All Chapters of I'm Done Chasing After You: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

I stared at the message of belated concern and felt a sudden wave of irony wash over me. A second later, a new email popped up.[Pennington University preliminary review for late enrollment: Approved.]I stared at the line that read "continue application" for a long time. Then I clicked confirm.The next morning, Elaine sent me a message.[Come over and have a meal with us.]My enrollment documents and ID copies were still in her suitcase. I needed them to withdraw from Alderton and submit my Pennington application, so I had no choice but to go to their apartment.Elaine answered the door. She stood in the doorway and typed in the keypad code without even bothering to block the screen.The keypad beeped as each digit registered. I recognized those six digits as Bradley's birthday.I thought of graduation night, when she had told me that once we had our own place in Kellmore, the door code would be the day we got together.However, now the living room was full of new furniture,

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 i

The next morning, I went to Pennington to finish my enrollment paperwork. The upperclassman handling my intake walked me through each form patiently, line by line."This emergency contact field needs to be a family member or someone you trust."I looked down at the form and paused for two seconds. Then I wrote in the number for my assigned student advisor. She had given it to me the day before, telling me that since I was new to Westport, I should call her if anything urgent came up.The upperclassman glanced at what I had written but did not say anything. He just smiled and took the form."You can come to me too, if you ever need anything. Don't try to handle everything on your own."My fingers tightened around the pen.I used to dread the idea of asking anyone for help, because every time I did, the response always made me feel like I was a burden. However, at Pennington, nobody looked at me that way. Someone helped me with my paperwork. Someone reminded me about my class sch

Elaine came looking for me again, this time outside the library.I had just finished a group presentation that day. The professor had praised me for how clearly I organized the material and how well I structured my argument.Standing at the front of the room and answering questions, I felt a strange sense of disorientation. I had spent so long watching other people's faces for cues. Now that someone was actually listening to what I had to say, I almost did not know how to handle it.After the session ended, I carried my materials downstairs. Elaine was standing right outside the entrance, holding a cup of hot coffee.I slowed for a second.She saw me and walked over immediately."Leo."I glanced at the cup in her hand. "What are you doing here?""I want to talk.""I wasn't clear enough last time?"She swallowed hard. "Bradley and I broke up."I did not say anything.She seemed afraid I would not believe her, so she added, "It's not because you pressured me. I figured it out

The day of the midterm presentation, I stood at the front of a Pennington lecture hall for the first time.The professor, classmates, and a handful of exchange students sat in the audience. I finished my presentation, and when I looked up, my gaze wandered to the last row.Elaine was sitting there. She had lost a lot of weight, and there were faint shadows under her eyes. She did not rush toward me the way she had the last time. She just sat there, watching quietly, as if she had finally learned to let me finish first.When the presentation ended, the room broke into applause. I closed my folder and stood at the front, and something in me almost wanted to laugh.I had spent so long waiting for someone else to speak up for me, to explain things on my behalf, to decide whether or not I deserved to feel hurt. Now I was the one standing here, and I did not need anyone's permission to speak.After I stepped down, the professor told me that Pennington's exchange program had an opening a