Chapter 1

My boyfriend keeps choosing his bitch intern over me.

So I cut his place in my future.

I stand next to the self-check-in kiosk in Boston South Station and tell my boyfriend, Gavin, we're done.

"Because your seat isn't next to mine?" He laughs.

"Yes."

He's still laughing. He pulls out his phone and taps record.

"Fine. You said it. Don't take it back."

We've known each other since we were seven. Together since eighteen. He thinks I can't leave him.

He doesn't know this train ticket is just an excuse.

I refunded the one he booked for me.

I changed my destination.

This time, I'm out.

In a few hours, we'll be in two different cities, living two completely different lives.

…

Gavin holds the phone in front of my face. The recording bar is still moving.

I don't change my expression.

"May 23, 2026. Day 2,591. Aria Bennett and Gavin Hayes are broken up."

He freezes for a second. Then shakes his head, almost amused.

"Okay. How long is it this time? Three days? Four?"

He scrolls back through his phone and taps another recording.

"Gavin… I miss you so much… I take it back, please don't break up with me…"

My own voice spills out — drunk, crying, loud enough that people nearby turn to look.

"This one's from three months ago," he says, smiling.

He keeps scrolling.

I push the phone away from his face.

"I mean it this time."

He looks up. The smile fades.

"Just for a seat." His voice drops. "Really, Aria?"

Yes. Really.

......

A group of us planned this Cape Cod trip for this weekend. Gavin's intern, Lily Sutton, insists on tagging along.

So he refunded everyone's original tickets and rebooked the entire group on Amtrak Acela.

He and the rest are all in Car 2.

I'm in Car 10. Alone.

The seat next to him? Saved for Lily.

And just to make sure I saw it — he posted the screenshot on Instagram.

Who'd drop everything to travel with you on a whim?

Two seat numbers, side by side. Like two needles in my chest.

......

"Aria, don't be like this." He sighs. "I missed you the first time I booked. By the time I noticed, Car 10 was all that was left."

"It's four hours. You don't need to be jealous."

He says it like I'm overreacting. Like I'm the unreasonable one.

I take a breath.

"You don't get it. I'm not jealous about who sits next to you for four hours."

"Got it, got it." He cuts in. "Then how about this — I book flights right now, just you and me. Done?"

"Gavin! Are you switching to flights? Can I come? I've never flown before."

Lily slides up out of nowhere.

She hands Gavin an Americano like it's the most natural thing in the world. Then sips her own iced latte through the straw.

She notices the tension and adds, sweetly:

"Sorry, Aria — I didn't know what you liked. I'm so used to grabbing his Americano and my latte, I forgot to ask you."

I turn to leave.

She grabs my arm.

"Aria, please don't get the wrong idea."

"I'm just an intern. Gavin and I are just friends. My finals are coming up and I'm super stressed. He's only inviting me out so I can decompress."

"Don't let stuff like this come between you two."

"Stuff like this?" I laugh, cold. "Asking my boyfriend out to a movie. Alone. That's stuff like this?"

"Sending him photos of you trying on dresses. Stuff like this?"

"Forcing yourself onto our trip when no one wants you there. Stuff like this?"

"You're not clueless. You're just shameless. You know exactly where the line is, and you walk right over it every time."

"You want him so badly? Take him."

Lily's eyes fill up instantly. She drops her head and bites her lip.

"Aria, enough!"

Gavin pulls out a tissue and hands it to her.

"I get that you're upset. Take it out on me. Why are you yelling at her?"

Her tears roll right on cue.

"Gavin… don't fight. It's my fault. I shouldn't have come."

She turns and walks toward the exit.

Gavin sighs and goes after her.

The station is loud. Crowded. I can't breathe.

I watch his back disappear into the crowd.

Seven years.

And I might as well have been no one.