My boyfriend keeps choosing his bitch intern over me. So I cut his place in my future. I stand next to the self-check-in kiosk in Boston South Station and tell my boyfriend, Gavin, we’re done. “Because your seat isn’t next to mine?” He laughs. “Yes.” He’s still laughing. He pulls out his phone and taps record. “Fine. You said it. Don’t take it back.” We’ve known each other since we were seven. Together since eighteen. He thinks I can’t leave him. He doesn’t know this train ticket is just an excuse. I refunded the one he booked for me. I changed my destination. This time, I’m out. In a few hours, we’ll be in two different cities, living two completely different lives. … Gavin holds the phone in front of my face. The recording bar is still moving. I don’t change my expression. “May 23, 2026. Day 2,591. Aria Bennett and Gavin Hayes are broken up.” He freezes for a second. Then shakes his head, almost amused. “Okay. How long is it this time? Three days? Four?” He scrolls back through his phone and taps another recording. “Gavin… I miss you so much… I take it back, please don’t break up with me…” My own voice spills out — drunk, crying, loud enough that people nearby turn to look. “This one’s from three months ago,” he says, smiling. He keeps scrolling. I push the phone away from his face. “I mean it this time.” He looks up. The smile fades. “Just for a seat.” His voice drops. “Really, Aria?” Yes. Really. …… A group of us planned this Cape Cod trip for this weekend. Gavin’s intern, Lily Sutton, insists on tagging along. So he refunded everyone’s original tickets and rebooked the entire group on Amtrak Acela. He and the rest are all in Car 2. I’m in Car 10. Alone. The seat next to him? Saved for Lily. And just to make sure I saw it — he posted the screenshot on Instagram. Who’d drop everything to travel with you on a whim? Two seat numbers, side by side. Like two needles in my chest. …… “Aria, don’t be like this.” He sighs. “I missed you the first time I booked. By the time I noticed, Car 10 was all that was left.” “It’s four hours. You don’t need to be jealous.” He says it like I’m overreacting. Like I’m the unreasonable one. I take a breath. “You don’t get it. I’m not jealous about who sits next to you for four hours.” “Got it, got it.” He cuts in. “Then how about this — I book flights right now, just you and me. Done?” “Gavin! Are you switching to flights? Can I come? I’ve never flown before.” Lily slides up out of nowhere. She hands Gavin an Americano like it’s the most natural thing in the world. Then sips her own iced latte through the straw. She notices the tension and adds, sweetly: “Sorry, Aria — I didn’t know what you liked. I’m so used to grabbing his Americano and my latte, I forgot to ask you.” I turn to leave. She grabs my arm. “Aria, please don’t get the wrong idea.” “I’m just an intern. Gavin and I are just friends. My finals are coming up and I’m super stressed. He’s only inviting me out so I can decompress.” “Don’t let stuff like this come between you two.” “Stuff like this?” I laugh, cold. “Asking my boyfriend out to a movie. Alone. That’s stuff like this?” “Sending him photos of you trying on dresses. Stuff like this?” “Forcing yourself onto our trip when no one wants you there. Stuff like this?” “You’re not clueless. You’re just shameless. You know exactly where the line is, and you walk right over it every time.” “You want him so badly? Take him.” Lily’s eyes fill up instantly. She drops her head and bites her lip. “Aria, enough!” Gavin pulls out a tissue and hands it to her. “I get that you’re upset. Take it out on me. Why are you yelling at her?” Her tears roll right on cue. “Gavin… don’t fight. It’s my fault. I shouldn’t have come.” She turns and walks toward the exit. Gavin sighs and goes after her. The station is loud. Crowded. I can’t breathe. I watch his back disappear into the crowd. Seven years. And I might as well have been no one.
I packed until 5 a.m. last night. My head is splitting. I walk past the Starbucks to grab a coffee and I hear them before I see them — Gavin’s friends, all sitting together near the gate. “Where’s Aria? Why isn’t she with you guys?” “They’re fighting again. She’s threatening to walk out again.” A short laugh. “Before the trip even starts? What is it this time?” “He didn’t save her the seat next to him.” “That’s it?” Someone shrugs. “Honestly, dude. Only you could put up with her.” Gavin pushes his hair back from his forehead. “Yeah, I need a minute. I’ll deal with her once we hit Cape Cod.” Another guy chimes in. “Aria’s only like that because you let her be. You made your bed.” “Honestly? Lily’s a way easier kind of girl. Sweet. Chill. Hey Lily, what’s your type? Could you go for a guy like me?” Lily covers her mouth and laughs. Looks like Gavin already smoothed things over with her. Before she can answer, Gavin kicks the guy’s shin under the table. “Back off.” Then he turns to Lily, softer now. “Stay away from guys like him. He’s burned through more girlfriends than he can count. If he tries to add you on Instagram — don’t accept it.” The whole group erupts. “Damn, Gavin. A little protective?” “You bring her along but won’t let her near any of us? What’s your deal?” “Saving her for yourself?” Lily blushes hard. “Guys, stop. Even if I liked someone like Gavin — he wouldn’t go for me.” Every head turns toward Gavin. He just smiles. Says nothing. Lily laughs at herself. “See? He’s not denying it. So fine, guys — someone set me up, please.” Then Gavin says, slow and easy. “I never said that.” Someone whistles. The whole group cracks up. “Oh — wait. Oh no.” Lily suddenly counts heads on her fingers. Pulls out her phone. Her face changes. “God. I underbooked the rooms.” “I just looked at the headcount when I booked. Four guys, three girls. I only got three rooms…” She scrolls fast. “Everything’s sold out now. What are we gonna do?” She looks up, sees me, and walks straight toward me. “Aria, I swear I didn’t do it on purpose.” “The hotel next door still has one room. It’s like a thousand dollars more — but Aria, you’re richer than me, right? Could you grab it?” I look at her flatly. “You messed up. Why am I paying for it?” Her face crumples. “Aria… I’m just an intern. I’m not even out of school. I don’t make much…” I cut her off. “You’re the one who insisted on booking everyone’s rooms. Everyone paid you. If you can’t handle it, don’t volunteer for it.” She drops her head and starts crying. “Enough.” Gavin walks over, voice light. “It’s just a room. Just book another one. Aria, you’re not a kid. Relax.” I smile. “Relax while your intern walks all over me?” Lily looks up at Gavin through her tears. “I swear I didn’t mean it.” Gavin lowers his voice and turns to me. “Aria. Lily’s not playing games. You’re being unfair to her.” “I’ll book you a sea-view room. End of discussion. Drop it.” “I’m the one who needs to drop it?” I laugh again. Louder this time. My phone rings suddenly. I turn to walk away and answer it. Gavin grabs my wrist. Hard. “Aria.” His voice is low now. “We got through seven hard years together. And now you’re throwing a fit over a seat?” My skin goes pale where he’s holding me. I yank my arm free. A red mark blooms across my wrist. I stare down at it. I see it clearly. Seven years. I wasn’t his girlfriend. I was his charity case.
I step outside the station and pick up. “Aria, what time do you land at LaGuardia? I’ll come get you.” My best friend Naomi laughs on the other end. “Two in the afternoon.” “You’re actually moving to New York? Gavin’s letting you?” “I broke up with him.” She pauses. “Fine. But — are you really gonna be okay leaving him?” I think about it for two seconds. “Yeah. I am.” I’m serious. When I was seven, I was in a car accident. It wasn’t bad. But it scared me so much I stopped speaking. For three months, I didn’t say a single word. The boys at school made it a game. They tore up my notebooks. Hid my backpack. Pushed me around. Gavin dragged the worst one into the principal’s office himself. He came out with a bloody nose. Wiped it on his sleeve. Grinned at me. “It’s done. Anyone messes with you, they go through me.” I stared at him for a long time. And then I said my first word in three months. “Thank you.” He froze. Then he took off running down the hallway, yelling to everyone he passed. “She talked! She just talked!” After that, we were inseparable. Sixteen years. He was woven into every part of who I was. Until three months ago. Gavin’s firm hired a new intern — Lily Sutton. That’s when everything changed. He changed his lock screen. He swapped it for a landscape shot. From a team retreat at his company. It used to be us on Cape Cod — a wave crashing in, him hoisting me onto his back, me laughing so hard I’m crying. I didn’t ask why. He didn’t explain. Later, Lily kept causing fights, and they kept leading to breakups. Every time we split, I couldn’t sleep. I had to drink myself into bed. Until last month. I was leaving the office at eleven at night. Just as I was about to head home, I heard footsteps behind me. I walked faster. So did they. I called Gavin. Once. Twice. Thirteen times. He didn’t pick up. I panicked. I missed a step on the curb. My ankle rolled, and I hit the pavement hard. My finger must have hit something — because suddenly, the line was ringing. I just realized that my screen had cracked, but the call screen was still open. It connected in under two seconds. The background on his end was dead quiet. I could hear him stand up. “Aria. Don’t hang up. Keep talking to me. Tell me where you are.” I told him what happen to me. “Give me ten minutes.” He was in front of me in nine. His hair was damp at the temples from the run. He crouched down and lifted my ankle into his hands like it was glass. His thumb pressed lightly against the swelling. “Does this hurt?” I nodded. He didn’t say anything. Just stood up. Turned around. Crouched again with his back to me. “Get on.” Later, Gavin explained why he didn’t hear the call. He said Lily had bought an extra movie ticket. Said it would’ve been rude to waste it, so he went with her. He’d put his phone on silent. I looked at him. I could feel something just shift between us. The big screen in the station cycles to a new ad now. It’s the new Forbes cover. From across the waiting area, one of Gavin’s friends points. “Hey — isn’t that Sebastian Crowe?!” I look up. I look at his face. Then I look toward Gavin. He’s scrolling on his phone. Lily is leaning into his side. He doesn’t move away. My phone buzzes in my pocket. “I’ll be waiting in New York.” A second one comes right after. “Pick you up at LaGuardia.”
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