With only ten hours left before the deadline to finalize our college selections the class group chat went into meltdown .
[ No way Owen you switched your application to UT Austin? I thought you were locked in for Colombia Architecture?] Marcus webb fired off the first response .
[So what happens with Stella? Your permanent shadow? Haven't you two been planning on Colombia together since middle school?]
It seemed like Owen had only just remembered that detail. After a pause he sent back a voice message his laugh casual and unbothered Stella? She'll be fine she knows my login.
The minute she see i switched, she will change hers too. After all this time, when has she ever actually been able to walk away from me?
I was standing outside the locker room near the basketball court, the harsh glare of my phone screen making my eyes water.
Laughter flooded the group chat.
[ Damn, Owen. Ice cold. Respect. ]
[ For real thought. Stella's basically been your personal assistant for three years of high school, hauling your clothes around and bringing you water at every practice. No chance she'd let herself end up somewhere far from you.]
That was where I stopped reading. I turned around, stuffed the basketball shoes i had just grabbed for Owen back into his locker, and slipped out of the gym without a word.
For the rest of the day, I never once logged into the account whose password i could type from memory.
I did not follow him. I did not switch my choice Columbia to UT Austin.
He had no idea, probably.
One anxious sentence from Paige Sutton was enough to send him running south, but I had i needed to be too.
All those sleepless nights spent sketching and drafting had never been just about him. The dream that carried me through them had always been my own as well.
Columbia Architecture together was a promise from eight grade, make while we sat on the old field passing bags of hot cheetos back and forth.
Our parents had been huddled around brochures