Chapter 2I Stopped Loving You Years Ago

My mom and Sophie’s mom, Penny, are best friends.

Growing up, the one thing I heard constantly from Aunt Penny was that she was “reserving me” to be Sophie’s future husband.

When I was little and didn’t know any better, I’d grin and agree, even promising I’d have a whole bunch of kids with my “Sophie-girl.”

When I got older, I’d just scratch the back of my neck and blush, my ears burning hot.

We were always together, a package deal, and Sophie never publicly contradicted the assumption about our relationship. It made me believe that maybe, someday, Sophie and I really would get married.

That belief lasted right up until high school graduation.

When it was time to apply for college, my first choice was a university that had the best program for my major.

When Sophie’s parents found out, they immediately started pressuring her to give up her dream school.

“If you and Ethan go to the same school, you can look after your future husband,” her dad said over dinner one night.

“Exactly,” Aunt Penny chimed in. “It’s good for you two to have each other for support.”

“So, does this mean I should start saving for the wedding?” my mom joked.

The conversation around the dinner table was spiraling into fantasy.

I kept my head down, my face flushed, completely missing the fact that Sophie’s expression was growing darker and darker by the second.

Suddenly, she slammed her hands on the table and shot to her feet.

“Can’t you see I don’t like him?” she yelled, her voice shaking with rage. “He follows me everywhere, so damn needy! Have some self-respect!”

Her outburst froze me in my seat.

Humiliation, shame, a crushing sense of inadequacy—a storm of emotions I couldn’t name washed over me.

I clenched my fists under the table, my knuckles white. I looked at Sophie’s face, at the undisguised disgust in her eyes, and my heart felt like it was being scraped raw with a dull knife, over and over again.

Crack.

Sophie’s dad slapped her across the face and ordered her to apologize to me.

“What is this nonsense you’re spouting! You don’t like Ethan? It’s a miracle a boy like Ethan would even look at you!”

The mood was ruined. Everyone’s face was grim.

But Sophie was defiant.

“I’m going to Princeton, and you better not follow me!” she snarled, her eyes locked on mine, as if I were some kind of criminal.

Being stared at like that by the person you love… it physically hurt.