The Night He Forged My Signature, I Confirmed My Exchange Spot Chapter 10

The Night He Forged My Signature, I Confirmed My Exchange Spot Chapter 10

On visa submission day, Nathan was waiting outside the U.S. passport acceptance facility.

He wore a white button-down, like the day of our senior portrait.

But dark circles carved hollows under his eyes, and he carried a clear plastic folder.

I had barely stepped out of the car when he approached. “Bethany. I found your old passport copy.”

I took the folder. “Thanks.”

His smile was bitter. “Now all I get from you is thanks?”

I didn’t answer.

Another exchange student called out, “Bethany, we’re up soon.

Nathan followed a few steps. “I won’t go in. I’ll wait right here.”

“Don’t wait.”

He said, “I want to.”

I looked at him and felt a strange distance.

I’d waited for him so many times before.

Waited for him to finish competition prep. Waited for him to text back. Waited for him to finally put

me in his plan.

Now he was the one waiting, and I didn’t need him to.

Coming out of the facility, I found Megan standing at the bottom of the steps.

She wore no makeup, clutching a disciplinary notice.

When she saw me, she smiled, sharp and cracked. “They canceled my eligibility. Happy now?”

Nathan stepped forward. “Megan. Don’t do this.”

She threw the notice at his chest. “Don’t do what? Pretend you care now, Nathan?”

Passing students slowed down.

Megan pointed at him. “You only got close to Bethany because she was quiet-because she

reminded you of me before I became too much. You told me she was easy. Easy to manage. Easy to

keep around.”

Nathan’s face was ashen. “Stop.”

Her eyes were wet but fierce. “And now that she doesn’t want you anymore, suddenly she’s special? You just can’t stand that the person who always waited finally walked away.”

Nathan pressed his palm to his forehead, voice wrecked. “I said stop.”

I stood on the steps, but the words didn’t cut as deep as I thought they would.

Maybe the deepest cut had already happened in that meeting room.

This was just the suture coming out.

Megan turned to me. “Bethany, you think you’re so clear-eyed? You loved him for three years, You changed your applications. You stayed up organizing his notes. You were just my replacement.”

I said, “So I stopped.”

She froze.

I repeated, “I stopped. You can stop too.”

Megan laughed like I’d said something absurd, but her tears fell harder.

Nathan climbed the steps slowly, stopping in front of me. “Bethany. I admit-at first, I didn’t know

the difference.”

His voice was trembling, barely holding.

“But it wasn’t replacement later. What I felt for you was real. I just didn’t know how to face Megan. I handled it badly.”

I asked, “So you made me carry the weight?”

His eyes were red. “I was wrong.”

I nodded. “Okay.”

He leaned forward, hope flickering, “Can we start over? I won’t go to Broadwin. I’ll apply to Ashton City. I’ll start from community college if I have to. I’ll live in the farthest dorm and wait for you after every class.”

Those words would have made me light up once.

But they came too late.

I handed the folder back. “Nathan, I’m not looking for a chaperone.”

His hand shook. “You’re not giving me even one chance?”