I stared at the ceiling for twenty minutes before I got out of bed. I knew I wasn’t going in to work today.

I was never going back there again.

I forced myself to call the service and let them know I wasn’t going back. I didn’t offer any explanation and they didn’t ask. At this point, I wasn’t asking for references anyway.

I’d be long gone, as soon as I could figure out where I was going.

Far, far away from here.

As far from Gabe Jackson as humanly possible. I thought if I ever saw him again, I’d shatter into a million pieces. And there would be no putting me back together again.

I’d been tempted, so pathetically tempted, to take him up on the scraps he was offering. That he’d ‘take me back’ if I behaved myself.

No mention of love. No talk of the future. All of that was gone- but why? Because something had finally convinced him that the rumors about me had been true all along.

A knock on the door had my heart pounding. I realized I was wearing one of Gabe’s shirts and yanked it off. I must have put it on in the middle of the night.

Yeah, I was that pitiful. But I still had my pride.

If he was back- if he saw me wearing his shirt- I couldn’t bear it.

I pulled on a dressing robe and opened the door. No one was there. But I’d gotten a delivery.

Boxes and boxes. And all of them said Bloomingdales.

I frowned, thinking there must be a mistake. I’d never ordered anything that fancy before in my life. I checked the name on the shipping label and sure enough, it was mine.

All eight of them.

I dragged the boxes inside and opened one. I knew I would have to send it back. Maybe it was a prank or- my breath caught in my throat when I saw the note attached to the receipt, with all the prices crossed out.

Only the best for my girl. Love, Gabe.

And that was it. The slim shred of control I had left just snapped. I slid to the floor, unable to stop the tears from falling.

I didn’t know what I had done to have lost his love, but I knew it was gone.

He had loved me. I knew it.

And now, he didn’t.

I wasn’t going to let it destroy me, dammit. I could feel the will to leave town slipping away. I could feel the urge to go to him, to beg his forgiveness for something I had never done.

To beg him to love me again. But that wasn’t how love worked.

To hell with that.

I loved Gabe. I didn’t know if I would ever stop loving him. But this was bullshit. He was being an ass, and for no good reason.

If being loved by him had taught me one thing, it was that I deserved better than this.

And I was going to get it. No matter how long it took, I would find a way to stand on my own two feet and know that I deserved to be loved again.

Even if I never got over him, I would not be second best, or something he ‘learned to live with.’

He could take his ‘forgiveness’ and shove it up his ass.

I pulled the envelope of tips out from under my mattress and started counting. I had a couple thousand bucks. Plus, a few more in the bank.

I spent the next few hours cleaning and boxing the last of Grandma's trinkets. Maybe I’d just take it all with me, deal with selling it wherever I landed.

I didn’t need to stay here after all.

I could work a few more shifts and-

No. I sat down hard again. Gabe could come in. He probably would. And he’d make me the same callous offer, and I’d find it hard to say no.

I didn’t think I could bear to face him. Not for a minute. Or any of his buddies.

Once his friends knew we weren’t together anymore, they’d be even worse than usual. I’d be fair game again.

Or worse, I’d have to see him with someone else. If I was fair game, so was he. Right? He could just move on and get a new girlfriend. Or two.

Even though I knew what a cruel bastard he could be, he was still a catch. Any girl would bend over backwards to be with him.

Just like I had.

No. I would just leave. I’d been planning to go in six weeks anyway. I’d just move up my exit date and put in my notice.

I called the U-Haul place and my friends. I didn’t go into details but I did tell Jacks that things had gone spectacularly wrong.

Dennis invited me down to Florida. Maryann invited me to Denver. Jackie invited me to Paris.

Well, I couldn’t take the damn cat to Paris with me.

I decided to get a truck and hit the road. I could check out a couple spots on the way to see my friends. And then maybe when I found a place, I could start saving up money for school again.

Maybe I could even begin to heal my heart.

But none of that was going to happen if I didn’t start prepping. I loaded Gabe’s car with stuff for the thrift store and got to work.