Three Years of not Being Chosen, I Left Chapter 01

Three Years of not Being Chosen, I Left Chapter 01

I waited in line for forty minutes to buy those custard tarts. All I did was step away to wash my hands. When I came back, every single custard center was gone.

Nothing left but a box of crumbly flaky pastry shells.

My boyfriend, Ethan Caldwell, handed a napkin to my best friend Sophia Reed and explained it like it was nothing.

“Sophia ate the centers. I saved the shells for you.”

I stared at the ruins.

“Ethan, I stood in that line for forty minutes.”

He frowned at me.

“They’re just a few tarts. You’re really going to make a thing out of this?”

My throat closed up.

Three years, and it was always like this.

Whenever Sophia was around, the best of everything went to her first.

Breakfast sandwiches—he’d pull the meat filling out for Sophia and leave me the plain bread. Latte buy-one-get-one—the free one always went to her. If I wanted one, I paid.

Every time I got upset, Ethan would wrap his arms around me and soothe.

“Sophia’s your best friend. She’s practically family.”

“I’m only being nice so when we fight later she’ll take my side.”

Back then, I actually believed him.

Sophia set her spoon down when I stayed silent.

“Nora, don’t be mad. I can go buy you more right now.”

Ethan grabbed her arm immediately, voice dripping with irritation.

“Don’t bother. She’s always like this—everything has to be counted and divided.”

Watching them tag-team me like that, something inside me just… went quiet.

I pushed my chair back and walked out.

If I was never going to be the one who got chosen, then I didn’t want the leftovers of someone else’s affection either.

—–

Ethan caught up the second I stepped outside the restaurant.

“Nora, enough already.”

“Sophia just said the centers tasted good. I handed them over. That’s it.”

Sophia trailed behind with my jacket, looking awkward.

“I didn’t know you wanted them. If it really bothers you, I won’t eat any next time.”

When I kept walking, Ethan’s frown deepened.

“She already apologized. What more do you want?”

I stopped for half a second.

I was the one who bought the tarts.

Somehow it still ended up looking like I was the one bullying Sophia.

It wasn’t that I minded sharing with her.

We’d been friends for years. I’d never kept score.

I just couldn’t understand.

I was Ethan’s girlfriend.

So why, every single time there were two options, was I the one left with the scraps?

A little farther down the sidewalk, Ethan suddenly called out.

“Hold up.”

I stopped.

He stared at Sophia’s feet for two seconds and scowled.

“Your heel’s rubbed raw and you didn’t say anything?”

Sophia looked down and only then noticed the red patch on the back of her heel.

“It’s fine. It’ll stop in a minute.”

Ethan ducked into the convenience store next door and came back with a box of Band-Aids.

He dropped into a crouch right in front of her.

“I told you not to wear those new shoes this long. Now you’re going to be sore for days.”

Sophia rested a hand on his shoulder and lifted her foot obediently.

“Got it, Ethan the housekeeper.”

They were still talking when I walked away.

On the subway stairs my own heel suddenly burned. I looked down and realized it had blistered too at some point.

I dug through my bag for a Band-Aid and came up empty. All I could do was tear off a piece of tissue and stuff it against the back of my shoe.

Two steps later it slipped out again.

I bent down, shoved it back in place, and felt bone-deep tired.

The next morning Ethan had already sent several messages.

【Don’t work late tonight. I booked that restaurant you’ve been wanting to try.】

Right. Today was our three-year anniversary.

Another buzz.

【Yesterday was on me.】

【I’ll wait downstairs at your office. We need to talk.】

My finger hovered over the delete button for a second.

In the end I typed back: 【Okay.】

When I clocked out, Ethan was already waiting at the curb.

The second I got close, the passenger window rolled down.

Sophia waved, smiling.

“Nora.”

I stopped cold.

“She’s coming too?”

Ethan hummed like it was the most natural thing in the world.

“She’s having a rough day. I figured I’d bring her along.”

When I didn’t move, he frowned.

“What’s the problem? It’s just one extra person at dinner. You’re the one who always says three’s more fun.”

The rest of the meal, Ethan and Sophia talked nonstop—old college disasters, some movie they’d watched together a few days ago.

I sat across from them and couldn’t get a single word in.

My phone buzzed. A text from mother.

【Nora, about moving back home for work—have you decided?】

I glanced at the two of them across the table and typed:

【Mother, I’m coming home.】