This isn’t going to end anytime soon, is it? I lean over, picking up a shirt off the floor and throwing it over my head. Yes, Josh has seen me 100% naked; I think he’s probably seen me any percentage naked. But that was before, and this is now.

“I don’t think there’s anything left to talk about.” I slip my arms through the sleeves. “That’s that.”

“Well, I didn’t know if maybe we could …” Josh clears his throat. “I just wanted to talk, about what went wrong.”

“Josh—”

“No, please. Just listen to me. I wish I could control my feelings, but I can’t. I know we agreed that we’d stop if there were any feelings. But I didn’t want to lose you.”

“Well, you’re not going to lose me. As far as I’m concerned, the two of us are still friends. So long as you want to be.”

“You’re so prepared to just move past us? What we had?”

“How many times do I have to tell you, there was nothing between us. No feelings, no romance. At least, not from my point of view.” I look away from him. “We had a good thing going, but like all good things, it had to end. So it’s over.”

“I wish you’d just have a conversation with me about this.”

“What would you say we’re doing right now?”

“You’re deflecting.”

“Please, you’re not my therapist, Josh.”

“No, but I’m your friend, apparently.”

I sigh. “Listen, Josh. It’s over. That’s it, and I, personally, am ready to move on past this whole situation.”

“So, there were no feelings? You felt absolutely nothing for me?”

“Why is that so hard to believe?”

He shrugs. “I don’t know. It seemed like things were … changing.”

There’s no going back.

I pause, clenching my teeth so hard my jaw starts to ache. I shouldn’t listen to him.

But Josh is my friend. After things started to get bad, Mom was looking for a place to send me, a place to “build character”—which turned out to be code for a place far enough away so that I don’t have to deal with you.

So she sent me as far as she could. She’s known Josh’s parents for years—they helped her build her empire of hotels and even managed a few of their own. It was an easy choice. A week later, I was enrolled in the same school as Josh, and a month after that, I was dropped off at the airport with three suitcases and a swift goodbye.