Chapter 13
Although even if I’d stayed in town, I wouldn’t have gone anyway.
The night of Tanner’s celebration party, he was clearly spiraling, borrowing other people’s phones to harass me
nonstop.
At first he was asking where I was, then after calling multiple times, he realized I wasn’t just running late–I wasn’t coming at all.
He absolutely lost his fucking mind.
Even his mom finally noticed something was wrong and called to fish for information.
“Drielle, sweetie, did you and Tanner have a fight?”
“How come you haven’t stopped by since you got back from your trip? Are you upset with me too?”
“When you get back, I’ll straighten that boy out myself. Don’t be mad, honey–you two still need to head to Atlanta together for school. I’ve already bought you a whole skincare routine and dorm essentials…”
The maternal concern in her voice made my chest tight. She had no idea her precious son was a lying piece of shit.
“I’m not angry, Mrs. Whitlock. You don’t need to worry about that–my mom already got everything ready.” “We really do have a family emergency. I’m not even in New York right now…”
was mid–explanation when I heard the phone being violently snatched away.
Drielle, you’re fucking ruthless.”
“One of the biggest nights of my life, and you ghost me with some pathetic excuse.”
“What’s your endgame here? We’ve known each other for eighteen years–not eighteen months, not eighteen days. Does that mean nothing to you?”
The entitlement in his voice made me want to scream.
I was just walking out of Grandma’s hospital room, heading back to the hotel completely drained.
I was running on fumes and had zero tolerance for his melodrama.
“Tanner, congratulations on getting everything you wanted. I have a family emergency, so I can’t make it…”
Before I could finish, he went nuclear.
“There’s a fucking limit to how long you can throw a tantrum, okay? How many days has this been? How many
16:14
Bye Bye Lovesick Puppy: No Longer Chasing Your Glow, I Became My Own Sun
12.19
Chapter 13
times have I bent over backwards trying to fix this?”
“Do you have any idea how much you’re messing with my head? You even ruined parts of my vacation with this
drama.”
“Are you planning to stay pissed until we move to campus? Because when it’s time to haul your ridiculous amount of luggage up to your dorm, I won’t be there to help. See how that works out for you.”
The threat was so pathetic I almost laughed.
“Whatever.”
I gave him the most dismissive response in my arsenal, my voice flat as concrete.
But internally, I was thinking about how the MIT freshman group chat was packed with helpful upperclassmen volunteering for move–in day.
The world wouldn’t crumble without Tanner Whitlock. What a revelation.
While he was still processing my complete indifference, I hung up on him.
My phone immediately buzzed with a text from an unknown number:
[Drielle, if you’re so tough, don’t come crawling back to me at college. When someone else snatches me up, you’ll be sobbing your heart out.]
The audacity nearly gave me whiplash. After everything he’d done, he still thought I’d chase him?
I blocked the number and turned off my phone.
really never learn.
16.14
