“And you can be here when we video-chat Mom and Dad,” Felicity said. “They love you!”
Reluctantly, as though he didn’t know what else to do, Cole entered the house. Shannon closed the door behind him and tried to catch his eye. Already, Isabelle and Felicity were back in the dining room, fetching Cole a glass of rosé and peppering him with questions about his spring, about the upcoming summer, about his plans. Shannon half expected one of them to ask when he planned to propose.
“I really need to talk to you,” Cole said to Shannon again, under his breath.
“I told you,” Shannon whispered. “This isn’t a good time.”
“It can’t wait,” Cole said.
Shannon’s head rang with a mix of anger and panic. Why was he doing this?
Felicity came into the living room and handed him a glass, smiling widely.
“Thanks, Felicity,” Cole said clumsily. “I didn’t mean to interrupt your lunch.”
“We haven’t really started yet,” she told him. “And I was just asking Shannon where you were. You’re practically family! We need you here.”
Isabelle nodded beside her. Shannon stared at Cole, trying to draw meaning out of his face. She wondered if something had gone wrong with his various projects. A lot was riding on his academic performance this semester. If he failed something, maybe he had to drop out of Yale. She would make that work down the line. She imagined telling the other researchers that her boyfriend had had to drop out because he wasn’t good enough. Would they look down on her for being with him? Oh, but it wouldn’t matter. She knew she was smarter than Cole. Cole knew she was smarter than he was. They’d gotten beyond that.
Shannon smiled at her sisters. “I’m going to talk to Cole for a second outside,” she said. “Refill my wine, okay?”
Isabelle winked at her, and Felicity kept that strange smile up. “Sure thing, sis,” Felicity singsonged.
Shannon led Cole back onto the front porch. The gorgeous early afternoon in April was only weeks before the end of the semester, and the air smelled of blooming flowers and trees and grass. Shannon remembered that she hadn’t taken her allergy medicine and felt a sneeze crawling up her nose. She refused to let it out.
“What’s going on?” Shannon asked Cole, touching his shoulder.
He looked limp, his arms hanging, his face drawn. “I don’t know how to say this.”
“Did something go wrong with your experiment?” Shannon asked. Did he get kicked out of Yale?
Cole shook his head. “Nothing like that.” He closed his eyes. “Shannon, I’m not good enough for you. I’ve never been good enough for you.”
Shannon let out a strangled laugh. “That’s not true.”
“It is.” Cole let his chin drop. “I’ve been, um, I’ve not been a good boyfriend to you. I’ve been seeing someone else.”
Shannon felt the shock ripple through her. For a moment, she thought that Cole would let out a laugh and tell her that it was all a joke, that he didn’t mean it. But he pulled his eyes up toward hers and then—terribly—shrugged.
“You’re cheating on me,” Shannon breathed. Never could she have imagined this, not from Cole, her beloved boyfriend of five years. And then she asked, “Is it over?”
Cole shook his head. “It’s not over.”
Shannon felt it click into place. He’d wanted someone else. He’d let himself have that someone else, and now, he’d decided that that someone else was better than Shannon. It was a scientific equation she could figure out in an instant.
Shannon felt a thousand questions twisting around in her mind. Why hadn’t he told her he wasn’t happy? Why had he cheated on her rather than break up with her first? Why had he invited her to spend Easter with his family when he was already sleeping with someone else?
“We can talk about it more if you want,” Cole said.
Shannon gaped at him. “I told you I was having my sisters over today.”
“I forgot,” Cole said. “I have a lot on my mind.”
Shannon felt a surge of anger. Genuinely, she couldn’t believe he’d just said that. She crossed her arms over her chest and took a step away from him. She realized she never wanted to see him again. “Can you please go?” she stammered.
“I have some of your things,” Cole said. “And I guess you have some of mine.”
“Yeah. Whatever,” Shannon stuttered. “We’ll work it out.”