Dean tried to contact me because he was just being Dean. But since I didn't respond to any of his calls and text messages, he eventually stopped. Sometimes I second-guessed my decision to ignore him, but I'd never been this mad at him. His words stung. Like a bitch.

Day 1 after the fight.

Dean: You turned off your phone :|

Dean: Okay, I was too far. I'm sorry. I might have been too harsh, but seriously, Jen, you gotta be careful with Eric. He is a guy who is always on top of his game.

Dean: About the cabin, I don't know what to say, but again. I'm sorry. I'm glad we stopped. You stopped it. I mean, I don't want to fuck up with our relationship. You're more important than that.

Day 5 after the fight.

Dean: Hey :) How do you feel? I realized now that I was being a total dick to you the other day. It wasn't my place to tell you about what those two fuckers did to you in the past. I shouldn't have brought them up just to get back to you. They didn't deserve you, Jen.

Dean: So does Eric.

Dean: Fuck, none of us do.

Day 8 after the fight.

Dean: Hey. Let me know if you're ready to talk again, yeah? I need to apologize to you in person. I fucking hate doing it through a text.

Day 13 after the fight.

Dean: Eric told me he left for uni. You're okay, right? Let me know if he did something stupid.

Dean: If I hear he messed up with you, I'll go and rearrange his face myself.

Day 14 after the fight, which was yesterday.

Dean: Okay, I guess you're not gonna talk. I'll stop bugging you now. Take care, Jen.

Dean's last text was painful to read. He'd been a part of me since before I could remember, but at some point, he needed to learn to let me live my life and make my mistakes, and he had to stop beating around people who hurt me. In his eyes, I was fragile and breakable like Chinese porcelain. I was going to show him how wrong he was.

And it was laughable that he expected Eric to hurt me, meaning I was always the receiving end when it came to dating life. Yes, Eric was a womanizer in the making, but no one came out as a victim in our exchange.

The sound of footsteps from behind me disrupted my train of thought. I turned my head sideways and smiled at my new roommate. Unlike Lea, Nadine's movement was delicate and tentative. Despite her random visits to fix her new room these past two weeks, she officially moved in yesterday.

My eyes followed her figure. "How was your first night?"

"Morning. Not that bad." Nadine went straight to the cupboard to grab her jumbo mug. She didn't drink coffee. Instead, she took chocolate milk from the fridge and heated it in the microwave.

"Are you done unpacking, by the way?"

"Almost. But I have no reason to rush." She shrugged.

"True. Let me know if you need a hand, yeah?"

She pulled her brown hair up into a messy bun. "I'll keep that in mind. Thanks. But I'm going to get stuck on campus for the next three days, though. The Welcome Week."

"Nice."

"Are you also participating?"

"No."

"Oh, okay." She took her mug from the microwave and brought it to our table.

"Which booth are you at? I might pop up there during my break."

"I will be at the dance program."

"Alright." I got up to wash my mug. "Going to hit the shower before doing some grocery shopping. Maybe I'll see you at your booth after work."

"Cool." Nadine nodded and smiled. "So, your boyfriend didn't spend the night. Is that some kind of house rules?"

"Boyf...oh. He's not my boyfriend. He was only around for summer break, and he left a few days ago." I bit my lower lip. "And no, we don't have a rule to prevent someone from spending the night, but I guess it's advisable to give each other a heads up beforehand?"

"I'm fine with it." She shook her mug gently to blend the remaining chocolate. "Cute hickey, by the way."

I would have been clueless about her last line hadn't she stared at my neck with a teasing smile. Out of reflex, my hand covered the skin under my earlobe. Eric did it again, despite my warning not to leave any marks on any visible spots. That devil.

***

My car didn't start.

It was already thirty past eleven, but I was still stuck in the supermarket parking lot with my groceries piled up in my car trunk. Since I called the roadside assistance thirty minutes earlier, no one had shown up. I also rang Betty to let her know that I was going to be late. I was just glad that I had prepared the materials for today's assessment before I left yesterday.

I sighed in relief when I saw a yellow truck finally come into view. After a quick investigation, the guy concluded that there was a problem with the car's dynamo, and he needed to tow it to the garage. At least he helped me move my groceries into the Uber car. Chivalry wasn't dead.

Once I arrived home and dumped all my groceries into the fridge and the cupboard, I grabbed my bag and ran to my flat driveway, where the Uber driver waited. I still could make it on time if the traffic had mercy on me. But my hope deflated again when the busy Welcome Week event came into view. I was just shit out of luck.

I reached Betty's desk a little before two, and she gave me an unsettling look.

"I'm so sorry for the trouble, Betty! The world is just conspiring against me," I said breathlessly.

"Jenny, there is a problem. I think you made a mistake with the schedule. Three different clients showed up this afternoon. You've scheduled them for the same slot."

"What?" I blinked. "No, that's not possible."

Betty flinched. "Blake and Mrs. Sue are helping out now, but I have to warn you that everyone isn't happy. You should–"

Without letting Betty finish her line, I ran to the Assessment Center office at the speed of light. "Shit, shit, shit!"