Chapter 2The Zion Itinerary

I stumbled back to my room in a daze. The Zion itinerary was still glowing on my laptop screen.

My roommate, Jenna, saw the look on my face. "Hey, what's wrong?"

I held back the tears, not wanting to admit I’d been eavesdropping. I just mumbled something about a change of plans for tomorrow.

Jenna, bless her heart, didn’t know the backstory. She leaned over to look at my screen, and her eyes widened. "They changed my ticket too? The hell? If they want to go get sunburned in Cancun, fine, but why drag me into it? I don't want to go!"

She was ready to storm down the hall and give Liam a piece of her mind, but I grabbed her arm. That’s when the tears finally broke free. Jenna stopped, her anger melting away when she noticed my flight itinerary was the only one they hadn't changed.

We were all staying at an airport hotel to catch our early flight. They had rebooked their new flight to leave two hours earlier than our original one.

If I hadn't seen that notification, I would have woken up tomorrow to an empty hotel. They would have been gone, and I probably wouldn't have even been able to reach them. The thought was a physical pain in my chest.

"That son of a bitch!" Jenna seethed. "That ungrateful, brainwashed idiot! After everything you and your family did for him!"

Liam's mom passed away when he was little. His dad worked two jobs to raise him, but then, in our freshman year of high school, he was diagnosed with cancer. During that time, Liam was juggling final exams and daily hospital visits. I couldn't stand to see him suffer, so I started going with him, just trying to be a small help.

Right before his dad passed, when Liam had stepped out of the room, he grabbed my hand. His was so weak. He asked me to look after his son.

Torn apart by my crush on Liam and my sympathy for his situation, I just nodded blindly.

After the funeral, I begged my parents for days until they agreed to let Liam move in with us. They treated him like their own son. I’d always been a bit shy, a little hesitant. With Liam around, I felt braver, and I started sticking close to him, like a shadow. My parents used to joke that I’d finally gotten the big brother I always wanted.

Tears streamed down my face. I couldn't understand how the boy who clung to me, sobbing, after his father died… the boy who moved into my house and told me with red-rimmed eyes, "Maya, you're the best person in the world, I feel safe when you're around,"… how could he have turned into this? A person who mocked me behind my back, who acted like even saying my name was an embarrassment.

I closed the Google Doc and, with a trembling hand, opened my browser to the NYU student portal.

For his dad's sake, I had promised I would always be there for Liam if he needed me. That’s why, even though my SAT scores were nearly 80 points higher than his, I was planning on going to UCLA with him, settling for a school that was great, but not my first choice.

Maybe I was wrong.

Maybe Liam didn’t need me anymore. And if that was the case, why was I still clinging to him?

I checked the box, clicked the button, and confirmed my enrollment. I was going to New York City, 3,000 miles away from him.

Jenna watched me, a long sigh escaping her lips. She just reached out and patted my head.

I didn’t book a new ticket to Cancun. I didn’t go knock on their door to demand an explanation. Hiking in Zion was my dream. My obsession with this trip was never about Liam. It was about challenging myself, seeing those majestic cliffs with my own eyes, and proving that the timid girl I used to be could handle a real adventure.

Liam could trade our promise for a week with Chloe. Fine. I could choose to walk my own path, without him.

For the first time, I wasn't going to compromise for Liam.