- 7.
Ashton called as soon as I parked, telling me to check the group chat. It was blowing up with
red envelopes – virtual cash gifts. Ethan had added Summer to the group, and everyone was
sending her welcome gifts. I sent one too. The
next second, Ethan kicked me out of the chat.
A private message followed: “Sorry, Olivia, your
presence makes Summer uncomfortable. Let’s
not contact each other for a while.” My fingers
trembled as I typed back a simple “Okay.” The
message bounced back with a glaring red
10:07
<
44
exclamation point. He’d blocked me. Twelve
years of friendship, from childhood to
adulthood, lost to a two–month fling. I stared at
the exclamation point, eyes stinging but dry.
The old Ethan would pat my head and say,
“Olivia, nobody’s more important to me than my
parents… and you.”
