A few hours later, I sat in front of the vanity in my room that I shared with Monica, the fourth and final member of our sorority, and listened to her babble on about the decision I just made.

“But you can’t just leave! What about your scholarship?”

I didn’t care about my scholarship. Or her. I had just found out that Matthew had been cheating on me. With Jessie. They had been “sneaking away” for the past semester, without me noticing. I felt so stupid. About everything. The “happily ever after” I had always dreamed about. My naivete. The whole damn relationship with Matthew had been a mistake. And I just knew that I had to get out of here. 

And so I left. Just packed my bags and left La Fiesta Tech in the middle of the night. I couldn’t stand living with Jessie any longer. And I didn’t want to see Matthew ever again. It had been my whole world, and now I would have to figure out how to exist outside of it.