The Night He Forged My Signature, I Confirmed My Exchange Spot Chapter 07

The Night He Forged My Signature, I Confirmed My Exchange Spot Chapter 07

The director closed her folder. “Bethany, come to the office and complete your paperwork.”

I nodded and walked around Nathan toward the door.

He followed fast. “Bethany-am I still the most important person in your life?”

I stopped at the end of the hallway. The countdown billboard had been switched to graduation

congratulations.

I didn’t turn around. “Not anymore.”

His footsteps stopped behind me.

My phone buzzed with a new email from the exchange office: [Welcome to the Ashton City Winter

Exchange Program.]

I opened the attachment.

The first line read: [Confirmation Complete.]

Nathan waited outside the training room for three hours.

When I came out after submitting my passport copy, he was leaning against the wall, holding a large coffee cup.

He straightened as soon as he saw me. “You didn’t eat this morning. Here.”

I didn’t take it. “Thanks. I’m fine.”

His brow pulled tight. “Bethany. Don’t talk to me like that.”

“Like what?”

He gripped the cup harder. “Like I’m a stranger.”

I said, gently, “We are strangers now.”

Something dark flickered in his eyes, but he didn’t snap. He just pressed the coffee into my hands. “Take it. You’ll get a stomach ache if you don’t.”

That used to make me soft.

After late-night study sessions junior year, he’d always be outside the front entrance with a warm

drink.

The cup sleeves used to have countdowns on them-99 days, 70 days, 30 days.

Every number closer felt like one step nearer to our future.

Now the sleeve was blank.

I set the cup on the windowsill. “Nathan, doesn’t Megan need you with her anymore?”

He was quiet for a moment. “I already told her. I’m not going overseas with her.”

He watched me, waiting for a reaction.

I just nodded. “Okay.”

His face tightened. “That’s it?”

“What else should there be?”

He let out a bitter laugh. “Bethany, you used to ask why. You used to ask if I’d miss her.”

I tucked my documents into my bag. “I used to want answers. Not anymore.”

Megan’s voice cut in from the stairwell. “Nathan. I knew you’d be here.”

She was wearing that gray scarf, eyes swollen like she hadn’t slept.

Nathan turned, voice sharp. “I told you not to come after Bethany.”

Megan looked at me. “I gave up my slot for you. What more do you want?”

I glanced at my paperwork. “That slot was never yours to give.”

She bit her lip. “If you hadn’t made a scene, Nathan wouldn’t have abandoned me.”

Nathan cut in, “Megan. Enough.”

Tears spilled down her cheeks. “You used to say she reminded you of me. That being around her made you feel calm. Now that she’s not easy anymore, you’re choosing her again?”

A few students stopped in the hallway to watch.

Nathan’s expression went white. “Shut up.”

I held my folder close, finally understanding that the supplementary note wasn’t a mistake.

In Megan’s version of the story, I’d only ever been borrowing a seat that was hers.

Nathan stepped toward me, words rushing out. “Bethany. She’s not in a good place. Don’t take anything she says seriously.”

I asked, “Which part shouldn’t I take seriously?”

He couldn’t answer.

The training instructor poked her head out. “Bethany, your visa packet is missing an old

Submit itthis afternoon.”
Inodded “Will do.”

Nathan jumped in, “I’ll drive you home to get it.”

“No.”

He blocked my path. “I know where you keep your passport.’

I looked at him and felt a strange kind of pity.

He knew where my passport was.

He knew how I wrote.

He knew what I drank when my stomach hurt.

But he never knew where I wanted to go.

I stepped around him and headed downstairs.

passport

Nathan followed, voice softening finally. “Bethany. Give me one more chance. I’ll reapply with you,

I’ll go through all the prep again, and we can leave together.”

I stopped on the landing. “Nathan, companionship isn’t a reward for saying sorry.”

His face went pale.