ndan. Then she removed him from her "close friends" list.

rteen days to

t more like her own space now that he was gone. She made hers

with a message. I

mpagne glasses in a fancy restaurant. The capti

bled slightly as she

a notification from her old high school group c

was leaving the country soon, it felt like a good w

ario: I'll

mmediately explo

ayde! You're co

be there too? I remember he never let you

ndan, waiting outside parties to drive her home, scowling at any

eminder of what she had lost. Or

d become the ice of the p

He won't be co

them, Brendan was still the perfect, doting older broth

slept poorly, to

n for the first time. Her mother was smiling, but her eyes were anxious. In the dream, B

?" he asked

father replied. "She'll

d and walked away, not g

a start, her fac

e wouldn't have fallen so deeply. The cruelty wasn't the rejectio

black trash bag in the corner, fill

en day

ng to throw

hed the bottom step, the front door opened. Brend

he bag and his smile v

m throwing out," she s

d she struggled to li

hed the bag from her hands, his strength effortless, and

d came from inside th

it. He didn't care. He had just thrown away ten

ed for you to move into the dorms at NYU next semes

ment. He was planning her future, a future h

preservation screaming

longer. Soon y

d back up the stairs

he heard Chloie w

h," Brendan replied coldl

a second, then she conti

And I will. Without you. I will learn to