Page 48 of Nothing Like the Movies

“Don’t you know that you can’t use the expression ‘we need to talk’ in daily conversation?” I teased.

He sounded stressed, which wasn’t unusual since his dad died, but I was good at teasing him into relaxing. Lately he seemeddistant when I called, but I wasn’t taking it personally because life kind of sucked for his family at the moment. I joked, “Movies have made those words a no-no. Maybe say… ‘guess what’ instead, or perhaps ‘let’s have some wonderful discourse, Lizzie.’ Anything is better than ‘we need to talk.’?”

He sighed, and it hurt my heart that he was having a rough day.

But then he snapped, “But wedoneed to talk.”

I sat up, immediately knowing this was different. He sounded nothing like himself, not like the Wes he was with me. He sounded… detached.

Clinical.

Like a stranger.

Stop overthinking, I told myself, staring down at the flowers on my yellow sundress.Things are just tough for him right now.

But I knew in the back of my mind that he hadn’t even sounded like this on the day he’d gotten the call about his dad. He’d been devastated and sad, but he hadn’t soundedcold.

“Okay, so let’s talk,” I said calmly. There was no reason for me to feel the rising panic that had my heart racing. “What’s up?”

I heard him take a deep breath, and then he said, “This long-distance thing just isn’t working for me.”

“What?” I had no idea what he meant by that. “What do you mean?”

“I can’t do this anymore, with you on the other side of the country and me back here,” he said, blurting it out like he’d practiced it a thousand times. Like he’d been thinking about this a lot. “It just feels like we’re delaying the inevitable.”

“What are you saying? What’s inevitable? Do you want me to move back?” My hands were shaking as I tried keeping up with words that didn’t make sense. Last night, we’d fallen asleep together on the phone while watching aFriendsmarathon, and just the other day he’d randomly texted at three in the morning to tell me how much he loved me.

So he definitely wasn’t, like, breaking up with me.

So what was he doing?

“Or are you talking about returning to school?” I asked. “I don’t know if—”

“I think we should take a break,” he interrupted, sounding frustrated.

“You do?” I felt all the blood rush from my face, and I could hear my heart beating in my ears as his words kept echoing in my head.I think we should take a break.

“It just doesn’t work, living separate lives. I think it’s better if we both just do our own thing and move on.”

“Move on?” I felt like I couldn’t breathe. “Are you breaking up with me, Wes?”

Even though it was obvious, I was somehow still utterly shocked when he said, “Yes.”

I gasped.

“Oh,” I managed, incapable of anything more. My throat was tight as I blinked back tears, as I tried figuring out how this was happening.

Wes is breaking up with me.

“Please know that it isn’t you, Lib,” he said, his voice cracking.“You’re amazing and perfect, but it’s just not meant to be for us anymore.”

I wanted to say something, to screamYou’re wrong! What are you doing?!, but I couldn’t speak. There were a thousand sobs inside me, filling my throat and making it too tight for words. I couldn’t see the flowers on my dress anymore, the tears blurring out everything but the California sun that was shining through the window, garishly mocking the moment with its brightness.

“I’m sorry, Lib,” he said quietly. “I’m so sorry.”

Through the haze of my shock and heartbreak, I saw a reason that made sense.

A reason that didn’t make it hurt any less, but I loved him, so I’d have to accept it.

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