I’m not trying to win you back because of Calvin, she said, her voice steadier now. I’m here because I miss you, Sadie. I miss my best friend.
And then, just like that, she turned and walked away-rushing out of the library before I could even respond.
She hadn’t waited for forgiveness.
Just like she hadn’t expected it.
I stared at the door long after Piper had left, my mind spinning, my chest tight with something I didn’t want to name.
She said she was sorry.
The words echoed in my head over and over, like they were trying to find a place to settle-but there was no space left inside me that didn’t already ache.
I wasn’t expecting that. Not today. Not like that. No defenses, no excuses, no clever manipulation. Just… guilt. Pain. Raw and real and pouring out of her like she’d been carrying it for as long as I’d carried my anger.
And that was what scared me most.
Because it wasn’t just that she apologized.
It was that I believed her.
That pang in my chest hadn’t been pity-it was recognition. A memory of who we used to be. Of sleepovers and secrets whispered in the dark. Of laughing until we cried and making stupid promises to never let anything come between us.
We were a team. The kind of bond that was supposed to last forever. But forever had shattered the moment she believed I could betray her.
And that betrayal-that abandonment-cut deeper than anything else that happened after.
She didn’t even try to fight for me.
That was the part I couldn’t let go of. Not the choice she made… but that she didn’t hesitate to make it. That she didn’t stand beside me when I needed her most.
And yet… today, she did.
Not with words trying to rewrite history, but with truth. A truth I wasn’t sure I was ready for.
She’d looked so broken.
She’d always been the strong one-the protector. Even though I used to be
fragile, she was the one who kept me steady. She was the one who made me feel safe. And seeing her like that? Fragile. Ashamed. Regretful.
It stirred something in me I didn’t want to feel.
Forgiveness.
Not full. Not yet. But the seed of it.
And it scared the hell out of me.
Because forgiving her meant loosening the armor I’d built around my heart. Forgiving her meant that I had missed her
And I did. Goddess, I did.
But I’d spent three years turning that love into rage. I’d poured gasoline on every good memory until all I had left was ash. I convinced myself it was safer that way. fo FindNovel
So, what the hell was I supposed to do now?
Because the moment she said she missed me… some part of me wanted to let go.
But I didn’t.
I just sat there, my hands clenched in my lap, shaking with the weight of
everything I hadn’t allowed myself to feel in those three years.
I sat there in silence, staring at nothing in particular and heard a voice inside me whisper, louder than before:
How long are you going to hold on to the pain, the anger, the bitterness?
I had no answer.
Is it worth it?
You’ve carried this for three years.
What has it given you, besides a version of yourself you barely recognize? Is this who you want to be? A woman defined by
resentment?
The questions echoed, each one cutting deeper.
Why can’t you let go?
Isn’t it time?
My chest tightened. Panic bubbled up. The idea of letting go was terrifying. These emotions had been my armor. My protection. Letting them go meant being vulnerable again-exposed.
I tried to reason with myself, tried to justify the anger… but the voice persisted.
Isn’t it time to let go?