Chapter 17
The Goodbye I Didn't Say Out Loud.
PROM NIGHT (FLASHBACK)
I should've been happy.
Everyone was still dancing, laughing, yelling over the music.
Keifer had looked at me like I was the only girl in the room.
Fatima had forced me to pose in every corner of the hall, even one next to a potted plant.
But there was this… quiet ache.
A clock ticking in the back of my head.
Because I knew — any minute now — my dad would come.
And when he did, I'd have to leave.
No afterparty.
No last dance.
No hand to hold.
Just me, in the car, makeup wiped, heels off, heart full.
Fatima caught me checking the time again.
"Jay," she whispered, pulling me aside. "You okay?"
I nodded, not really convincing either of us.
She sighed, then looked across the room where Keifer and Yuri were goofing around.
"You know he's gonna be sad, right?"
I blinked.
"What?"
"When you leave early. He's gonna look for you. I swear, Jay, sometimes he watches you like he's afraid you'll disappear."
My throat tightened.
"I won't make a scene," I mumbled.
Fatima just whispered, "Text me when you get home," and hugged me tight.
When my dad messaged he was downstairs, I quietly slipped out.
No hugs.
No goodbye.
No Keifer.
I walked toward the gate, heels in hand, dress slightly wrinkled, the fairy lights fading behind me.
But then—
Something made me glance back.
And there he was.
Keifer.
Coming down the stairs with Yuri, laughing about something, eyes scanning the hall.
His smile faded the moment he saw me walking away.
He paused.
Then shouted, just loud enough for me to hear:
"This party's not even fun anymore!"
He winked.
I smiled.
Didn't trust myself to wave.
Just turned and kept walking.
That night, I lay in bed, staring at the ceiling.
Still wearing the bracelet.
Still wearing the scrunchie.
Trying not to cry.
Trying not to think about the thing I hadn't told him yet.
The thing that would change everything.
The school year was ending.
And next year?
I wouldn't be here.
Neither would Fatima.
Our parents had decided to transfer us to a school closer to home.
Five minutes away.
No long commutes.
No exhausting traffic.
And no more Keifer.
Our school now — it wasn't great.
Most people were leaving anyway.
It made sense.
It was logical.
But it felt like someone had quietly pulled the ground out from under me.
Keifer didn't know yet.
And I didn't know how to tell him.
I didn't have my own phone.
Neither did he.
Our parents didn't let us talk outside of school.
And I knew the truth — as much as it hurt — we wouldn't survive long-distance.
Not with no phones.
No school.
No "see you tomorrow."
How were we supposed to stay in love if we couldn't even see each other?
I cried quietly into my pillow.
Let the tears soak the edge of the bracelet.
Pressed my fingers against the scrunchie on my wrist like it might hold me together.
My chest ached in ways I couldn't describe.
Because I knew what this meant.
Even if I didn't say it out loud.
The last 2 months were a dream but now....
This is how it ends.
And he didn't even know.
End of Chapter 17.