I Was the Fifth Friend, Until They Made Me Nothing Chapter 06

I Was the Fifth Friend, Until They Made Me Nothing Chapter 06

“Ethan asked me to tell you that your parents don’t want you staying overseas.”

Sabrina’s voice note arrived while I was revising the third draft of the storefront concept at work.

I ignored it.

Half an hour later, she sent another.

“Evie, I know you might still be mad, but everyone really misses you.”

They missed me.

How much did they miss me?

So much that they had renamed the group chat from “Five Points” to “Evie, Come Home.”

But changing the name had been Sabrina’s idea.

I opened the chat and skimmed the history.

Ethan had sent a long message saying Mom had called him in tears, asking why I wouldn’t come home.

Miles suggested flying to Zurich to check on me.

Ryan said nothing.

He had sent me seventeen private messages. I hadn’t answered one.

The seventeenth said, “So this is how you’re going to leave things?”

Yes.

This was exactly how I was going to leave them.

Kilian passed my desk carrying coffee and glanced at the design on my screen.

“The palette is too dark. The Old Town client prefers something brighter.”

“Like this?” I adjusted it to warmer tones.

“Much better. You learn fast.”

“Thanks.”

He leaned against the desk instead of walking away.

“Aren’t you going to check your phone? It hasn’t stopped buzzing.”

“It’s not important.”

“Boyfriend back in California?”

“Ex-boyfriend.”

He nodded, wearing the tactful expression of someone who knew not to ask more.

At three that afternoon, an unfamiliar number called.

I hesitated before answering.

“Evie.”

It was Miles.

He was calling from a different number.

“Why are you using someone else’s phone?”

“You blocked me.”

I hadn’t blocked him. I had only muted his notifications.

But explaining that felt pointless.

“What do you want?”

“Are you serious about this? You’re not coming back?”

“I’m serious.”

“Because of that puzzle?”

I laughed.

“Miles, do you honestly think this is about one puzzle?”

He fell silent.

“Think about the last four years. Out of everything the four of you did together, how many times did you invite me without being prompted? Not because I inserted myself. Not because I ran to catch up. How many times did one of you actually think to include me?”

He said nothing.

“Remember the escape room? All four of you got in the car and pulled away. You were in the passenger seat. You know I chased you for two blocks.”

“I thought… I didn’t realize you weren’t in the car.”

“How many times can you call it an accident? Once is an accident. What do you call four years of it?”

His breathing grew heavy.

“You call it not caring.”

“I do care about you.”

“You didn’t used to be like this. At the beginning of freshman year, you helped me move, brought me breakfast, and waited for me when it rained. Then Sabrina became part of the group, and you couldn’t even remember to buy a fifth coffee.”

Even as I said it, I felt petty.

But facts were facts.

Four iced coffees.

Four sparklers.

Four people in every photo.

Four people in the puzzle.

Every four added up to a world that had no place for me.

“Evie, Sabrina needs more help than you do. She wasn’t trying to replace you.”

“She didn’t have to replace me. None of you ever gave me a place to begin with.”

He was silent for a long time.

Then he said, “I’m sorry.”

“It doesn’t matter now. Take care of yourself.”

I ended the call.

That evening, Ryan sent me a long message.

I read every word.

“Evie, I know I haven’t paid enough attention to you lately. But you left without a word. You never gave me a chance to fix anything. What was I supposed to think? I was wrong, okay? Tell me what you want me to change, and I’ll change it. Just come home.”

He said he had been wrong.

He said he would change.

He had used the same words before.

The previous year, he had forgotten our anniversary because he was at an art exhibit with Sabrina.

When I confronted him, he said, “I was wrong. I’ll make it up to you.”

Later.

With him, everything could be fixed later.

But I had run out of laters.

I sent him one final message.

“Ryan, it’s over.”

He answered immediately.

“No, it isn’t.”

“You don’t get to decide that by yourself.”

“Evelyn Parker, calm down.”

“I had three months to calm down.”

“You hid this for three months. You never gave me a chance to respond.”

“I gave you three years. You never responded then either.”

He stopped typing.

After ten minutes, another message appeared.

“I’m coming to Zurich.”

“Don’t.”

“You can’t stop me.”

“Ryan, you don’t even know my address.”

“I’ll find it.”

“You won’t. I used the studio’s address on my paperwork, and I signed a confidentiality agreement.”

That was a lie.

But he didn’t know that.

He knew nothing about me.

He didn’t know I had spent three months applying for jobs. He didn’t know I had gone through four rounds of interviews. He didn’t know I had handled the visa, exchanged currency, and bought the plane ticket alone.

He didn’t know that while I was still there, I had spent night after night watching him answer Sabrina’s messages immediately, then staring at the offer on my laptop and asking myself whether leaving was the right choice.

He knew none of it.

Because he had never bothered to look.

The screen went dark.

Outside, the river flowed quietly past.

Zurich nights were cool, but my comforter was warm enough.

And it belonged entirely to me.