1.
Josie
“Hey, did you hear me?” my boyfriend, Tate, asked. His chestnut hair didn’t even budge in the quick breeze sifting through the school’s outdoor cafeteria. It wasn’t his best feature. “I’m ready to move forward in our relationship, to take it to the next level, but…I don’t think you are.”
My gut knotted.
This ass with his action-figure hair was breaking up with me—on my birthday! I folded my clammy hands. I’d seen public breakups, but this was my first as an active participant. I side-eyed my two friends Charles and Lauren across the table. Lauren had stopped mid-chew of her hummus-dipped carrot. Charles paused with his sandwich halfway to his open mouth.
I felt like I was wearing Princess Leia’s buns at a Star Trek convention.
Tate shuffled his feet in front of our bench. Waiting.
Pulling in a long sigh, I took a moment to think about my response. I knew name-calling wouldn’t do much good, so I settled on calling him out. “You mean I won’t put out, so you’re moving on to the next girl who will?” Tate’s face flamed red. Did I have to say it that way? No. But come on. He was dumping me on my birthday. Total jerk move.
Tate stood, his thumbs tucked into his pockets, and his face returned to its normal tan hue. “It’s not just the physical stuff. You’re…different, Josie. Distant. It’s for the best, for both of us.”
Seriously? Wow.
“Um, friends?” he finally asked.
Friends? Um, no. His tongue had been down my throat a few nights ago, and I didn’t let just anyone do that.
“Whatever, Tate.”
He walked past me, and that was it. My first real relationship over. Surprisingly, I felt like I could breathe easier, because I wouldn’t have that pressure of being a girlfriend anymore. But I had managed to defy the high school social ladder. At least for a few months, I, Josie Harper, had succeeded at being a science-loving, Trekkie-dork-to-the-core girlfriend to a popular guy who literally didn’t know the difference between Lord of the Rings and Lord of the Flies. And they didn’t think it could be done.
Lauren and Charles leaned toward me, both of them waiting for details. Lauren still hadn’t resumed crunching. Well, I didn’t have the energy to dish, so I turned away from the table. The relationship was over and it was still exhausting. Leave it to Tate to make this as painful as possible. I watched him stroll off like he didn’t have a care in the world. No one spoke. But really, what was there to say?
“Happy birthday to you!” My best friend Hannah’s soprano voice and dark curls bounced on the balmy Florida air, cutting into the awkward silence. She skipped among the tables toward me, carrying a familiar teal box.
