The Battery Rule That Only Applied To Me Chapter 01

My boyfriend had a rule: if my phone battery was below 50% when we left the house, he’d cancel all our plans for the day. No exceptions. He claimed it would cure my habit of taking forever to get out the door.

At my birthday party, my phone battery was at 49%.

All our friends had arrived, and the candles on my cake were already lit. Caleb Whitaker canceled our private room reservation right in front of everyone.

“Rules are rules. Maybe missing one birthday will finally teach you a lesson.”

Then came Thanksgiving, the day he was supposed to meet my parents properly for the first time.

We’d just pulled up outside my parents’ place when his phone buzzed.

My best friend had sent him a screenshot.

[My phone’s about to die. I’m all alone at the airport, and I’m scared.]

Caleb immediately turned the car around. I reminded him that my parents were upstairs waiting for us. He only drove faster.

“What if her phone dies and she can’t reach anyone?”

When we reached the airport, I watched Sophie Langford throw herself into his arms.

He pulled out a portable charger and patiently helped her charge her phone. That was when I saw her battery level.

98%.

Caleb saw it, too. But he only gave her an indulgent smile.

“Don’t scare me like that again.”

I looked down and canceled our Thanksgiving dinner plans with my parents. Then I turned off location sharing with him.

I stared at the battery icon on her screen.

Her phone was almost fully charged. My patience with him had finally run out.

…

By the time I got back to my parents’ house in a cab, the food on the table had already been reheated twice.

“Mom, stop waiting. He’s not coming.”

I’d barely sat down when the doorbell rang.

Caleb and Sophie were standing outside. Sophie was holding several boxes of pastries. She looked startled when she saw me, then quickly apologized.

“Winnie, I’m so sorry. I got really hungry on the way over.”

“I didn’t know your parents had prepared these as a welcome gift for Caleb. I opened them and ate a little.”I looked down. The boxes had been opened, and half the contents were gone. Caleb frowned, took the boxes from her, and set them aside.

“They’re just pastries. It’s not that big a deal.”

“What happened today was my fault. Don’t take it out on Sophie.”

I looked at him in disbelief.

“Today was supposed to be the first time I formally introduced you to my parents.”

“That’s different,” he replied.

He was already sounding impatient. “Your phone was fully charged. You could still contact your family. Sophie thought she was going to lose touch with everyone.”

He said it so casually. And suddenly, I understood.

There had never really been a rule about battery life. He was perfectly capable of making exceptions. He just didn’t care enough to make one for me.

Sophie’s eyes filled with tears.

“This is all my fault. How about I take everyone out to lunch tomorrow? I want to make it up to you, Winnie.”

She was being so apologetic that if I kept making an issue of it, I’d be the one who looked unreasonable.

At lunchtime the next day, she really did book a table at a seafood boil restaurant.

The moment the steaming seafood boil platter arrived, my fingers went cold. It was piled high with shrimp and crab. I set down my fork.

“I’m allergic to shellfish.”

Caleb was busy fixing some garlic butter sauce for Sophie. He barely looked up.

“Then just eat the corn and potatoes.”

“They were cooked in the same pot as the shrimp and crab.”

He frowned. “Then just eat a little. Stop making everything so difficult.” Halfway through the meal, Caleb took a piece of paper from his bag and laid it on the table.

One look, and my hands and feet went cold.

It was the battery log he’d been keeping on me. The time I’d left the house, my remaining battery percentage, whether I’d charged it beforehand—he’d recorded it all.

A few friends leaned over to look and burst out laughing.

“Caleb, man, you really keep track of everything.”

“Looks like Winnie’s getting punished today!”

Sophie smiled at me, too.

“Winnie, Caleb really is strict with you. But he’s only looking out for you.”

Someone else joined in. “Then make Winnie crack a plate of crab legs for Sophie!” I tightened my grip on my fork.

“I’m not doing that.”

Caleb looked up. His expression went cold.

“It’s one meal. Do you really have to make a scene?”

Everyone at the table turned toward me, waiting for me to give in. In the end, I pulled on a pair of gloves and dragged the plate of crab in front of me.

The shells were hard. One sharp edge sliced my finger, and I flinched as blood welled up. I pressed a napkin against the cut without saying a word.

Caleb didn’t notice. He was serving Sophie corn and potatoes, asking if she wanted more garlic butter.

A moment later, hot garlic butter sauce splashed onto Sophie’s hand.

Sophie let out a tiny yelp. Caleb was instantly on his feet. He grabbed her hand and hurried her toward the sink.

“Where did it burn you? Let me see.”

I looked down and grabbed a fresh napkin. Blood from my fingertip had already stained the crabmeat.

Only then did a friend beside me offer a Band-Aid. I thanked him and put it on myself.

After lunch, Sophie waved her phone at Caleb.

“Caleb, could you drive me home? My battery’s getting low, and I’m afraid I won’t be able to call a ride.”

He nodded, then looked at me.

“You can get yourself home. You live close.”

“My phone’s almost dead, too,” I said.

His only response was, “Aren’t you supposed to be so good at planning? Figure something out.” Then he opened the passenger door for Sophie.

The moment the car door closed, I finally understood.

The rules he’d made had only ever been a way to control me.

Halfway home, I turned off location sharing in the couples’ app on my phone. A moment later, the battery died and my screen went black.

I stopped a stranger on the sidewalk and borrowed their phone to call my mother. The instant she answered, I heard something wrong in her voice.

“Mom? What’s wrong?”

A few seconds passed before she answered.

“Your dad’s in the hospital.”