.

Giselle sat up and set the drink back down in front of Derek before dramatically scooting away from him.

Right then, the doors to the restaurant elevator slid open.

Several friends from college stepped out, chatting and joking. Noticing the deliberate space between the pair, they burst out laughing.

"Who are you trying to fool? She’s not even here."

The person talking turned his head around, only to see me standing at the entrance.

The smile on his face went stiff.

Another guy hadn’t caught on.

"You two are always all over each other when she misses a hangout.

"Derek got really wasted on New Year’s Eve, and Giselle used his arm as a pillow all night."

His friend beside him kept pulling on his sleeve.

Picking up on the tension, the other guy finally shut his trap.

Derek grimaced hard.

Giselle shifted back beside Derek and hooked her arm around his neck.

"It’s time to drop the act. Since the cat’s out of the bag, we might as well lay everything out in the open."

She raised her chin defiantly at me.

"Honestly, I told Derek that we were all buddies here when you guys started dating. We didn’t need to change the way we hung out.

"But he insisted that you were too insecure and would get the wrong idea if you saw us joking around, so I played along with his charade for four whole years."

She patted Derek’s shoulder.

"There’s nothing going on between us. We have nothing to hide.

"You can’t expect us to stop being friends just to baby your feelings."

Several friends jumped in to give their two cents.

"That’s how they’ve always been growing up. Don’t take it too seriously."

"Giselle is super laid-back, like one of the boys. She wouldn’t be so upfront if anything real is going on."

I stared at these familiar faces.

In the past, they’d excuse themselves by saying there were no extra seats at the get-together or that plans changed unexpectedly.

Derek often stayed with me for dinner and told me that he skipped the hangout.

I knew better now.

He had not missed a single party that I wasn’t invited to.