Chapter 5: Breaking the Chain

But I found out soon enough.

Because every so often, a different girl would come looking for him. Always crying, clutching his sleeve, begging him not to break up.

And Brandon would look down coldly, only smiling at the end: “Didn’t you know what kind of person I was before you started dating me?”

Later, I grabbed his sleeve, choking back tears. “Brandon, don’t ruin yourself. If Natalie saw this from heaven, she’d be sad.”

His eyes were cold, dead. That was the first time I saw him break. Eyes red, face pale, he said, “She wouldn’t. She was the one who abandoned us first.”

I hugged him, sobbing.

I told him he still had me. We’d rely on each other. Natalie was gone, but I’d always stay with him.

We clung to each other, trying to heal. Tried to fill the hole she left.

At first, I really did it. I was popular, named homecoming queen right after transferring. I excelled at music, dance, student council, grades—everything. I was gentle, always polite.

Trying to be her.

I was good at everything, except one thing. I couldn’t stop loving Brandon.

Wherever he was, I was there too. At first, people tried to talk me out of wasting my youth on him.

He wasn’t a jerk.

I always smiled, defended him, gentle but firm.

After a while, people stopped meddling. Sometimes, letting go and respecting someone’s choices is all you can do.

I just thought, They don’t know Brandon like I do. They never saw who he was before.

That boy under the moonlight, the one who said he’d always wait for a girl.

Even if that girl wasn’t me.