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Eight Years in Love, and I Broke Up Over One Group Rule
NovelShort
new
Completed
My best friend Chloe has a so-called anxiety disorder, so the five of us have a rule in our group chat: only one topic at a time. Otherwise, she gets headaches. In the fifth year of my relationship, my family started pushing me to get married again. I posted a single message in the group chat. [What do I do? My mom's pushing me to get married again.] My boyfriend immediately DMed me: [Unsend it, now!] [We'll get to your thing after we finish planning Chloe's birthday.]
Chapters (4)
第1章
My best friend, Chloe Bennett, has a so-called anxiety disorder,
so the rule in our five-person group chat was that we could only talk about one thing at a time.
Otherwise, she'd get a headache.
In the fifth year of our relationship, my family was on me to get married again.
I'd only just posted one line in the group chat.
[What do I do? My mom's on me to get married again.]
My boyfriend messaged me privately right away.
[Unsend that, now!]
[We'll get to your thing after we're done talking about Chlo's birthday.]
[Your family nags you every year. What's the big deal?]
Our two childhood friends messaged me privately too.
[Sadie, mind the group chat rules.]
[Break them one more time and we're kicking you out.]
With no other choice, I unsent it and swallowed the rest of what I'd meant to say.
Chloe, meanwhile, was whining cutely in the group chat.
[This is all Sades's fault. Now I'm all mixed up.]
Ryan was quick to soothe her.
[I'll pick it back up for you. Tent camping tomorrow, and you get to choose the spot.]
The two guys crowded in too.
[And bring the salted caramel nut tarts.]
[Sadie, make extra. Chlo loves them.]
Reading it, I suddenly found the name "the Fab Five" ridiculous.
All these years, the group chat rules had only ever applied to me.
When my tooth hurt and I asked who'd recommend a good dentist, Chloe said, "Same question here, who's a good dermatologist for sunburn?"
Hundreds of messages about skincare followed.
When I asked for help because I couldn't handle a client, Chloe said, "Go read 100 Questions About the Workplace."
After that, it was nothing but book talk.
I muted the group chat, and I never got to say that if I didn't bring Ryan home tomorrow, I'd be set up on a blind date.
Instead, I replied to my mom.
"Go ahead and set up the blind date."
...
That evening, Ryan came to pick me up from work.
The moment he saw me, he shoved a list into my hands.
"Seven desserts total. Make a few extra salted caramel nut tarts. Four or five of each of the others is fine."
Every item on the list came with careful notes.
[Go light on the sugar in the mousse, Chlo doesn't like things too sweet. Don't grind the nuts for the tart too fine, Chlo likes the crunch.]
I read down the list line by line. The pecan pie bars I loved weren't on it.
He remembered every little detail of Chloe's taste, but not what I liked.
I casually sent Ryan a link to a bakery.
"Just order from here. They can deliver tonight."
Ryan stopped short, then gave a disbelieving laugh.
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"You were doing just fine with it before, weren't you?"
"Okay, get in the car. We still have to go buy ingredients."
I didn't move.
Every time we got together, they'd hang out chatting, singing, and watching movies, and leave me alone to make the desserts.
When the desserts hit the table, Chloe would take one bite and start her critique.
"It's overbaked. You can't set the oven that high."
"I've told you so many times, the cream has to be freshly whipped."
By the time I was done with everything, there'd be only a few cookies left on the table.
I tore the list into tiny pieces.
"It's not my job."
Ryan's hand froze on the car door.
"Can you not be such a buzzkill?"
"Chlo's twenty-nine. After this birthday, she'll be thirty. How many more times will we get to party carefree like this?"
But Ryan and I were already thirty.
When we first got together, we'd just graduated.
He swore he'd open an outdoor adventure club and take me to every place where you could see the stars.
He'd marry me by twenty-five and have a son and a daughter by thirty.
Eight years flew by. The club opened, but the wedding kept getting pushed back again and again.
I looked up at him and spoke seriously.
"Ryan, are you coming home with me tomorrow to talk about the wedding or not?"
His face darkened, and his voice rose sharply.
"Sadie, I'm talking to you about Chlo's birthday."
"Why are you dragging marriage into it again?"
A wind blew in from the street corner and stung my eyes dry.
I stood there frozen, hollow inside, unable to name what I felt.
Countless times, Chloe had cut me off in the group chat, and when I complained about how unfair it was, he always said,
"I'm a jock. I'm straightforward. I don't think about stuff like that."
Now that it was about Chloe, he suddenly seemed to understand everything.
The only thing that stayed the same was that I was always the one told to stop and be reasonable.
I couldn't help laughing at how absurd it was.
"In the group chat, I have no right to interrupt Chloe. And now, alone with my own boyfriend, I still have to follow the rules?"
"Ryan, who exactly is your girlfriend?"
The words had barely left my mouth when the car door opened. Chloe was sitting in the passenger seat.
Her lips curled in a smug smile.
"Sades, you're way too desperate to get married. You manage to drag marriage into everything."
Jake and Hayden sat in the back seat, laughing mockingly.
"If you're that desperate, just go home and have your mom set you up on a blind date."
"Meet tomorrow, wedding the day after. Only thing is, if you want it that fast, you'll have to marry some loser."
Their laughter jabbed at my ears like steel needles.
They'd grown up with me. They'd watched me get called the kid with no dad when I was little,
and they knew I wanted a whole family more than anyone.
Ryan was like me. He'd grown up without a father too.
Because we understood each other in a way others couldn't, we ended up together. That was why I'd backed his dream of opening the club without holding anything back, and introduced my two childhood friends to him as help.
Back then, we had nothing, but we shared the same goal: to settle down and build our lives as soon as we could.
Later, Chloe came to Denver to stay with me. The four of us became five, our old goal was tossed aside, and I became the one everyone made fun of.
I swept my gaze over all of them and said, word by word,
"You're right. I do want to get married."
Ryan's face stiffened slightly.
"Sades, everyone's just joking. Why are you taking it so seriously?"
"After Chlo's birthday, we'll go back home right away and have the wedding. Okay?"
Just as he finished, I got a message from my blind date.
[First blind date. You pick the place.]
I casually sent him a location pin.
It was the place where Ryan had promised we'd shoot our wedding video.
If he wouldn't go with me, someone else would.
I shook my head at Ryan.
"You all enjoy your birthday party. I've got a blind date to go to."
第2章
Ryan looked thoroughly fed up.
"This again? Even eight years together can't survive you throwing fits like this."
I didn't say anything. I turned and got into a rideshare.
What Ryan didn't know was that the blind date my mom had set up, Lucas Whitmore, was my first love.
Back then, his family had arranged for him to study abroad, and the two of us were forced apart.
Now he was the hottest rising star at Denver's orthopedic hospital. He was away on an international medical exchange program and would be back in the country the day after tomorrow.
The next day, I flew out to the San Juan Mountains ahead of time.
While I was wandering around on the mountain, I spotted Ryan and Chloe in the distance, holding each other in front of Twin Shadows Falls.
Jake was holding up a reflector, and Hayden was filming beside them.
It suddenly came back to me. Eight years ago, Ryan had shown me a photo of these falls that he'd saved:
"Sades, look. These two waterfalls, one in shadow and one in light, crash together in midair and end up as one river. They call it Eternal Lovers' Falls."
"Once the club's up and running, we're definitely coming here to shoot our video."
The video got shot, all right. Just with someone else.
When he saw it was me, Ryan gave a sarcastic smile.
"Sades, weren't you not coming?"
Jake covered his mouth.
"She must've seen the group chat and come out here on purpose to make up."
Hayden spread his hands.
"Even if you came, you'll have to entertain yourself. Ry's got to shoot a couple vlog with Chlo."
I listened quietly. It was almost funny.
I'd muted the five-person group chat a long time ago. Running into them here was pure coincidence.
When she saw I was about to leave, Chloe called after me.
"Sades, don't get the wrong idea. This is a brand sponsorship vlog."
"The client insisted Ry and I make the best match. There was nothing I could do."
I didn't stop walking. I just waved a hand.
"Go ahead, carry on."
Ryan stepped up and blocked my way.
"Chlo already explained it to you. What's with the attitude?"
"Fine. When we do the zipline over the river, we'll shoot another vlog for you to use as our wedding video. Happy now?"
I looked him straight in the face.
"Ryan, we've already broken up. I'm not marrying you."
"And even if I shoot a video, it won't be with you."
As I spoke, Jake and Hayden came over too.
"Sades, are you addicted to this or something? Every single time, you're the one who ruins everyone's mood."
"The four of us always have to bend over backward for you?"
"Is that right? Well, you won't have to anymore."
I held up my phone.
The last message in the group chat stood out painfully. Chloe had sent it.
"My luggage won't fit. The car only seats five, so it can only take four people. What do we do?"
Right after it, Ryan had tagged me: "You're the one who isn't coming, so don't give Chlo a hard time about it later."
It didn't hurt as much as I'd expected.
My eyes slid right past those two messages, and without a second thought I tapped Leave Group.
Ryan's face went dark. He grabbed my wrist and dragged me toward the zipline platform.
"Haven't you made enough of a scene?"
"I never agreed to break up, so nobody's breaking up. If I say we're shooting, we're shooting."
I fought him with everything I had.
"Ryan, let go of me!"
He acted like he hadn't heard a word. He clipped us into the couples' tandem lock, strapping us tightly together.
Chloe clipped on her own safety buckle and raised her eyebrows.
"Sades, what are you scared of? I'll show you how it's done."
She shot off with a whoosh. Halfway across the river, she suddenly swayed, and her body tipped toward the water.
"Ryan, help!"
Before I could even react, Ryan had already unhooked the clip connecting us and was sliding toward Chloe.
The weight balance gave out instantly. The steel cable shook violently, and I was flung off and slammed hard into the rock face on the far bank.
Bang!
My left leg hit the rock, and the pain spread out like a crack running through the bone.
It took me a long time to steady myself, and I couldn't stop shaking. In the distance, Chloe was leaning in Ryan's arms, her voice tearful.
"It's all my fault. I was only trying to show her how."
Jake and Hayden soon crowded around her too.
The three of them scrambled to carry Chloe down the mountain, and none of them looked at me again.
As I lay sprawled on the zipline platform, struggling to free myself, I heard Ryan comforting Chloe:
"It's not your fault. It's all because Sades is such a coward that you got hurt."
第3章
The pain in my left leg was bone-deep and spread through my whole body, but worse than the pain in my flesh was how cold people's hearts could be. That was what left me shaking and struggling to breathe.
Night fell fast. All that was left in the canyon was the sound of wind and water.
I held up my phone, trying to catch the signal that kept cutting in and out in the mountains.
After a long wait, one bar finally showed up in the top right corner of the screen. I was about to call for help when Ryan's call came through.
"Where are you?"
"We're almost to Glenwood Springs. We're planning to throw Chlo's birthday party here."
On his end, the speakers were blasting loud enough to hurt my ears, mixed with Chloe's carefree laughter.
"Ryan, my leg's broken. Come back and help me," I shouted, straining my voice.
But it was Chloe who answered:
"Sades, Ryan got me a limited-edition shell jacket. It's over eleven hundred dollars in the store, and the thing is, it's impossible to get."
"Jake and Hayden's gifts were so thoughtful too."
"You're the only one left. I want that luxury sunscreen set, the one that's six hundred fifty dollars at the counter. Buy it for me, and don't try to wiggle out of it."
Her voice was sweet and wheedling, like she hadn't heard me begging for help at all.
I didn't have time to argue with her, so I just hung up.
When I tried to dial again, the signal was gone.
My hope went dark along with the phone screen.
The wind drove the damp air straight into my bones. If I stayed here any longer, my leg would be ruined.
I tried to move my left leg a little. It felt like someone was scraping the bone back and forth with an ice blade, and the pain sent cold sweat pouring down my forehead.
Even so, all I could do was grip the railing as hard as I could and drag myself toward the parking lot, inch by inch.
I didn't know how long it had been when a couple walked by with flashlights.
They carried me on their backs to the parking lot.
Once I was back in the driver's seat, my phone got signal again, and a string of messages popped up.
Ryan had sent me a link to rejoin the group:
[Sades, what are you throwing a fit about now? Why'd you hang up on Chlo for no reason? Get back in the group and apologize properly.]
[Also, you've got two hours max to meet up with everyone. If you keep this up, the wedding's off.]
I let out a cold laugh.
Over the past five years, I couldn't count how many times this exact thing had happened.
No matter how careful and obedient I was, Chloe always found a way to stir up trouble, and whenever I didn't go along with it, Ryan used marriage to threaten me.
And every time, Jake and Hayden would hand me a "fine":
[Sades, you made everyone wait on you again. Your penalty is paying off Chloe's whole shopping cart.]
I used to not want to fall out with them, so I always gave in.
But after giving in again and again, all I got back was them pushing it further every time.
While I was close to dying and begging for help, they were laughing and partying. My life or death wasn't worth as much as someone else's birthday fun.
I didn't open any of their chats again.
I only sent one message, to my blind date, Lucas Whitmore:
[Made it to the San Juan Mountains. I've booked a B&B.]
His reply came quickly:
[At the airport now. See you tomorrow at noon.]
I closed my phone and stepped on the gas.
第4章
The mountain road was pitch-black at night. Even with the high beams on, I could barely see a few feet ahead.
On top of that, the road twisted back and forth in endless hairpin turns, forcing me down below twenty-five miles an hour.
I drove for two straight hours and still hadn't made it out of the cliffside stretch.
Ryan called:
"What's with the disappearing act this time?"
"Do you know how many times Chlo called you? Out of service, every single time."
"Are you only happy when everyone's out looking for you?"
I answered flatly:
"My leg is broken."
He let out a long sigh on the other end:
"Okay, enough. You already used that excuse."
"You got her so upset that Chlo's period came days early. Now she's got awful cramps, and her birthday is ruined because of you."
So he had heard me call for help earlier.
He just couldn't give me even the concern a stranger would.
I finally ran out of patience:
"Ryan, we broke up. You have no right to talk to me like this anymore."
The line went quiet for a second, and then he exploded.
"Eight years, and you just say it's over? Do you even have a heart?"
The other three joined in, shouting:
"Desperate to get married and still that bad-tempered. Who'd ever marry her?"
"Let her break up. Once nobody wants to marry her, she'll learn her lesson."
I couldn't stand to hear another word and tossed the phone onto the passenger seat.
When I looked back at the road, there was a sharp curve right ahead.
I turned the wheel too late. I stomped on the brake with everything I had, but the front of the car still crashed through the guardrail. The wheels hung over empty air, and only the chassis, caught on the guardrail, kept me from going over the cliff for the moment.
Through the window, I looked down into the bottomless drop, and my breath caught.
Once I'd calmed myself down, I carefully felt around for my phone and called for emergency rescue.
But the dispatcher said:
"Ma'am, please hold on a little longer. The rescue team will be there in an hour."
The car had already started to rock, and I didn't know how much longer the guardrail under the chassis would hold.
In my panic, I realized I was only a fifteen-minute drive from Glenwood Springs.
With no other choice, I tapped the group chat invite link Ryan had sent me.
The chat was lively.
Chloe had posted a sticker of someone writhing in pain:
[I'm dying here. Which pads actually help?? This is all Sadie's fault. Why does she have to throw a fit right now?]
Ryan posted a pair of heated overnight period underwear:
[I think Sades uses these every time she has cramps. The packaging looks about right.]
Jake replied within a second:
[I'll go get them. I'll beat any delivery, guaranteed.]
Hayden jumped in too:
[Get a few extra packs, and grab some heat packs while you're at it.]
With shaking hands, I sent my location.
Then I took a photo of where I was and sent that too.
The next second, a notification from the admin popped up:
[You have been muted by the group owner for 24 hours for violating the group chat rules.]
The group owner was Ryan.
I gripped the phone so hard that the screen cracked and the shards dug into my palm.
Crash.
The guardrail gave way. The car lurched sideways and finally went over.
Wind roared in my ears, and I closed my eyes.
By the time Ryan saw the news, it was already the next morning.
[A car has gone off a cliff on a road in the San Juan Mountains. Rescue efforts are underway.]
He stared at his phone screen for a long time. Suddenly he remembered that the moment he hung up on Sadie last night, he thought he'd heard her scream.
Could something have happened to her?
After that, Sadie seemed to have joined the group through the link he shared.
But everyone had been busy taking care of Chloe at the time, and he was afraid Sadie would butt in, so he'd muted her.
A sense of dread settled over Ryan.
He hurried to unmute Sadie.
In the message thread sat a location pin, a photo taken from where Sadie hung just barely over the edge of the cliff, and one message begging for help:
[Help!]
The time and the place matched the news exactly.
His phone slipped from his hand and hit the floor with a smack.
The color drained from Ryan's face, little by little.