Chapter 1
Chapter 1
When I told Daxon Sterling I wanted to break up, he was still fiddling with his camera, taking photos of me.
“Just because I posted her on my Instagram?”
“Yeah.”
He squinted through the viewfinder, smiling as he asked:
“How long this time? A week or two? Don’t drag it out too long, or I might actually forget about you.”
Eleven years of knowing each other, and he didn’t believe for a second that I’d actually leave him.
But this time, I’d really made up my mind.
So, when he was assuming I’d go to NYU with him, I chose somewhere as far away as possible-Stanford University.
From here on out, we were to live completely separate lives, never crossing paths again.
In the coffee shop, the camera shutter clicked crisply. Daxon looked down at the screen, checking the shot he’d just taken of me, and chuckled softly.
“I’m gonna use these photos at our wedding someday. Already got the album title picked out: ‘My Hot-Tempered Wife Who Broke Up with Me a Hundred Times.”
I kept my face stone-cold, not in the mood for his jokes.
“Ugh, why can’t I ever capture that vibe when I shoot you? The other day I casually snapped a few pics of Aria and they looked like magazine covers.”
He clearly wasn’t taking my breakup seriously.
I’m being serious this time.”
He looked up at me, the smile fading from his face.
‘You’re really gonna break up with me just because I posted her on Instagram? Come on, Skylar, isn’t that a bit much?”
‘No, it’s not.”
Of course it wasn’t too much.
Jaxon had used the $3,000 Canon R6 I’d bought him to shoot graduation photos for our classmates, then posted them on Instagram-a whole carousel of 1othing but Aria’s close-ups.
Everyone was gushing about how he’d captured Aria looking so pure and ethereal, and he even hyped up her “unique aura” in the comments.
My photos? He didn’t save a single raw file.
All because he thought I didn’t have good camera presence, that I couldn’t produce any standout shots.
Okay, jealous much? How about I take a bunch more of you and post those on my Instagram too?”
His tone was like he was pacifying some unreasonable kid.
I took a deep breath.
“You don’t get it. I don’t want your Instagram posts.”
“Got it, got it. Look, I’ll delete the post, okay? Problem solved?”
I shook my head, done with his whole “playing dumb” act.
“You’re deleting the post? Could you maybe send me the raw files first?” Aria had appeared out of nowhere at our coffee shop table, sliding into the seat next to us without even asking.
She immediately picked up on the weird tension and asked. “What’s wrong? Daxon, did you piss off Skylar again?”
Daxon pursed his lips but didn’t say anything.
Aria jumped right into damage control mode.
“Skylar, don’t be mad at him. It’s totally my fault-I was the one who asked Daxon to take extra shots of me that day. I haven’t had a proper photo shoot in
forever.”
She tugged at Daxon’s sleeve.
“You know what? Keep the raw files. Delete the Instagram post too, dude. No point in upsetting your girlfriend over something this small.”
I let out a bitter laugh. “Something small? Having my boyfriend photograph you is small? Using matching phone cases with my boyfriend is small? Sneaking around and changing my boyfriend’s wallpaper to your photo is also small? Aria, I seriously don’t get it-how is it that every single ‘small thing that pisses me off has you right in the middle of it?”
“Since you’re so into my boyfriend, he’s all yours.”
Aria bit her lip, tears welling up in her eyes.
“I’m sorry,” she said, reluctantly taking off her phone case. “You’re misunderstanding Daxon. We’re really not what you think. I don’t have parents anymore, no family left. Daxon’s family is all I have.”
She set down the phone case as tears started streaming down her face.
Daxon shot me a reproachful look.
“If you’ve got beef with me, take it up with me. She didn’t do anything wrong. Why are you taking it out on her?”
Looking at him pick up the phone case and stuff it back into Aria’s hands, even reluctantly giving her hand a little squeeze-
I suddenly felt completely over it all.
