After her last midterm, Anna drove over to tell Alexander her decision. He took the news calmly and admitted he hadn’t been holding out much hope for a reconciliation. She told him she hoped one day he’d forgive her for her behavior, but she also wanted to thank him for pushing her to take the necessary time to really think about what she wanted for her life. “I’m going to see what it’s like to be Anna K. for a while with no added labels,” she said. “I don’t want my name to be associated with a boy. I’m going to spend some time alone.”

When she spoke these words, she meant them. But she also knew that she was ready to see Vronsky again. She had missed him terribly. If they decided to start dating, then that would be fine, too, but she wasn’t going to be “Vronsky’s girlfriend.” If she had learned anything from sitting in a closet listening to Kimmie go off on him for how he’d treated her, it was that Vronsky was not ready to be her or anyone else’s boyfriend yet.

The separation from Vronsky had been good for her. It cleared her mind and body from the overwhelming feelings she had been suffering during their secret affair. She had spent the time catching up on her studies, catching up on sleep, and hanging out with Dustin, who always made her feel like being the person she wanted to be. Of course, there were a million times she wanted to text Vronsky, or call him, or even drive to the city in the middle of the night to watch him sleep, but she didn’t do it. Each day that passed got a little easier, the physical withdrawal symptoms lessening, though it was impossible for her to stop thinking of him. Because her feelings for him stayed true, she felt certain she was truly in love for the first time in her life, and she wanted to see what happened once they were able to spend some unadulterated time together.