Of course I regretted it.
I regretted not coming here sooner.
All the exhaustion from senior year seemed to melt away under the Florida sun, healed by endless beaches, coconut water, and fresh seafood.
When Olivia heard about Tanner’s betrayal, she went full protective cousin mode–threatening to set me up with every hot guy in Miami while dragging me to every fun spot in the city.
“That asshole doesn’t deserve you,” she’d rage while planning our next adventure.
“We’re gonna make you so hot he’ll cry.”
Summer in Miami was surprisingly manageable–fewer tourists, decent weather.
We hit the beach at sunrise, went jet skiing, parasailing, deep–sea fishing, hit up water parks, tried cliff diving…
Every day was so packed I’d collapse into bed completely drained, with no mental energy left to think about toxic people back home.
Tanner’s group seemed to be having their own blast.
The girls‘ group chat kept sharing photos from their Alaska adventure–scenic shots that honestly looked incredible.
I’d been avoiding looking at any of it, but the girls kept gushing about how “aesthetic” everything looked.
But one afternoon when Olivia finally crashed from exhaustion and gave me some downtime, I mindlessly scrolled and clicked before I could stop myself.
Their group had hit all the major spots–group photos at every scenic overlook, everyone looking annoyingly photogenic.
But it was the couples shots that absolutely destroyed me.
Harper had posted a whole Instagram carousel, and dead center of every grid was her and Tanner.
Against endless mountain ranges, crystal–clear lakes, towering glaciers–all the places I’d dreamed of visiting for years.
Every single backdrop was somewhere Tanner and I had planned to see together.
The ache in my chest was immediate and brutal, like someone had ripped my heart out through my throat.
All those places we’d promised to explore–he was seeing them with someone else, making new memories that erased ours completely.
Turns out nobody’s actually irreplaceable. What a fucking joke.
Olivia caught me spiraling when she woke up and immediately started roasting me.
“It’s just some Instagram posts, babe. Who can’t take pretty pictures? I’ve never lost a photo battle in my life.”
“I’ve been telling you–you just never bothered with your glow–up. Clean yourself up for college and those MIT boys won’t know what hit them. You’ll forget all about your basic–ass childhood friend.”
From that day on, Olivia forced me into a complete makeover montage.
She had me try on every flowy beach dress in her massive closet, swapped my thick glasses for contacts, and taught me her entire beauty routine. Hair styling, nail art, spray tans–all the post–graduation transformation essentials she insisted were mandatory.
“We’re making you into the baddest bitch at MIT,” she declared while curling my hair.
Under her expert transformation, I barely recognized myself in the mirror.
Gone was the academic grind girl, replaced by someone who looked like those lifestyle influencers I used to secretly envy.
18.3%
Chapter 21
tly sering sys
My Integrain was sindetely expis
Classmates were being their minds over thirteentharing any in his goa Station
All the positive feedbark made me synoped into the hit to tataetong and stiring”
Mycommend appeared at the 1st Harper’s traid “Teller’s Vinophoryllis
The shade was so obvious it hurt.
The group Chat we dead
Joy couldn’t stand the passive aggression and immediately posted the original medized photos I’d sent her–low photos that conifart be altered
Everyone went even more insane, including our teachers
“Had no idea our class president was hiding model potential under thene baggy uniforms.”
“Drielle was already gorgeous without makeup, this just makes it Instagram–ready”
“Academic grind was seriously hiding natural beauty–we could’ve had two campus queens in our class
The girl who’d thrown shade earlier stayed quiet, but another one of Harper’s minions jumped in with “Live photos can be edited to just saying
The pettiness was unreal, but I didn’t need to defend myself–half the class did it for me.
Tanner and Harper never commented on anything, but I noticed Tanner stopped posting from their trip entirely after that day.
Radio silence. Interesting.
Soon after, Mom called with life changing news–my MIT acceptance letter had arrived.
Isobbed for hours, ugly crying tears of pure relief and joy.
All that work, all those sleepless nights, all the sacrifices–it had finally paid off.
But then Mom’s voice turned serious: “Honey, Grandma’s in the hospital. You need to come home right away.”
Chapter 22
