I Gave Up on Us. Why Are You the One Regretting It?

The night before the study abroad application deadline, the class group chat blew up.

[Oh my God, Ryan, why did you switch your application to the UK? Weren’t you supposed to go to France with Emma Bennett?]

Ryan Hawthorne replied like it was nothing.

[Yeah, I changed it. She has my login anyway.]

[Once she sees it, she’ll switch too. She always follows me around. She can’t function without me.]

I stood there with my phone in my hand, my mind going completely blank.

Scattered across the floor, half tucked between my open suitcases, was the gift I had prepared especially for Ryan.

I left the group chat, threw the gift away, and never opened the application portal again.

What he did not know was this.

He could give up the future we were supposed to share for Sophie Quinn.

And I could give him up too.

I could choose my own future without ever looking back.

All those late nights, all those years of work, had never been only for him.

The night before the study abroad application deadline, the class group chat blew up.

[Oh my God, Ryan, why did you switch your application to the UK? Weren’t you supposed to go to France with Emma Bennett?]

Ryan Hawthorne replied like it was nothing.

[Yeah, I changed it. She has my login anyway.]

[Once she sees it, she’ll switch too. She always follows me around. She can’t function without me.]

I stood there with my phone in my hand, my mind going completely blank.

Scattered across the floor, half tucked between my open suitcases, was the gift I had prepared especially for Ryan.

I left the group chat, threw the gift away, and never opened the application portal again.

What he did not know was this.

He could give up the future we were supposed to share for Sophie Quinn.

And I could give him up too.

I could choose my own future without ever looking back.

All those late nights, all those years of work, had never been only for him.

Ryan’s words cut straight through me.

The school in France was one we had chosen together after twelve years of working toward it.

And now, just like that, he had changed his mind.

He had not even bothered to tell me himself.

Someone in the group chat asked him.

[What if Emma doesn’t see it? The deadline is midnight tomorrow.]

Ryan gave a short, mocking laugh.

[She’s been checking the portal every ten minutes since applications opened.]

[She’s more obsessed with it than my mom. There’s no way she won’t see it. Whatever. You guys wouldn’t understand.]

The others immediately started hyping him up, calling him bold and acting as if he had done something impressive.

Then someone else asked.

[But what if Emma doesn’t switch? Isn’t the school in France better for her?]

Ryan went quiet for a few seconds before answering, his voice suddenly colder.

[Bullshit.]

[Emma has separation anxiety. Last time we went