Chapter 2

After I finished packing, I went back to Arthur's place to return their belongings.

Noah was opening a bottle of champagne for Claire. "Try this! Arthur's been saving it for ages!"

Only after he'd popped the cork did he notice me. "Evelyn, you finally came to your senses? Okay, now that you're here, come join us."

I took an old box out of my bag and handed it to him. Inside was a brass compass.

When Noah was 13, he won a youth sailing race and ran down to the docks to buy it.

He'd pressed the compass into my hand. "Hold on to this for me. When we finally sail around the world, we're taking it with us."

None of us imagined back then that I'd be the only one who actually got on that boat.

Noah opened the box and blinked. "Why are you giving it back all of a sudden?"

I paused. "It's yours. You should keep it. I may not have another chance to look after it for you."

He thought I was still sulking. "Come on. It's only two years. You're acting as if we'll never see each other again."

As he said it, he tossed the compass onto the table.

Claire glanced at it. "That's so pretty."

Noah laughed. "You like it? It's yours."

As I watched Noah give the compass to Claire so easily, my eyes stung.

For nine years, I'd kept it safe for Noah.

Whenever I moved, I was terrified of losing it, so I kept it in the suitcase closest to me and locked it away carefully.

I guarded it so carefully because Noah had said we had to take it when we finally sailed around the world.

Now, less than a minute after taking it back from me, he'd given it to Claire.

I guess some things only mattered to me.

I'd treasured it for nine years, and one sentence was all it took him to give it away.

Next was Theo.

I'd meant to give back the rolls of film he'd left at my place.

Before I could speak, his gaze fell on the camera hanging around my neck. "Perfect timing. Hand me the camera. Claire wants to see pictures of us as kids. I'll show her and tell her all about them."

I instinctively put a hand over the camera. "No. It's mine."

It held photos of our first ski trip to Switzerland, the first time we'd secretly taken a sailboat out to sea, and the promise we'd made on a French beach at 18 to sail around the world.

Theo frowned. "You're not the only person in those pictures. Besides, it's only for a few days. Do you have to be so petty?"

Then he snatched the camera bag from my hands. "Evelyn, Claire has always regretted missing out on our childhood together. She just wants to look at some pictures. It's not like you're losing anything."

My hand hung in midair.

For my 15th birthday, Theo had given me this camera. "From now on, you're in charge of keeping all our pictures."

So I'd taken such good care of it all these years.

Theo said, sounding pleased with himself, "I'll give it back when we're done."

I kept my thoughts to myself.

Don't bother. I won't need it after today.

That night, Arthur asked me to dinner. He sounded as if he were humoring a child whose tantrum had finally ended.

Before, if he asked me out, I'd spend hours deciding what to wear.

This time, I just said okay. I only wanted us to have one last decent goodbye.

We'd barely sat down when his phone started buzzing nonstop.

Claire said her new apartment was too big and she was afraid to sleep alone, so Arthur immediately had his assistant rearrange the night security details.

She couldn't decide what to wear to a dinner party, so he kept zooming in on the photos of dresses she'd sent him. Eventually, he called the brand's client advisor and arranged for someone to come over and help her choose.

When his phone finally went quiet, he looked up as though he'd just remembered I was there. "How's the steak?"

I looked at my steak, now stone cold, and felt nothing but disappointment.

Five years ago, all Arthur had to do was ask whether I'd eaten, and I'd be happy for days.

He remembered I didn't eat asparagus, and I thought that meant he liked me.

Once in a while, he drove me home, and I thought that meant he liked me too.

I clung to those tiny scraps of affection, convincing myself over and over that he just needed time to open up. And so I kept loving him for five years.

Looking back now, I felt sorry for the girl I used to be.

I'd been so in love with him that even the smallest gesture was enough to convince me he'd given me everything.

I set down my fork. "Arthur, do you know what I'm doing the day after tomorrow?"

Only then did he give it real thought. "Buying gear for the trip? Or getting your last checkup?"

I looked at him for a few seconds. "Something like that."

Arthur visibly relaxed. "Good. Now stop sulking about what happened the other day."

He squeezed my hand. "In a month, I'll take you to the port myself. And in two years, I'll be there to bring you home."

I looked down at his hand on mine.

Before, that one little gesture would have made me happy for days.

But at six in the morning the day after tomorrow, I'd be boarding that ship. The man who kept promising to see me off didn't even know when I was leaving.

I'd once been sad to think our relationship would simply fade away. But after being pushed aside time and again, I realized this was the best ending for us.

I no longer wanted the friendship we'd shared for over a decade.

When I got home, I opened the shared photo album we'd used for years.

More than 20,000 photos, every one uploaded and sorted by me.

I deleted every photo I was in, then left the shared album. I took back the part of my life I'd shared with them.

Starting the day after tomorrow, I would no longer have to remember who went where, who liked what, or what to buy each person for their birthday.

By the time I was done, it was one in the morning. All that was left by my bed was a single suitcase.

Arthur and the others thought I still had a month before I left.

By the time they noticed every trace of me was gone, my ship would already have sailed.