Forward, Without Him Chapter 09

Forward, Without Him Chapter 09

He called a car straight to LaGuardia and bought the next flight to Boston.
He called Taylor the whole time he waited at the gate. Every single call went to voicemail.
The plane landed at Logan around ten at night.
He rented a car at the airport and drove hard to Cambridge with the GPS going.
By eleven, he was standing outside the MIT dorms.
No key card. No way in.
He circled the building over and over, wound up getting stopped by campus police and questioned for a while.
By the time they let him go, he was almost out of options.
Then, like some kind of miracle, he looked up and saw Taylor stepping out of an Uber with a group of friends, laughing.
Back in New York, Lexi’s phone buzzed with an email from the Bursar’s Office.
“Dear Lexi Brooks, the bank account linked to your tuition payments has had its authorization revoked. Your fall semester balance was not collected. Failure to pay promptly will result in a Registration Hold being placed on your account and your removal from fall semester courses.”

I stepped out of the Uber and spotted him immediately.
Ethan.
Standing in the early Boston autumn cold, hair a mess, looking like he’d had a rough day.
“Taylor!”
He practically ran toward me.
A couple of my new roommates gave each other a look.
“Ooh, and who is this…”
I answered before he could.
“Someone I knew in high school. Not really close.”
A flicker of something hurt moved across his face.
My roommates clearly read the room. They headed upstairs and left us to it.
Ethan started carefully.
“Why’d you tell them we’re not close? I’m your boyfriend.”
“And why MIT? You said Columbia. I waited for you in New York for a whole year–”
I tilted my head. Found the whole thing almost funny.
“You waited for me. That’s hilarious.”
“Ethan. I’ve known about you and Lexi for a while.”
“So what exactly are you doing here?”
His pupils went sharp. His mouth moved. It took a while for words to come out.
“…When did you find out?”
“The day the results came in.”
I kept my voice level, looking straight at him.
“I flew to New York to surprise you both. I was standing outside the apartment. I heard everything.”
“Ethan, you seemed like you were having a pretty good time this past year while I was gone.”
The color drained from his face.
He opened his mouth. His voice shook.
“Taylor, let me explain–“