Chapter 13: The Distance Between Us
361 Words
Stephanie thought breaking up with Sean would bring her peace.
Instead, it felt like cutting out a piece of her soul.
Days turned into weeks, and every moment on campus was torture.
She avoided the spots where they used to meet, refused to answer his calls, and buried herself in books. But even with all her efforts, she couldn’t escape him.
Sean was everywhere.
---
In the cafeteria, she caught glimpses of him sitting alone, staring at his untouched food.
In lectures, he didn’t bother to hide the way his eyes lingered on her from across the hall.
Even in the library, she felt his presence, heavy and unspoken, as if the silence between them screamed louder than any words could.
---
Vanessa, of course, seized the opportunity.
She paraded around with Sean’s name on her lips, acting as if the distance meant she had won.
One afternoon, Stephanie overheard Vanessa bragging to her friends:
“Sean is finally realizing where he belongs. A man like him shouldn’t waste time with a nobody.”
The words cut Stephanie like glass, but she clenched her jaw and walked away.
---
Meanwhile, Sean was unraveling.
Without Stephanie, he lost his fire. The late-night parties no longer excited him. The girls who once clung to him suddenly felt like strangers. His arrogance faded, replaced by something darker—an emptiness he couldn’t fill.
His friends noticed.
“Bro, what’s going on with you? You’re not yourself.”
Sean only shook his head. “I lost her. And I don’t know how to get her back.”
---
One night, unable to sleep, Sean wandered back to the rooftop where he had last held her. He stood there, staring at the city lights, his heart aching with regret.
For the first time in his life, Sean Adi—the boy who always got what he wanted—felt powerless.
And across town, Stephanie lay in bed, clutching her pillow, whispering to herself words she didn’t believe.
“This is for the best.”
But deep down, both of them knew the truth.
The distance wasn’t healing them.
It was destroying them.
End of Chapter 13.
- Writer
