A Two-Seater Was Never Meant for Three Chapter 02

A Two-Seater Was Never Meant for Three Chapter 02

Fireworks exploded outside, drowning out my words.

There was silence on the other end for a long moment before I realized Julian had already hung up.

I tried sending a message. A red exclamation mark popped up.

I stumbled to my feet, heading toward the shuttle stop, and crashed to the ground.

The furious driver saw me—hair wild, knees bloody—and the cigarette dropped from his mouth.

He didn’t complain again. Just stepped on the gas, smooth and quick.

His eyes kept flicking to me in the rearview mirror.

“Guess I was a little hard on you back there. Kids these days…”

The warm glow of the town slowly came into view.

The light washed over my face, and I finally remembered how to breathe.

Turns out the mountain I’d climbed with everything I had was so easy to come down.

I’d spent my whole life chasing after their pace.

Chloe, bright and vivid. Julian, clean-cut and effortlessly outstanding.

Wherever they went, they were the center of attention, the teacher’s favorites.

Back in school, he and Chloe used to skip class to go have fun, laughing at me from the top of the wall for being too scared to climb over.

The assistant principal came running at the noise and made an example of me, dragging me up in front of the whole school at the next assembly.

Later, stubborn as ever, I’d applied to an obscure major at Ashworth University—just to chase the express train that would let me travel with Julian.

But he’d turned around and found new hobbies with Chloe at school instead—rock climbing, BMX, art-house films.

I stayed up all night under my covers watching every film they mentioned, just so I could join their conversations the next day.

But when I finally spoke up, Chloe just smiled and blinked.

“Wow, AI sure is useful. Wendy really got lucky with the timing.”

Julian had laughed too, a flicker of relief crossing his face like an awkward moment had passed.

The three of us, and it was my presence that made things awkward.

Back at my rented room, I couldn’t sleep, so I started tidying up.

Before I knew it, dawn had come.

I picked up my phone and saw Chloe had posted something new.

[Cold night. At least someone’s here to suffer through it with me.]

The sunrise at the summit, gold light wrapped around two blurred silhouettes.

And in the last photo, a selfie from the bus, a shoulder crept into the frame. Julian’s.

I liked the post. Then I picked up the framed photo by my bed.

Our high school graduation photo.

I’d been short, stuck in the front row, while the two of them got pushed forward by the crowd behind them.

When I tried to shrink back out of embarrassment, hands landed on my shoulders from both sides.

Chloe had thrown an arm around my neck, affectionate.

“Come on, stay—we’re friends, aren’t we?”

Julian had given a cold little “mm” in response.

That summer, right after graduation, Julian had kissed me.

I thought it was years of unrequited love finally paying off. Later I learned he’d just been in the middle of a fight with Chloe.

One moment of spite, and I got shoved into the middle of their two-person world.

Even this group chat, I’d even made it myself—grabbed Julian’s phone while I was drunk and created it.

But every time I shared something funny or brought up some topic, no one ever responded.

Chloe could post a photo of the weather and get all the emotional support I worked so hard to offer, plus a comment from Julian on top of it.

And he was supposed to be my boyfriend.

I wiped my dry, stinging eyes.

Threw the photo in the trash. Left the group chat.

Just as I was heading for the door, I heard two sets of footsteps in the hallway.

“Wendy can be stubborn, but she’s not a bad person. If you don’t apologize to her, I’m not talking to you.”

Julian sighed. “She used to hide it so well.”

“If I’d known her temper was this bad, I never would have gotten with her in the first place.”

The door opened. Our eyes met.