Chapter 1Griffin Ward just threw away Yale—for Sloane Park, the broke girl he'd been "helping out" since sophomore year.
Twenty minutes before the deadline, his Instagram updated.
There she was with birthday candles flickering in front of her. He was putting some cheap plastic crown on her head. She looked up at him like he'd just saved her life or something.
Caption: [Some things matter more than any degree.]
My phone blew up.
Juniper Voss—my only real friend left—finally got through.
"Cas. Tell me you're not still filing his stuff. You've got like two minutes."
I stared at the screen. Watched the timer tick down.
"Nah." My voice came out flat. "Not doing it. I'm choosing me this time."
Six o'clock. Portal locked.
Juniper let out this huge breath. "Oh thank God. Thought I'd have to fly out there and shake some sense into you."
She laughed. "So I'm crashing at your place in Cali next year, right?"
Before I could answer, I heard the door click open downstairs.
Griffin walked in with Sloane right behind him. Like he still lived here. Like nothing changed.
"Cas—you submitted your grad deferment forms, yeah?"
He didn't even look at me. "I already talked to Sloane about it. With her situation, staying local for grad school just makes way more sense."
He glanced at her. Then me. "She was freaking out, so I told her we'd stop by and make sure."
Then he reached over and messed up her hair. Super casual. Like he'd done it a thousand times.
Honestly? After I decided not to follow him anymore, I just… felt nothing.
Seeing her hanging on his arm didn't even hurt.
I nodded. "Yeah. It's done."
"You need something else?"
Griffin's eyes narrowed. "What's up with you lately?"
Sloane tugged his sleeve before I could say anything. Her voice came out all shaky.
"Cas… you know what my family's like."
"Even with full ride, Yale's crazy expensive. Flights, rent, food—I can't afford any of that."
She looked down. "And my grades aren't even that good. At least here I can work in labs and actually get paid."
Her voice cracked. "Griffin only turned down Yale because of me."
"Please don't be mad at him. He spent all afternoon emailing professors for me—that's why he couldn't come tell you in person…"
I waited till she finished. Then asked, "Didn't you already know all this when you applied?"
"Why bring it up now?"
She froze. Tears welled up instantly.
"I—I told Griffin weeks ago. Today it just… became official…"
Weeks ago?
I looked away.
So while I was staying up late with him—color-coding spreadsheets, running practice interviews, imagining what the West Coast would feel like—he'd already planned out a whole different future. With her.
When I didn't say anything, Sloane started crying harder.
Griffin put his hand on her shoulder. His voice went cold.
"That's enough, Cas."
"Don't grill her like this."
Felt like getting slapped.
I looked at him—this person I thought I knew—and realized I didn't recognize him anymore.
I turned away.
"I'm not mad," I said quietly. "Just wanted to know why."
Chapter 2
Finally made sense.
And just like that, I was done carrying his weight.
Griffin and I? We weren't just neighbors who grew up side by side—our lives were basically tangled together from day one. The kind of connection people write songs about.
When Dad's funeral ended, Mom started taking overseas contracts. Barely saw her twice a year after that.
It was mostly just Grandma and me in that too-quiet house.
Our relatives loved running their mouths. Stuff like, "What kind of mother chooses work over her kid?" or "No wonder that girl's a mess—no father figure."
I made sure Grandma never heard them say it.
So I'd disappear into the backyard when they visited, crying where no one could see.
Griffin caught me out there one day.
He dropped down next to me, absolutely furious, and went off on them before I could even process what was happening. Started bringing me candy bars and chips after that. Acted like he'd always done it.
I became his shadow after that.
Same route to school. Same study sessions. Same 4 a.m. panic spirals before every major exam.
We mapped out our futures together.
Top-tier schools on the West Coast. Cross-country road trip. Watching dawn break over some ridiculous canyon vista.
And somewhere in all that? We'd stop pretending we were just friends.
Then Sloane entered the picture last year.
Some charity case Griffin's mom picked up—kid from a town where the high school had like three AP classes total. They moved her to a decent school for senior year and she bunked at Griffin's place temporarily.
He avoided her at first.
Barely acknowledged her at home. Pretended she didn't exist at school.
Sloane though? She orbited him. Never pushy, never loud. Just... there. Filing his corrected homework. Holding spots for him in crowded study halls. Running his lab assignments back and forth.
That quiet, background-character energy? Hit way too close to home. Reminded me of younger me trying to be useful.
So I pushed him. "Come on, don't be a dick. She's trying."
He shrugged it off.
We all ended up at the same university eventually. Sloane deliberately chose the lowest-bar major available just to land on the same campus.
Everything cracked open one Tuesday.
We were submitting paperwork when I spotted her alone in an empty classroom, earbuds jammed in, tears streaking down her face while she replayed the same audio clip for the hundredth time.
Griffin went completely still.
His expression did this complicated thing—shock bleeding into guilt bleeding into something softer I'd never seen before.
After that day? Everything unraveled.
He stopped showing up to our standing weekend plans. Said Sloane needed tutoring.
Started walking her between classes when her roommates froze her out.
Then dropped the bomb via text: PhD program here. Sloane can't handle moving. Staying put.
I stared at those words until my vision blurred.
But the feeling wasn't devastation.
It was freedom. Like cutting loose an anchor I'd been dragging since childhood.
Griffin never questioned whether I'd stay.
Never asked my opinion. Just made the call and assumed I'd fall in line like always.
That evening the department hosted some mixer thing.
They were already there when I showed up.
I planted myself at the opposite end of the table. Griffin tracked me with his eyes anyway, brow furrowed like I was speaking a foreign language.
Someone shouted down the table, "Cas! What gives? Why're you sitting in exile over there?"
"Girl, you better stake your claim before someone else does!"
Everyone turned to look at Sloane.
She didn't bother denying anything. Just went pink and snuck a glance at Griffin.
Another voice tried smoothing it over. "Hold up—didn't you guys have some joint application thing planned?"
Before I could respond, Sloane's voice cut through. Quiet. Pointed.
"Griffin turned his offer down."
"He didn't think I could handle it out there... so he stayed."
Chapter 3
Sloane's voice had this tiny edge—like she'd just won something. You'd miss it if you weren't paying attention.
The table went dead silent.
Someone glanced between us. "Wait—Cas, seriously? You're cool with this?"
"Didn't you guys spend like... years planning this out?"
I caught the tiny smirk playing at Sloane's mouth. Kept my voice level. "Yeah. I'm good."
"Everyone makes their call."
Griffin made his. I made mine.
Midway through dinner, I ducked outside to grab a call.
Came back to find Griffin and Sloane had relocated to the chairs next to me.
Griffin's face was flushed. Drunk. He leaned in too close.
"Cas, look—I get that you're pissed about the whole West Coast thing."
"But you know Sloane's deal. Throwing her into a move like that? She'd crash and burn."
"If she stays local, she keeps her aid package—and she's close enough to check on her mom when things get bad."
"She's never left home before. You wouldn't be okay just abandoning her either, right?"
He dropped his voice, trying to sound reasonable. "Sloane already said we could save up after we graduate and do a trip out there together."
"So can you stop being difficult?"
I nudged his shoulder back. "I already told you. I'm not mad."
Then I added, casual, "But if Sloane's barely scraping by... how's she already budgeting for vacation plans?"
Glass hit the table hard.
Sloane knocked her drink over. Liquid everywhere.
Her lip trembled. Eyes went glossy instantly.
"You've always looked down on me." Her voice cracked. "I know you do."
"Just because your family has money doesn't mean you get to judge me like this."
"I'm not asking for handouts. I can tutor kids. Save up. Pay Griffin back for everything."
She swallowed. "Do you seriously think only people like you deserve to travel?"
"That people like me should just... what, stay in our lane?"
"I don't steal. I work for every cent. So stop acting like you're better than me."
Murmurs started spreading.
"Okay that was kinda harsh..."
"She's smart and all, but sometimes she comes off really cold."
"Honestly? I'd pick someone sweeter. Like Sloane."
Sloane's tears spilled over.
Griffin's face went stone cold. "Cas. Apologize to Sloane. Now."
Juniper jumped in before I could open my mouth. "Hold up—didn't she bring up being broke first?"
"Cas literally just responded to her logic. Why the hell should she apologize?"
"It's three months of summer. Sloane could've taken an internship. Gone home to help her mom."
"But she didn't. She's not working, not going back—just tagging along with you and making vacation wishlists."
"If anyone owes an explanation, it's not Cas."
Sloane completely broke down.
The table fell into that suffocating, nobody-knows-where-to-look silence.
I watched it all unfold and just felt... tired.
I reached for Juniper's hand. Ready to bail.
Griffin grabbed my wrist. Voice low. Tight with anger.
"Cas. Apologize."
"Or don't bother showing up on the graduation trip."
His grip was too tight.
I peeled his fingers off one by one. Met his eyes.
"Griffin. You and Sloane can go wherever the hell you want. Just leave me out of your decisions."
"And stop coming to me with this."
I turned and left.
That night, Sloane posted.
Photo of her and Griffin at some amusement park, pressed together like they were posing for an engagement shoot.
Caption: [Meeting you changed everything.]
I glanced at it once. Went back to packing for my summer in the city where Mom was stationed.
After my flight touched down, my phone blew up. All Griffin.
[Cas, Sloane and I are doing a graduation trip to California. If you apologize now we can still book together.]
[There's nothing between me and Sloane. That post was just her saying thanks.]
[I really don't get you sometimes.]
[Do you have any idea how rare a guaranteed grad slot is? What's your problem with staying?]
[You've already got everything lined up—why are you acting like this?]
