The campus was buzzing with the news. _Jax the Hero. Jax the Legend._

He had retrieved the bracelet. In the process, he had also dislocated his shoulder and required six stitches in his leg after colliding with a submerged rock.

I sat on the edge of my bed in the dorms, staring down into the open suitcase. My flight to New York was booked for tomorrow morning.

One way.

A knock sounded at the door.

I knew who it was before I even turned the handle. The heavy, uneven footsteps gave him away.

Jax stood there, his arm in a sling, a stark white bandage plastered across his forehead. He looked like a war hero. He looked exhausted.

"You're hard to find," he said, leaning heavily against the doorframe for effect. "You weren't at the hospital."

"I was busy," I said flatly.

He limped into the room, uninvited. He placed a small, sleek white box on my desk. It was the latest iPhone.

"I got you this," he said. "Mason said your battery was dying. I thought... you know, since I haven't been around much."

It was a bribe. A shiny, expensive bribe meant to mask the stench of blood and betrayal.

"I don't need a phone, Jax."

"Just take it, Eliana. Please." He sounded desperate. "I want you to have nice things."

I picked up the box. It felt heavy, like a brick.

"Thanks."

He sat on my bed, wincing theatrically as his leg shifted. "So, the doctor said I need to rest for a few weeks. No football. I was thinking we could finally watch that movie series you like. Just lay in bed, order pizza. Like old times."

He was trying to reset the game. He thought if he pressed the right combination of buttons, I would reboot to the previous version of Eliana—the one who fetched him ice packs and kissed his bruises.

"I can't," I said.

"Why? You have class?"

"I'm sick," I lied. The words came easily now, smooth and practiced. "It's a stomach bug. Contagious."

He frowned, looking at me with those dark, soulful eyes that used to make my knees weak. Now, they just looked empty.

"You're always sick lately," he muttered. "You need to take better vitamins."

"Yeah," I said. "I do."

He stood up, awkwardly maneuvering his injured body.

"Well, I better go. Cat is... she's freaking out about the stitches. She faints at the sight of blood, you know. I need to go calm her down."

"Of course," I said. "Go."

He paused at the door, hand on the frame.

"You're not mad about the jump, are you? I had to do it, El. It was her grandmother's bracelet."

It wasn't.

It was a Pandora charm she had bought at the mall last week. I knew because I had the receipt wadded up in my trash can from when I’d helped her clean out her bag.

"I'm not mad, Jax," I said. And I meant it. Anger requires investment. I was bankrupt.

"Good," he smiled, offering a relieved, boyish grin. "I'll call you tomorrow."

"Okay."

He left.

I waited until I heard his footsteps fade down the hall, swallowed by the distance. Then, I picked up the iPhone box and dropped it into the donation bin I had set aside for the dorm charity drive.

I pulled my suitcase zipper shut.

The sound was sharp. Final.

He thought he had won a victory. He didn't realize he was standing in a graveyard.

The text came at 8:00 PM.

*Come downstairs. Please. - Jax*

I shouldn't have gone. My flight was in twelve hours, and I should have been sleeping, or at least pretending to. But some part of me—the part that still remembered the ache of being sixteen and desperately in love—needed to see the end.

I pulled on a coat and walked down to the courtyard.

It was dark, but the pavement glowed, illuminated by hundreds of tea lights arranged in a massive heart shape. Soft music drifted from a Bluetooth speaker—our song. The one we danced to at prom.

Jax was standing in the center of the heart, holding a single red rose. I noticed immediately that he wasn't wearing his sling. He must have discarded it for the aesthetic, enduring the throb of his injury just to sell the scene.

"Eliana," he said, his voice thick with rehearsed emotion. "I know things have been rough. I know I messed up. But I want to remind you of how we started."

He took a step forward. "Do you remember? The park? The rain? You said you wanted a fairy tale."

I stood just outside the circle of candles. I felt like an audience member at a play I had seen too many times.

"Jax," I started.

*BOOM.*

A firework exploded overhead. Then another. Red and gold sparks showered the night sky, lighting up the dorm windows like strobe lights. Students were looking out, cheering.

It was grand. It was expensive. It was perfect.

And it felt completely wrong.

"Did you like it?"

The voice didn't come from Jax.

Catalina stepped out from behind a large oak tree. She was holding a tablet, her thumb hovering over the volume control. She walked right into the candlelight, standing next to Jax as if taking her curtain call.

"I picked the fireworks," she beamed, looking at me. "Gold is your favorite color, right? And I told Jax he had to ditch the sling. It ruins the aesthetic."

My stomach dropped through the floor.

Jax looked at her, then at me. "Cat helped me set it up. She wanted it to be perfect for you, El."

"I planned the whole thing," Catalina corrected him, linking her arm through his. "He was going to just buy chocolates. Boring. I told him, 'No, Eliana needs a show.'"

She looked at me with a predator's grin. "You're welcome."

I looked at Jax. He wasn't embarrassed. He was grateful. He looked at Catalina with awe, thankful that she had stage-managed his romance for him.

"See?" Jax said to me, his eyes wide and earnest. "We both care about you."

The realization hit me like a physical blow. There was no us. There was never an us. There was only Jax and Catalina, and I was the audience they performed for.

"It's beautiful," I said. My voice was hollow.

"I knew you'd love it!" Catalina clapped. "Now, give her the rose, Jax. Kiss her. The lighting is perfect right now."

She was directing him. *Action.*

Jax stepped forward, extending the rose. "I love you, Elie Bear."

I looked at the rose. Then I looked up, seeing the invisible puppet strings attached to his limbs, leading straight to Catalina’s hands.

"Thank you for the show," I said.

I turned around and walked back into the building.

"Eliana?" Jax called out. "Where are you going? We haven't cut the cake!"

I didn't stop. I walked up the stairs, the sound of their confusion fading behind me.

I didn't pack the rose. I didn't pack the memory. I left them both burning on the pavement.

The next morning, the campus was eerie and quiet.

Thick fog clung to the ground, swirling around my ankles as I dragged my two suitcases toward the main gate.

I was almost free.

"Leaving so soon?"

Catalina blocked the path. She was wearing a hoodie—Jax’s hoodie. The very one I had bought him for Christmas.

"Get out of my way, Catalina," I said, gripping the handle of my suitcase until my knuckles turned white.

"You're pathetic," she spat, stepping closer into my personal space. She held up her wrist. "Look familiar?"

It was a silver bracelet with a heart charm. The exact same one Jax had given me for our first anniversary. The one I thought was unique. Special.

"He bought them in bulk," she laughed, a cruel, sharp sound. "Buy one, get one free. I got mine first, by the way."

Something snapped inside me. A tether finally breaking.

"I don't care. You can have him. You can have the bracelet. You can have the lies. I'm done."

"You don't get to be done until I say so!"

She shoved me. Hard.

I wasn't expecting it. I stumbled backward, my heels catching on the slick, wet grass. I fell back, sliding down the muddy bank and plunging into the campus pond.

The water was paralyzing. It shocked the air out of my lungs instantly. I thrashed, my heavy coat acting like an anchor, pulling me down into the muck.

"Help!" I gasped, swallowing foul, algae-tasting water.

"Jax!" Catalina screamed, her voice shrill and perfectly terrified. "Help! She pushed me!"

I saw him running from the parking lot. He must have been waiting for her nearby.

I was struggling to keep my head above water. My legs were tangled in the dense reeds.

"Jax!" I choked out.

He reached the bank. He looked at me, struggling in the deep water. Then he looked at Catalina, who was standing perfectly dry on the grass, clutching her "injured" arm.

"Cat!" He rushed to her, ignoring my splashes. "Are you okay?"

"She tried to drown me!" Catalina sobbed, burying her face in his chest.

Jax turned to me, his face twisted in disgust. "Stay away from her!"

He wrapped his arm around Catalina and walked her away.

I stopped struggling. I treaded water in the stunned silence. He left me. He had actually left me in the pond.

I dragged myself out of the mud, clawing at the grassy bank. I was shivering, covered in slime, my clothes ruined. But I was alive.

I walked to the administration building, leaving a trail of muddy water on the pristine marble floor. I signed the withdrawal papers with a shaking hand.

"Are you okay, dear?" the registrar asked, eyes wide with concern.

"I have never been better," I said.

I changed into dry clothes in the sanctuary of the gym bathroom. I threw my muddy coat in the trash.

As I walked to the taxi stand, I saw Jax. He was coming out of the infirmary, looking frantic. He spotted me with my suitcases.

"Eliana!" He ran over. "Where are you going? Cat said you attacked her."

I looked at him. Really looked at him. He was a stranger. A ghost of someone I used to know.

"I'm going to visit my parents for the weekend," I lied. My voice was smooth, devoid of any tremor. "I need some space."

He looked relieved. "Oh. Okay. Good. Take a few days. Cool off. We can talk when you get back. I'll smooth things over with Cat."

"Sure," I said.

"I love you," he said. It was automatic. Rote. Meaningless.

"Goodbye, Jax."

I got into the taxi. I didn't look back as the car pulled away.

An hour later, as I sat at the airport gate, my phone buzzed. A notification from the campus radio station's Instagram popped up.

A photo of Catalina and Jax kissing.

Caption: *Finally official. Thank you to the people who stepped aside so true love could win.*

I blocked the account. I blocked his number. I blocked Mason. I blocked them all.

I boarded the plane. As the wheels lifted off the runway, I felt the heavy weight on my chest lift with them.

I wasn't Eliana the girlfriend anymore. I was just Eliana. And that was more than enough.