Chapter 31: Through it All

I refused to wait for my coffee to cool down before I sipped on it. I let the sweet, sizzling liquid burn my tongue. I didn’t feel anything, though. Like the rest of my body, it was numb.

I looked out from my front porch swing and watched the birds that flew overhead. It was quiet out, the only noise being distant sounds of traffic and the rustling of the palm trees in the spring breeze.

I’d barely slept the night before. I knew that breaking up with Finn was what I’d needed to do, but when I thought about everything that he had said, it was almost surreal. None of what he said felt real, because the Finn I knew would never have acted like that. Still, that didn’t stop me from feeling like an awful person.

My phone dinged. When I looked at the notification, it was from Caleb: “Hey, just checking in. You okay?”

I sighed, stuffing my phone back into the pocket of my sweatpants. Caleb was being sweet, as always, but I needed a second.