I'd been in a secret relationship with my childhood best friend Ethan for six years when he dumped me without warning. A month later, my mom brought up gossip about him while taking jabs at me as usual. "Ethan's about to be a father, and you still haven't even held a guy's hand." "If I'd made you smarter or prettier, maybe he would've actually wanted you." I scrolled through my work messages, barely paying attention. "He's way out of my league anyway." I remembered that day. Lying in a hospital bed with my leg in a cast, angry enough to end things. He didn't try to stop me. Just let out a cold laugh. "Whatever. I've got plenty of girls throwing themselves at me who are better than you anyway." "Besides, who else are you gonna find without me?" ...... Hearing my self-deprecating comment, Ethan's mom Mrs. Harrison immediately brightened up. "Don't say that! If you two could make it work, I'd be thrilled!" "Ethan's always been so withdrawn. I've never heard him mention a girlfriend once." Mrs. Harrison sat down next to me, carefully fishing for information. "Maya, you two are close—has he ever talked to you about his girlfriend?" I shook my head. "We don't really keep in touch much." Which wasn't exactly a lie. After all, Ethan hadn't contacted me once in the month since we broke up. Mrs. Harrison turned to my mom with a sigh. "Daughters are so much easier. Sons are nothing but headaches." "If I hadn't been looking through his phone photos the other day and accidentally seen that ultrasound picture, I wouldn't even know I'm about to be a grandmother." My mom brought out a plate of strawberries and set them in front of Mrs. Harrison. "Ethan's always been smart and capable. He knows what he's doing. Don't worry." Mrs. Harrison's face lit up. "Just the other day someone tried to set him up—apparently the girl's father is a state senator. Thank god I turned it down, or this would be awkward as hell." I stared at my phone for a long moment, completely forgetting who I'd been about to message. My mom suddenly kicked my foot. "The doorbell's been ringing forever. Can't you get the door?" I shuffled over in a daze. Ethan stood outside, looking down at his phone, a slight smile on his lips. Right before his screen went dark, I caught a glimpse of the pinned chat at the top—a pink profile picture. "Here to pick up my mom." Not that he needed to explain. I already knew he wasn't here for me. I looked down, fumbling for slippers for him. "I'm not coming in. Leaving in a second." I looked up and met his cold stare. For a moment, I felt completely lost. The same person who'd whispered sweet things to me a month ago could barely look at me now without ice in his eyes. I turned to go back inside. He suddenly grabbed my hand. Shoved a paper bag at me. "These absorb better. Take them with vitamin D." Mrs. Harrison's voice drifted over. I yanked my hand back. "Don't you have a flight assignment today? How do you have time to pick me up?" He smoothly tucked the paper bag behind his back. "Got canceled. Had nothing else to do, so I came to get you." My mom came over too, chatting away as she walked Mrs. Harrison to the door. Ethan stood to the side, quietly waiting for them to put on their shoes. Mrs. Harrison suddenly noticed a pin on his bag. She asked casually, "That's a unique pin." "Old classmate gave it to me." "A girl?" "Yeah. She's a flight attendant for a private airline. Ran into her at the airport yesterday when we landed." It clicked. That pinned chat with the pink profile picture—Michelle Shaw, our high school's queen bee. Over the past six years, I'd given Ethan watches, wallets, ties. He never used any of them. Every time I asked, he'd say he couldn't bear to use them, wanted to save them. But I knew the truth. He just didn't want anyone knowing he had a girlfriend. Yet Michelle gave him a pin, and the very next day he'd clipped it to his bag. How desperate was he to show off his new relationship? Mrs. Harrison and my mom exchanged a meaningful look. "It's good to stay in touch with old classmates! Tell her to come over for tea sometime!" Ethan looked at me, something challenging in his eyes. "What do you think?" I crossed my arms, forcing my lips into something resembling a smile. "I think it's great. She's gorgeous. You two look perfect together." He froze. Something dark flickered across his face.
I started to head back to my room, but my mom called after me. "Maya, grab that bottle of wine for Mrs. Harrison. Take it down to the car so Mr. Harrison can try it too." By the time I found the wine gift box, my mom and Mrs. Harrison were already at the elevator. Ethan let out a sigh and walked over. He knelt down, gently taking my ankle in his hands. Rested my foot on his knee. His hands were warm. The touch sent an unwanted shiver up my leg. "When did you get the cast off?" "Is it healing okay?" He examined my ankle with this serious, concerned look. The wrong ankle. He was holding the foot that was never injured. I could tell he was trying to make things right between us, patch things up. But what was there left to patch up at this point? He was about to be a father. The front door was wide open. My mom and Mrs. Harrison were right outside chatting. One glance back and they'd see us. I jerked my foot away, panic rising as I turned to put on my shoes. "Don't worry about it." He gripped both my shoulders, forcing me to turn and face him. "I had back-to-back flights that week. The next day I flew to Brussels—" I shoved his hands off. "Don't. If someone saw us, they might get the wrong idea about our relationship." He lowered his voice. "Maya, what the hell is that supposed to mean?" I finished putting on my shoes quickly. "We already broke up. No point letting people get the wrong idea." "Especially now that you've got a new role to play." Irritation crept into his voice. "What role?" I watched him play dumb, the words on the tip of my tongue. I swallowed them back. The whole thing was pathetic, really. Ethan didn't have a single photo of us together on his phone. Not a trace of me anywhere on his social media. When we traveled together, he never let me post anything. Before, he always said our families were too close, that we'd go public when the timing was right. It wasn't until we broke up and I heard what he really thought that I understood—he'd always been too embarrassed to be seen with me. Ethan frowned, forcing patience into his voice. "Maya, I just got back from an international flight yesterday. First thing this morning I went to buy you calcium supplements." "You're at a stage where you're prone to calcium deficiency—" His phone cut him off mid-sentence. He pulled it out. Michelle's name flashed across the screen. My voice came out flat, emotionless. "Better answer that. Don't keep her waiting." He stared at me, then deliberately hit speaker phone. A woman's laugh came through first. "Ethan!" "Why'd you leave in such a rush yesterday?" "Your co-pilot got my number and texted me all night." "He asked me to go to this bar tonight. You should come with me!" Ethan didn't respond. Just watched me with an amused look, waiting. "Why are you looking at me? What does this have to do with me?" A soft laugh escaped his lips. "You're the one who said it had nothing to do with you. Don't regret it later."
After they left, I grabbed the watering can and started watering the plants on the balcony. My mom chopped vegetables in the kitchen, calling out to me. "That Michelle girl—she's a classmate of yours?" I answered without much interest. "Yeah." "How come you've never mentioned her? Is she pretty?" "Gorgeous. Drop-dead gorgeous." The chopping stopped abruptly. "Figures. Handsome pilots always end up with beautiful flight attendants." "If they have kids, can you imagine how good-looking they'd be?" I zoned out for a second. Ethan probably thought the same thing. Last month at the high school reunion. Ethan deliberately sat half the table away from me to avoid looking suspicious. The moment Michelle walked in, she swapped seats with whoever was next to him. "I heard you made captain?" "Let me get a good look at you. Eye candy for the day." "All the captains at my airline are ancient." They had so much in common. Air traffic control, hotels, restaurants—they could talk for hours. Someone at the table teased Ethan. "I heard pilots always marry flight attendants. Is that true?" He answered completely seriously. "Yeah, there's definitely some internal matchmaking that happens." I shot him a glare and texted him under the table. **[Matchmaking my ass.]** **[angry emoji]** When everyone started leaving, my best friend Sarah and I walked ahead. Ethan and Michelle followed behind. Michelle was laughing about something, nearly doubled over. I glanced back without thinking and missed a step. Went tumbling down the stairs. "Maya! Are you okay?!" Sarah rushed over. My ankle swelled up almost immediately. A sharp, drilling pain shot through my leg. "Ethan..." His name left my lips on instinct. He started toward me, then stopped several steps away. I looked at him, silently begging. Even then, he chose to keep his distance. Sarah was freaking out. She had her husband carry me to the car and rushed me to the hospital. I gripped Sarah's hand, my whole body shaking. "Sarah, I'm scared..." She held me tight, trying to soothe me. "Don't worry. I'm sure the bone's fine." I clutched my stomach, tears streaming down my face. "I'm... I'm pregnant." I'd just gotten the ultrasound confirmation a few days ago. Hadn't had the chance to tell Ethan yet. But now this. My leg in a cast, a cold probe moving across my stomach. I silently prayed nothing was wrong. Then I heard the doctor's verdict. "I'm sorry. There's no heartbeat." Lying in the hospital bed, I couldn't sleep. Just stared at the ceiling, tears running silently down my face. Late that night, I saw Michelle post on Instagram. **[It's been forever since a hot guy drove me home~ happy]** The next day, while Sarah was handling my discharge paperwork, Ethan finally showed up. I lay there numb, refusing to look at him. "Leave." He didn't say anything. Just moved to lift me into the wheelchair. I kicked him hard, voice rising. "Where were you when I actually needed you? What's the point of showing up now?" He frowned. "Everyone from school was there yesterday. I didn't want them to suspect anything if I acted too close to you." "Besides, Sarah was with you the whole time. I didn't think I should get in the way." I stared at him as tears slid down my cheeks. "Ethan, how worthless am I to you? You'd rather leave me there bleeding on the ground than let anyone know I existed." He took a deep breath. "It just happened so suddenly. I wasn't prepared." I let out a bitter laugh. "Don't worry about being prepared. We're done anyway." I shoved him aside and threw myself clumsily into the wheelchair. He stood there and let out a cold laugh. "Whatever. I've got plenty of girls throwing themselves at me who are better than you anyway." "Besides, who else are you gonna find without me?" Then he turned and walked out. Disappeared from my life completely.
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