The Red String

Prologue

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I stared at the button on my phone, waiting for me to press it. My hands quivered as Honey put her hand on my shoulder, a pitied expression on her face as she softly spoke, "Divya, you don't have to do this if it's too hard. Take it easy on yourself. It's a lot to process and I'm proud of you for even ending things in the first place." I switched glances from up at her then back to my phone, my eyes full of tears as my shaky finger finally hit the button. I quickly put my phone faced down into the bed and broke down sobbing into her chest. "It's all over," I cried, my tears staining her black t-shirt. Two and a half years of a relationship down the drain. It's a good thing, though. It wouldn't have worked out anyway. That doesn't make it any less harder than it is, though. Time will heal, though, as Honey has been telling me for the past hour. I'm sure it does. Time either heals or gives you another heartbreak for you to dwell on for even longer wondering why the fuck you took the risk knowing how the first one ended up.

My sons turned into lighter sniffles and Honey loosened her embrace. "How are you feeling? Do you need me to get you some water? Extra ice cubes just the way you like it? Or maybe even just the ice? Whatever you want," she offered. I shook my head, leaning back against the bed frame. "I can't believe we start college in less than a month." I changed the topic, thinking it would give me some sort of peace. It really just set in a new type of worry, though. "Oh, that reminds me," she said, pausing to pull out her phone. "My friend sent me an invite to this group chat. A lot of people from ASU are in it. Wanna join?" The invite sounded like a good distraction. I thought about it for a minute and her face lit up as she tried an attempt to persuade me, "the guy I've been talking to is in here, you might get to cuss him out if you join." Tough offer to pass. I hated that guy. Well, hate is a strong word. It's more of a dislike. He's more of an ick than anything else and reminds me of Alfredo Linguini from the movie Ratatouille.

"Fine, I'll join," I accepted with a smile. "Send me the link." She grinned and notifications from a new group chat started flooding my phone. I muted it first thing. A lot of new names and faces that match. Around 500 people were in it. I took a deep breath and sent my first message.

"Heyy! My name is Divya. It's so nice to meet you guys :))"