“I don’t think it would be fair to either of us to go to college with unrealistic expectations. You said it yourself, Idaho is a long way from Arizona. When we come back for holidays or summer vacations, we can pick up where we left off. You’ll always be my perfect girl, Ginny.” His gaze drops from my face to my cleavage and continues doing a long sweep of my naked body. The least a guy can do is avoid staring at your boobs while he breaks up with you. Or pull out. “But, I think we should give ourselves the freedom to explore and have fun while we’re apart.”

“Why would you break up with the perfect girl? That doesn’t make any sense,” I mutter quietly to the room, swiping a rogue tear. I didn’t give him the satisfaction of seeing me cry then and I’m not going to let him ruin my first day of college tomorrow.

I force a smile as I reimagine all the amazing things college will bring without Bryan. For starters, I don’t have to do anything I don’t want to. I can be absolutely selfish with my time. Truthfully, I have no idea what that looks like anymore, but I’m ready to find out.

I put in my earbuds, hit play, and fall asleep with Beyoncé on repeat.

The next morning, Ava and I get ready for classes. She’s got the TV hooked up and Vampire Diaries season one, episode one playing. Feels right somehow. The first season of everything starting today.

Our room finally looks like two excited freshmen live here. Ava’s side is a little more personalized, photos of her and Trent, her boyfriend, take up most of the wall above her bed.

My roommate is in a serious relationship with her high school boyfriend, who is going to college upstate. It was something else we’d shared when we first connected over the summer, being in serious relationships. They don’t seem concerned about the distance, although it’s not nearly as far as Idaho.

Ava’s been on the phone or texting him the better part of the last week since we moved in. She’s nice and I think we’ll be great roommates. I guess since she’s in a relationship, at least I won’t have to worry about her bringing random guys back to the dorm. Because I’ll be starting college single and not exactly thrilled about the opposite sex, it’ll be nice not to worry about that.

“Do you want to come to breakfast with us?” I ask as I’m preparing to leave.

“No thanks.” She shakes her head, making her short, black hair toss around her heart-shaped face. “I’m going to video chat with Trent on our way to our first classes.”