Truth or Dare got out of hand.
And I got punished by having to send Jason a divorce text.
That touchy guy – we’d been in love for ten whole years.

The words "divorce" were like kryptonite to him.
Just as I was racking my brain trying to figure out how to fix things.
A message came back: he agreed.
…
I rushed home. The house was dark, just the faint outline of Jason slumped on the couch.
I flipped on the light—the fluorescent glare stung my eyes.

["What the hell is this?"]
I fought to keep my voice steady, but a shake slipped through.
["Exactly what it looks like. Can't you read?"]
He looked the same as always, that lazy smile grin on his lips, all easy and causal.

Just like always… except the warmth that used to light up his eyes was completely gone.
["Why?"]
I couldn't wrap my head around it. How could the man who held me close and whispering sweet nothings yesterday turn into this icy stranger today?
His thin lips parted, and he spat out just three words, ["I'm done..."]
Three careless words hit my like a ton of bricks.
How? How could he just stop loving me like flipping a switch?
["I'll never say it again, please don't be mad..."], I begged, clinging to his arm like I used to, still wanting to believe it was just anger.
But that closeness let me catch it – the unfamiliar scent of perfume clinging to him.
My arms slowly loosened their grip, the forced smile freezing on my face.
Jason hated other women getting close. Even during his busiest networking phases, I never smelled another woman’s scent on him.
["You... found someone else?"]
My throat felt stuffed with cotton. It took real effort to force the words out.
Jason looked down, just a low ["Yeah."]
So love can vanish in a flash…and so can not loving someone, huh?
I stood there numb, only able to ask the question burning inside, ["You... don't love me anymore?"]
I needed to hear him say it, just like he once told me he loved me.
Things should have a beginning and an end.
He stood up. My arm slipping from his loose hold, leaving nothing but a cold, ["No, I don't."]
["I'm sorry, Sophia."]
What was his expression when he said that?
Guilt? Regret? Or maybe he just didn't care at all? I couldn't see.
All he left me with was the sight of his back.
Tears slowly welled up in my eyes, blurring his retreating figure.
My heart felt like it was being ripped apart by invisible hands, the pain was so intense I could barely breathe.
Only when the living room clock chimed five times, and the first light of dawn broke through clouds and spilled onto the floor, did I finally snap out of it.
I'd been sitting in the living room all night, frozen in the same position.
Maybe Jason’s love had been too intense, too overwhelming—it made last night feel like a nightmare.
A terrible dream where lovers become strangers.
We first met at the freshman party—him on stage, me in the crowd.
Eighteen-year-old Jason Brooks was bold, unrestrained, handsome, and top of his class.
Lots of girls had a crush on him, and I was one of them.
But somehow, out of all those girls, he ended up liking me. I wasn't as confident and the vibrant as the sunny girls, nor as gentle as the quiet, introverted ones.
The only thing I had going for me was my face, which was kinda pretty, but honestly pretty ordinary compared to the others.
Yet it was ordinary me he pursued openly and determinedly for two whole years.
We didn't get together until junior year.
I’d asked him countless times why he liked me.
He’d always answer lazily, yet with a serious look in his eyes, ["Because it was you."]
Sometimes, if I asked too much, he’d get impatient, pull me into his arms, and frown, ["Your name alone is why I chose you."]
Because it was me, so he chose me out of a crowd of people, simply because I was me.
Countless times, I’ve marveled at how love is such a mysterious thing—it has this mysterious force to draw unrelated people together.
So what about now?
Has the love faded, so the two people should just go back to their own separate paths?
Just sleep. Maybe things will be better after I wake up.
I was dazed, my mind foggy and unclear.
I slept like a log, until the incessant phone ringing finally dragged me out of a bizarre, tangled dream.
I answered, and my friend’s voice came through like rapid gunfire, ["Sophia! can you believe it? Jason showed up at our hotel today with some woman. What's going on with you two?"]
Her words shot straight through my skull, bringing back all the memories from last night.
["We’re getting divorced,"] I mumbled.
I didn’t know if I was telling her or reminding myself.
I couldn’t focus on her furious ranting on my behalf, just mumbled a few responses and hung up.
So impatient? Bringing that woman out in public right after we broke up?
Maybe fate just loves to mess with people. I ran into them at the supermarket that afternoon.
["You’re Jason’s ex-wife, right?"]
The woman in front of me was cute and lively, arms crossed as she looked at me , her eyes full of superiority.
I put down the apple I’d been inspecting, my voice flat, ["Who I am has nothing to do with you."]
["I didn’t mean anything by it,"] she said, lightly touching her belly, ["Just reminding you not to get any ideas. After all, I’m carrying Jason’s baby."]
She looked down, gently stroking her stomach, her tone full of pride.
Baby…?
["You’re pregnant with his child? His? When?"]