They Said She Was Strong So They Never Had To Choose Her novel · Chapter 3 of 24

Chapter 3: Two Months

Kenzie sprains her ankle in the Rockies, my mother gives her my room, the boys assign me a storage room, and I move my flight up and leave without a word, until I see Kenzie downloaded all four hundred twelve of my photos at five that morning.

I scrolled down Kenzie's page on the bench with the bus pulling in and out in front of me.

The lake at sunrise. Mine.

The Fourth of July on Tanner's roof. Mine.

Fog on the parkway, a shot I'd waited two hours in a pull-off to get. Mine.

Four years of my weekends, posted under her name, between pictures of lattes.

None of them had a credit.

Every one I'd ever shot of the five of us went into a shared folder I made sophomore year.

I'd called it Five of Us.

I'd thought that was sweet.

I took screenshots of every post and saved them to a folder of my own.

Then I stopped uploading to Five of Us.

That was all I could do from a bus bench, so I did it.

Three days into their trip, Kenzie posted a video.

The four of them in matching red ski jackets, running through June snow at the top of a pass.

Tanner carried her bag. Clay knelt to tie her boot. A gust knocked her sideways and Ford caught her.

At the end she smiled into the lens.

"High school to college. So lucky it's always been the four of us."

A commenter asked if the person filming was the fifth friend.

Kenzie answered under it.

No fifth person! It's always just been us four.

Ten minutes later the video was gone.

Ford called.

"Did you see Kenzie's post?"

"I saw it."

"She typed it wrong. She meant five, but you weren't there, so she thought it'd confuse people."

It came out smooth, like he'd practiced it in the car.

"Got it."

There was a scream on his end, and running feet.

"I have to go," he said, and hung up.

An hour later the group chat lit up.

Kenzie had slipped on a slope taking photos and sprained her ankle.

The trip was over.

Tanner: Greer why aren't you picking up

Clay: Find us the earliest flight home. Four seats, one aisle for Kenzie's foot.

I typed one line.

You're at the airport. There's a desk.

Tanner: You always do this stuff. Kenzie's crying. We can't deal with flights right now.

I'd booked every trip we ever took.

Flights, tickets, the first-aid kit, Kenzie's backup inhaler.

They'd gotten used to it.

I closed the chat and didn't look up a single flight.

Half an hour later my mother opened my door without knocking.

She held her phone in front of my face.

A swollen purple ankle.

"Kenzie's hurt and you're sitting in here?"

"I'm reading."

"They're flying home tonight. Get your room ready."

"Ready for what?"

"She can't do stairs. Your room's on the ground floor. Her father's in Denver until August. She'll stay here two months."

She said it.

"Where do I sleep?"

"The study has the pullout. You're leaving for school soon anyway, you'll be in a dorm. Don't make this hard, Greer."

I sat for a second.

Then I got up and opened my closet.

My mother nodded, pleased.

"That's my girl. Kenzie's been fragile her whole life. Give her some room."

I didn't answer.

I folded my clothes into a suitcase one shirt at a time.

When the third suitcase was full, half the room was bare.

My mother came back with clean sheets and stopped.

"Why are you packing everything?"

"School."

"The school's fifteen minutes away."

"I'd rather get it done."

She frowned at me for a second, then went back to talking about Kenzie's ankle.

The boys carried Kenzie in at ten that night.

Tanner had her bag, Clay had her pills, Ford had her foot in both hands.

They set her on my bed.

My mother put a plate of cut mango on the nightstand.

I've been allergic to mango since I was four.

For years she wouldn't let it in the house.

Then Kenzie said she loved it, and there were always two containers in the fridge.

"Make yourself at home, honey," my mother said. "Greer won't need this room much longer."

Nobody noticed the photos of me were off the walls.

Nobody noticed the three suitcases by the door.

The next morning Clay sent a floor plan to the group.

A four-bedroom apartment near the college in town.

Kenzie needs sun. She takes the master with the bay window.

Then a second text.

There's a storage room off the living room. We can fit a folding bed. Greer can sleep there weeknights and go home weekends.

The storage room had no window.

Tanner sent a voice note.

"Greer doesn't care where she sleeps. Lock in Kenzie's room."

Ford sent me a payment request for my share of the deposit.

Sorry to put you out. I'll buy you dinner once school starts.

I didn't pay it.

I called the airline instead and moved my flight from July fifth to July third.

Then I paid a shipping company to send three suitcases to a dorm in Flagstaff.

At dinner I told my mother I'd be away for the summer.

"A research program at an observatory. In Arizona."

"That's nice," she said, buttering a roll. "Before you go, can you pick up Kenzie's prescription? It's under her dad's insurance and the pharmacy's being weird."

She never asked which observatory.

She never asked what came after it.

On July third my mother left for an early shift and I walked out the door with one backpack.

I didn't leave a note.

At the gate my phone wouldn't stop buzzing.

Kenzie wanted her prescription. Tanner wanted paper towels for the apartment. Clay wanted me to organize everyone's housing forms.

I opened the Five of Us folder one last time to lock it.

At the top was a line I'd never seen there before.

Kenzie Dorsett downloaded 412 files. Today, 5:02 a.m.

← Chapter 2 · All chapters · Chapter 4 →

Want to keep talking to characters like these? Chat with AI romance characters: AI Boyfriend · AI Girlfriend · Dark Romance · Fantasy Romance · BL (Boys’ Love) · Billionaire Boyfriend · Mafia Boyfriend · Possessive Boyfriend · Hockey Boyfriend · Older Boyfriend · K-Drama Boyfriend · Anime Boyfriend · Vampire Boyfriend · Werewolf Boyfriend · Demon Boyfriend · Fae Romance · GL (Girls’ Love) · Anime Girlfriend · Goth & Alt Girlfriend · Gamer Girlfriend · Tsundere Girlfriend · Fantasy Girlfriend