And now?
Now Jessica is laughing, giggling, her hands flying to her mouth like she’s in a goddamn romance movie.
Now the entire auditorium is watching, waiting for her to answer.
Now my heart is breaking, splintering right there in my chest, because he never meant it for me at all.
I want to move.Want to turn around and walk away before I have to witness any more of this train wreck.
But I can’t.
I just stand there, frozen in place, as Jessica throws herself into his arms.
And Joel—Joel grins like he just won the lottery.
Like this was always about her.
Like I was never even part of the story.
Like I never existed.
The realization is slow and excruciating.
I gave him this.
And he gave it away.
My breath catches.The auditorium fades.The crowd vanishes.
And then?—
I wake up.
My chest is tight, my pulse hammering against my ribs.For a few seconds, I can’t move.
My skin feels too hot.My sheets?Suffocating.I kick them off, swing my legs over the side of the bed, and press my bare feet into the floor, trying to ground myself.
Just a dream.Just a stupid dream.
But it’s not, is it?It’s a memory.
I squeeze my eyes shut, but it’s too late—the past is unspooling whether I want it to or not.
After that day, I stopped answering his texts.
Joel had no idea why.
He thought it was just about the song—thought I was just mad that he played it without asking.And sure, that was part of it.But it wasn’t the real reason.
The real reason was that I couldn’t breathe.
I couldn’t sit next to him, couldn’t watch him pluck at the guitar strings like nothing had changed—like the whole world hadn’t just caved in on me.
Because he didn’t know.He didn’tknowwhat he took from me.
I remember the way his brows furrowed in confusion when I told him I was busy and to go away.
How he tried again the next day.And the next.And the next.