Chapter 21
We Never Even Fought. We Just... Let Go.
The day we got our results was warm.
Too warm.
The kind of heat that presses against your skin, makes you feel slower, heavier, like the world itself is warning you something's coming.
I hadn't seen Keifer in weeks.
The time passed like a blur.
No phones.
No secret meetups.
No letters.
Just absence — and the weight of everything not said.
And now, here we were again.
Back in the same school.
The same courtyard.
The same hallway where everything started.
Except we were already slipping away from each other.
Fatima squeezed my hand. "You sure?"
I nodded. "It's time."
And I meant it.
Even if I didn't want to.
Even if it felt like I was about to rip my own heart in half.
We met by the staircase.
The one where he gave me the rose.
Where he winked at me on prom night.
Where he kissed my hand on the mole he always teased.
He was already there.
Holding a water bottle.
Wearing the bracelet I gave him.
His eyes lit up when he saw me.
That was the worst part.
He still smiled like I was his favorite thing in the world.
"Hey," he said.
"Hey."
We stood in silence for a second too long.
Then he softly asked, "So… this is it?"
I looked down.
"Yeah."
He nodded.
Didn't argue.
Didn't beg.
Didn't make it harder.
Just said, "I knew it'd be today."
My voice cracked. "I didn't want it to be."
"I know."
"I just… I can't keep pretending we'll work. Not with everything. My parents. School. Everything changing."
"I know."
That was all he said.
He reached into his pocket.
Took out a folded paper.
I blinked. "What's that?"
"A letter," he said. "Wrote it last week. Thought maybe I'd give it to you… if you didn't come."
My fingers shook as I took it.
I didn't open it.
I couldn't.
We sat for a while.
Didn't talk.
Didn't touch.
Just… sat.
Let the silence fill the spaces our words couldn't.
And when it was time to leave, he stood.
"I'm really glad it was you," he whispered.
"I'm sorry I can't stay," I replied.
He looked at me.
Then pulled me into the softest hug.
Not tight.
Not desperate.
Just warm.
And when he pulled away—
He smiled.
But his eyes were red.
We didn't say goodbye.
Not really.
We just walked in opposite directions.
Like maybe if we didn't say it, we wouldn't have to mean it.
That night, I opened the letter.
It was short.
Just five words:
"Don't forget me, okay?"
I pressed it to my chest and whispered into the dark:
"Never."
End of Chapter 21.