I ended up sitting by myself near one of the quieter benches on campus.
The kind of place people only came to when they wanted silence.
Ironically, I didn’t even feel like I wanted silence anymore.
My mind was too loud for that.
I leaned back and stared at the trees ahead, trying to settle my thoughts into something logical.
It didn’t work.
Because no matter how many times I told myself Ethan didn’t matter in that way…
My brain kept replaying what I saw.
His hand on her waist.
Her standing close enough to laugh easily with him.
The kind of comfort that didn’t need explaining.
I exhaled slowly and pressed my fingers against my forehead.
Stop.
It wasn’t like that.
It couldn’t be like that.
We weren’t anything.
Not even friends anymore, really.
Just people who once shared a r
