My post-high school graduation trip with my childhood best friend, Ryan, was all planned out. Yellowstone. It was supposed to be epic. But as I was heading to the airport, I got a notification: my flight had been canceled. As I stood there, totally confused, words started scrolling across my vision, like comments on a livestream. 【Here we go! This is the part where the male lead, feeling sorry for the heroine who’s never been on a plane, cancels the side character’s ticket and gives it to her. The side character is about to totally lose it and have a huge fight with him.】 【Even when she buys a Greyhound ticket and finally gets there, the main couple will have already had a super romantic day together. They’ll be all over each other, and he won’t even have eyes for the side character anymore.】 【This is the fight that makes him realize how high-maintenance the side character is. Every time they argue, he discovers another amazing thing about the heroine. He pulls away from the side character, falls for the heroine, and boom, happily ever after. I ship it!】 【OMG, look! She’s about to text him! The drama is starting! Get your popcorn!】 I hesitated, my thumb hovering over Ryan’s contact. Should I text him? Before I could decide, my phone buzzed with a message from him. 【Hey Tatum. Winnie’s never been on a plane before, so I refunded your ticket and gave it to her.】 【Just buy a bus ticket and meet us there. We’ll wait for you in Wyoming!】 When I didn’t reply right away, another one came through. 【Are you mad? I know you’re not used to roughing it, you’re kind of a princess.】 【But Winnie can handle anything. Why is it always such a big deal with you?】 I stared at the screen, my blood running cold. The comments… they were all true. I bit my lip, opened the Greyhound app, and bought a ticket. Only, the destination wasn't Wyoming. It was Denver. * 1 “Change of plans,” I told the Uber driver. “The bus station, please.” 【Weird. Why isn’t she fighting with him? If she doesn’t throw a fit, how is he supposed to get annoyed and see how much better our girl Winnie is? Ugh, she’s not following the script!】 【Right? She didn’t even text him back. And she bought a ticket to Denver? She's just trying to make him feel guilty. What a classic mean girl move. No wonder he doesn’t like her. Growing up together means nothing!】 【Seriously, she's the worst. Not like our Winnie. Winnie might not have money, but she’s strong and independent. A total girlboss.】 【This stupid side character needs to get with the program! Doesn't she know she's just an NPC? Her only job is to move the plot forward! How is Winnie supposed to shine if she has no one to contrast with?】 【OMG, switch screens! The main couple is checking in at the airport! Their sweet romance is about to take off in a few hours! Squeee!】 My grip on my phone tightened. Ever since Winnie transferred to our school, I couldn’t count the number of times Ryan had put her first and made me feel small. He always said she was strong and independent, that she knew the value of hard work because her family struggled. Meanwhile, I was just a spoiled princess who didn’t appreciate anything. We’d make plans to see a movie, and he’d cancel last minute. “Winnie said a $15 ticket is what she makes in three hours at her part-time job. She thinks it’s a waste.” “You should just go by yourself, Tatum. My parents work hard for their money, you know?” This from the guy whose parents had just bought him a $1,500 gaming laptop. Lunch for two became lunch for three. The grilled salmon and steak I ordered would somehow end up on Winnie’s plate. “You should eat more veggies, Tatum. You need to watch your figure.” I weighed 110 pounds. It went on and on. It got to the point where he even blew off my eighteenth birthday. I’d waited, refusing to blow out the candles until he showed up. Ten o’clock, eleven, then midnight. Not a single text. I tried to tell myself something important must have come up. Then I saw the video on someone’s Instagram story: Ryan and Winnie on his motorcycle, her arms wrapped tightly around his waist as they tore down an empty street, laughing. The next day, all he said was, “Oh crap. I completely forgot it was your birthday.” The boy I grew up with was slowly being replaced, and there was always a Winnie-shaped shadow standing next to him. This trip was supposed to fix things. We’d planned it three years ago. Back then, his grades were terrible, and I was a shoo-in for the best magnet high school in the state. He begged me to go to the same public school as him, and like a fool, my heart melted and I agreed. He promised me then. After graduation, we’d go to Yellowstone. And there, under the big sky, he would officially ask me to be his girlfriend. We’d go to the same college, get married after we graduated. I actually believed him. For three years, I dragged his grades up from the gutter until he was getting the same scores I was. But ever since Winnie showed up, it was like I didn't exist. He was tutoring her, taking her to do all the things she’d “never done before.” 2 He did well on his SATs, but not quite well enough for the top-tier schools. He just assumed I’d do what I’d always done: stick to our plan and go to the state university with him. He didn’t know I’d already accepted an offer from Georgetown, a thousand miles away. Honestly, giving up that magnet school for him was one of the biggest regrets of my life. After being left behind so many times over the past two years, I wasn’t that same girl who put Ryan before everything else. I was originally going to use this trip to tell him. To tell him that I was going to DC for college. But he ditched me first. For Winnie. 3 It was Ryan who broke our promise first. 4 Getting a last-minute flight to Wyoming in the summer is nearly impossible. Once Ryan canceled my ticket, there was no way I was getting another one. Even the bus tickets were selling out. Luckily, I used an app and paid a little extra to snag a seat to Denver. A nice one, too. I’d just settled in when a text from him came through. 【Tatum, you’re taking the bus, right?】 【Winnie says even though it’s a long ride, like, two whole days, the scenery is amazing. You don’t get views like that from a plane. You totally lucked out!】 I scoffed and put my phone on silent. No reply. To be honest, after he canceled my ticket, I thought about just going home. But after thinking it over, I decided to see it through. The trip wasn't just about him. It was something *I* wanted to do, a step in my own life plan. I wasn’t going to let him ruin it. And stopping in Denver wasn’t a bad thing. I’d always wanted to see the city. This was the perfect chance. Still. He knew it was a grueling 40-hour ride. And he just went ahead and canceled my flight without even asking. He used my money, my time, my first-time-traveling-alone nerves, all to give Winnie her perfect first flight experience. Even though I knew I had to let him go, my chest still felt tight, a dull ache that wouldn't go away. The comments flickered back into view. 【LOL, you gotta admit, the side character is obsessed. Even after getting ditched, she’s still chasing after him. Doesn’t even care that she has to take a detour through Denver first. Pathetic!】 【This is perfect! I was worried the romance would stall without the annoying side character there to stir things up. But look, she’s following the plot anyway. A few bumps in the road, but she’s still on her way. Awesome!】 【Does she have any self-respect? He dumps her over and over, and she just sticks to him like glue. This girl is the definition of a doormat, lmao!】 I glanced at the words and then looked away, out the window. 5 The bus ride was actually peaceful. It cost more for the better seat, but watching the landscape change outside my window, my mood slowly started to lift. The next day, I arrived in Denver. I bought a map, circled a few spots I wanted to see, and looked up some guides online. It was getting late, so I booked a hotel near a cool neighborhood I wanted to explore. Just as I was about to fall asleep, I saw Winnie’s new Instagram post. 【They gave the last room to this cute couple, so I guess I have to share with a certain someone tonight! ?】 The picture was of a hotel room. She didn’t show the whole bed, but you could see Ryan sitting on it, playing on his phone, perfectly reflected in the glass of a framed picture on the wall. My hand froze. My phone vibrated again. A text from Ryan: 【Where are you? Winnie said the views on the way are incredible, send me some pics.】 When I didn't answer, a single【?】followed. I let out a bitter little laugh, set my alarm for the morning, and turned off my phone. Time to sleep. 【Ooh, look at her, playing hard to get. Does she really think ignoring him is going to make him miss her?】 【She’s looking up stuff to do in Denver, like she’s planning to stay for a few days. How selfish can you get? Doesn’t she know the main couple is waiting for her in Yellowstone?】 【Right? Didn’t you see how he was barely paying attention to Winnie until he saw the side character’s text? Can she just stop being a drama queen and let them have their moment? God, she's such a villain!】 【It’s fine, let her pout. By the time she gets to Yellowstone, our couple will have already had their big romantic moment. Let’s see how she feels then, hahaha!】 【Yeah, let her play her games. We’ll get to see her completely lose it soon enough. I can’t wait!】 I ignored the comments and closed my eyes. 6 After a fantastic day exploring Denver, I finally opened the bus app again. There were plenty of tickets from here to Wyoming. But I didn't buy one. Instead, I booked a ticket to Moab, Utah. Ryan, probably annoyed that I still hadn't replied, called me. I fumbled my phone and accidentally answered. “Tatum? Where are you?” Hearing his voice, I paused. “What’s up?” I said, my tone flat. There was a silence on his end. He could obviously tell I was cold. He tried to sound cheerful. “Hey, where are you? I’ll come pick you up from the station.” “Don’t bother,” I said. “You guys have fun.” Predictably, he blew up. “Tatum, what is that supposed to mean? ‘You guys have fun?’” “This whole trip to Yellowstone was your dream! I canceled a trip to Florida with my buddies to come to this godforsaken place with you, and now you’re going to act like this?” When I stayed silent, his anger seemed to cool a bit. “Tatum,” he asked, his voice uncertain. “You’re not actually mad, are you? Just because I gave Winnie your ticket?” Before I could answer, he scoffed. “Oh my god, Tatum, that’s enough! How long are you going to drag this out? I already told you, I was just trying to give Winnie the experience of flying for the first time! Is that so much to ask? You have to make everything about you!” “Just keep up this attitude! No one else would ever put up with you but me!” The line went dead. I stared at the phone, a heavy sigh escaping my lips. *I* have an attitude? He’s the one who ditched me. I hadn’t even said a single mean thing to him. How was I the one with the problem? 【Hahaha, she’s so clueless. With our sweet, understanding heroine as a comparison, did she really think he was still going to baby her?】 【Playing games, going to Denver, now she’s trying to go to Moab! She really overestimates her importance to him, lmao!】 【Seriously, doesn’t this girl know when to quit?】 I didn’t bother with the comments. I spent three amazing days in Moab, then took a little side trip to see the incredible rock formations in the national parks. The vast desert landscapes and stunning arches were like nothing I’d ever seen back home on the East Coast. It was breathtaking. I stayed for another three days before finally booking my bus ticket to Wyoming. The weird thing was, over those nine or ten days, I barely thought about Ryan. It was like the moment I decided to let him go, he just faded from my mind. I’d read somewhere that it only takes a week to break a habit. I guess that’s true. Even in the quiet of the night, my thoughts rarely drifted to him. After that angry phone call, he hadn’t tried to contact me again. But his Instagram was blowing up. He and Winnie were together constantly. Sharing a room. Making heart shapes with their hands in front of the mountains. Posing at Old Faithful. They even bought matching flannel shirts in one of the tourist shops. He posted eight times a day, and every single picture was of the two of them. When I saw it, I felt… surprisingly, nothing. In fact, I thought they looked pretty good together.
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