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All Chapters of You Have No Place in My Future: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

10 Chapters

Chapter 1

After the class picture came the informal photo session.Evan Brooks and Claire Sullivan stood together as if they'd been made for each other.Liam Shaw lifted his camera and waved at me from behind it."Nina, step aside. You're blocking the shot."I stepped aside without a word.For the next two hours, the three of them took every kind of picture imaginable: Evan and Claire alone, all three of them together, one pose after another.Not once did anyone say, "Nina, come join us."I left the athletic field and went back to the classroom to clear out my desk.On my way out, I heard a few girls talking nearby."Evan and Claire really are the perfect campus couple. They look incredible together.""Liam's cute too—the sunny, athletic type. But honestly…""Don't you think Nina looks out of place with them? I don't know why she keeps forcing her way into their little circle. I heard they didn't even call her over for the pictures today."I stopped in the empty hallway with an armfu

Chapter 2

I didn't answer. I turned to my mother instead."Mom, has the London program you told me about opened applications yet?"She paused. "They open soon. Are you thinking of applying?"I nodded.Mom looked surprised. "I thought you and Evan were moving to New York together."As graduation got closer, Evan and I had agreed to look for jobs there.Then, at Claire's birthday party, I happened to catch sight of a handwritten letter he'd given her. That was how I learned the truth.Evan wanted New York because Claire was going.Liam was moving there too. He said that if all three of them were in the city, they could look after Claire.Only after they'd finished arguing it out did they remember I was sitting right there."Nina can come too," Evan had said casually. "With one more person there, we can all look out for one another."For Claire, they'd chosen an entire city.When it came to me, I was merely one more person who could help everyone look out for one another.I forced a st

Chapter 3

Evan crumpled it into a ball and threw it away."It's fine. Nina can just get another copy from her professor."Claire splashed permanent ink across my clothes, and Evan wiped her tears away with a smile."It's fine. The stain almost looks intentional. She can still wear them."Claire lost the fountain pen Mom gave me when I started college, and Evan stepped in front of her with a frown."What does it matter? You've had that pen three years. It was time for a new one."Every time I showed the slightest reluctance to let it go, he'd smooth my hair and drop his voice."Come on, sweetheart. You're not like her. You're the mature one. Don't stoop to her level."By now he was so used to forgiving Claire on my behalf that he didn't see anything strange about it.Sure enough, when Claire continued worrying about it, he wrote again.Nina's considerate. She isn't as petty as you think.I looked at that message for a long time.Then I sent my first reply of the day.Evan, I'm not as

Chapter 4

Dr. Marsh had seen those posts and would usually leave a like.Then Evan got close to Claire, and pictures of the two of us slowly disappeared from my feed. There were group shots of all four of us, or shots I'd taken of the other three.Claire was always in the middle.When it was clear that Evan hadn't caught the hint, Dr. Marsh shook her head and asked the two of them to wait outside.She kept me back a moment."Nina, if a relationship isn't nurturing you—if it's only draining you—then you need to think hard about whether it's worth continuing."Through the glass door, Claire said something and burst out laughing.Evan watched her, and his eyes warmed.I looked at them for a while, then let out a slow breath.I smiled at Dr. Marsh. "I understand. Thank you."When I came out, they were already gone.I looked down at my phone. Evan had sent three messages.Claire wanted to go feed the stray cats, so I took her there first.Remember to book your flight to New York. Claire

Chapter 5

Evan blanked, then laughed as if she'd made a joke."Mrs. Quinn, what are you talking about? That's impossible. Why would Nina go abroad?"Kate Quinn was quiet for a moment."It's true, Evan. Nina's gone. She didn't tell you, so I was surprised too."Her voice was calm, almost politely distant."She called me before she left. She said she'd made up her mind a long time ago."The smile stayed stiffly in place on Evan's lips, but the light had gone out of his eyes."You're joking. Right?""I've got no reason to joke about this." She sighed softly. "Nina's never liked being any trouble to anyone. But once she decides something, nothing on earth can move her. Take care of yourself, Evan."The dial tone pierced his eardrum like a needle.Liam was the first to lose it."What is Nina playing at? Is this a game to her?"His voice echoed across the parking lot, raw with the sense of having been made a fool of.Claire frowned as well, her voice full of disappointment. "She's gone wa

Chapter 6

On instinct, he dialed Nina's number and pressed the phone to his ear."We're sorry. The phone you have dialed is currently switched off.…"He tried again.Same recording.Again.Liam watched him with a flicker of sympathy. "Evan, you…"Evan ignored him. His finger mechanically tapped the number over and over, and every attempt ended the same way.Only then did something occur to him.Nina might have blocked him.Nina, who'd always answered his messages within seconds, who'd never once hung up on him first, might have blocked him.Claire looked at his bloodless face. Her lips moved like she meant to say something.In the end she only murmured, "Evan, let’s go to the hotel first. We can talk to her once she's calmed down."Evan didn't move.He stood at the entrance of the parking lot with travelers streaming past him and a bright sign overhead welcoming him to New York.The city suddenly felt enormous.Big enough to frighten him, because Nina wasn't in it.My plane touch

Chapter 7

During my first week at the university, Nora dragged me to a gathering for international students.I hadn't wanted to go. I'd never known how to handle things like that.Back home, Evan used to take me to parties like them. I'd sit in a corner while he and Claire became the center of attention. Once in a while Liam would notice me long enough to ask, "Nina, why are you so quiet?" Before I could answer, Claire's laugh would pull him away again.Eventually I learned not to speak.I swallowed what I thought and accepted that I was part of the scenery.This time was different.A few people were talking about a show I happened to have watched. My mouth opened on its own, only to swallow the words out of habit.A guy sitting next to me named Owen Lane noticed."Nina, were you about to say something?" he asked, like it was the most ordinary question in the world.I blinked. "It's nothing.""Go ahead, say it." His smile was easy, but he meant it. "Nobody here bites."Nora immediatel

Chapter 8

Nina's just private, he'd say. Nina won't mind.He never once asked, "Nina, does this bother you?" And somehow I'd gotten used to that.I'd gotten used to being managed and overlooked. I'd trained myself into the understanding girlfriend who never made trouble.Steam rose from the hot chocolate and blurred my vision."What wrong?" Owen asked beside me.I shook my head and smiled. "Nothing. I was just thinking it's pretty good here."The days went faster than I expected.The new program moved at a punishing pace and the workload was heavy, but I enjoyed the sense of fulfillment it gave me.Every morning Nora throw a pillow at my blanket and yelled, "Nina, get up, we have class!" Then the two of us scrambled through getting dressed and ran for the building with toast in our teeth.Sometimes Owen waited for us at the corner with three coffees. He'd hand them over as we came panting up and say, "You two are the last ones again today."I would be panting for breath, and I laughed

Chapter 9

He reached for my hand. I stepped back and pulled my hand out of reach, and looked at him calmly."Don't. Keep your distance."He froze, his hand hanging in the air like a bird that had forgotten where to fly."Nina?" He stared at me like he didn't know who I was.I didn't say anything. I just stood there.The distance was right. Not close, not far—exactly enough to see where the line was.The excitement drained out of his face and left something I'd almost never seen on him.He had no idea what to do. His voice went soft, close to begging."Nina, I was wrong before. I'm sorry. I owe you an apology. I ignored you. I failed to treat you the way I should have."I know you're angry. I know you blame me. It was all my fault."Come back with me, please. Come back to New York and we'll start over."A yellow leaf spiraled down onto his shoulder. He didn't brush it off.I looked into his bloodshot eyes and didn't feel the satisfaction I'd expected, or any reluctance either. Only a

Chapter 10

Claire was already crying."Nina, is Evan with you?"I didn't answer. "Why?""Why?" Her voice went sharp. "Do you know how much work he walked away from to go chasing after you? Do you know how many messes Liam and I have cleaned up for him? If you're upset, we can talk about it. What do you get out of tormenting him like this?"I listened all the way through, and then it struck me as almost funny."Claire," I said, "haven't you always wanted me gone?"The line went silent."I never—""You know whether you did." My voice stayed level. "It doesn't matter now. I'm giving him back to you.""Nina, you—"I hung up.That evening I told the story over dinner like a joke, and Nora smacked the table."Where did she find the nerve to call you?"Owen sat across from us, listening, not cutting in. Only after Nora finished venting to call her did he ask, "Do you want me to keep him away from you?"I shook my head. "No. It's my problem. I'll deal with it."Owen nodded and let it go. T

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