When She Sabotaged Me, She Ruined Herself

On the day the recommendation letters were due, I was walking out of the library when it hit me that I'd left my computer on. I rushed back and found my girlfriend's neighbor boy sitting in my seat. He gave me this awkward little smile when he saw me. "Leo, looks like you're not going abroad after all. I deleted your recommendation letter." Grace Rowan stood up and blocked the screen, her face dead serious. "Hugo didn't mean it. He's never been abroad. Don't blame him. Can't you see how bad he's feeling already?" I glanced at the time on the bottom right of the monitor. Less than nine hours until the school's unified submission deadline. I turned to her. "You're seriously letting this slide?" Grace's expression went cold. "What else am I supposed to do? So you wait another year. You'll have an extra year to get ready. What exactly are you so upset about?" A few people studying nearby had already looked up. She noticed and dropped her voice. "Hugo's been in a really bad place emotionally. The doctor says he's showing signs of depression. He can't take any stress right now. Look, after you get your application sorted next year, we'll get married. Does that work for you?" Hugo Janning peeked out from behind her shoulder, the corner of his mouth twitching upward. At that moment, I really wanted to laugh. Grace had apparently forgotten. Two days earlier, she'd asked me to help her organize her recommendation letter. When I finished, I saved it right on the desktop. The file was named "Grace Rowan Recommendation Letter." And that little weasel deleted it without even glancing at the name. My own letter had already been submitted three days before. Suddenly, I wanted nothing more than to see the look on Grace's face when she realized it was her own letter that got trashed. A little past ten that night, Hugo started a video call in our group chat. He was curled up in the corner of the sofa, face ashen, eyelids red and swollen. The second he opened his mouth, his voice came out wrecked. "Leo... I'm so sorry... I swear I didn't do it on purpose... Leo..." The group call went absolutely nuts. Voices piled on top of each other, everyone asking what was going on. More than a few called me out by name, demanding to know if I'd been bullying him again. It took him a long moment to get the whole thing out. He said that afternoon he'd seen my computer was still on and wanted to help out, but he fumbled around and ended up deleting the recommendation letter. "It's all my fault. I never went to college. I don't understand any of this stuff, but I still had to act like I knew what I was doing. Leo must hate my guts. Someone like me, all I ever do is make trouble for people." He buried his face in his knees, shoulders trembling. The mood in the group flipped in a second. "Don't talk about yourself like that. Everyone knows you've been struggling. How can he blame you? You were just trying to help." "He can't even shut down his own computer, and now he's pointing fingers? The nerve." "Leo's in this call too. He's online. Why doesn't he say a damn word?" "Playing dead, that's why." That's when a figure drifted into the frame. Grace walked over with a plate of freshly cut oranges. She saw Hugo curled up like that, dumped the plate on the coffee table, and dropped down next to him, wrapping an arm around his shoulder. "What's he done to you now?" Hugo kept his mouth shut, tears sliding down his face. Grace turned to the camera, her brows pulled tight, her voice sharp like she was scolding someone. "Leo, are you not satisfied until you push him into a full breakdown? He apologized to you in front of everyone, and you can't even give him one decent word? It's a recommendation letter. Do you seriously have to keep dragging this out?" Hugo tugged at her sleeve. She pressed his hand down. Grace's eyes went red. Her voice softened. "Don't be scared. I'm right here. He wouldn't dare do anything to you." Then she faced the camera again, speaking slowly, each word measured. "Leo, I honestly don't get it. What's so terrible about waiting one more year? You really want to go after someone with depression over something this stupid? The way you're acting right now, it's just pathetic." I stared at the woman on my phone screen, someone I'd known for nearly four years. A chill spread from my head down to my feet.