The Space Between

Chapter 40: An explanation

I woke up feeling the weight of a million unanswered questions pressing down on me. My phone was in my hand before I even sat up, fingers scrolling frantically through my messages. Nothing. Not a single response from Sophia. Not a missed call. Not even a read receipt. My heart sank. I had called her so many times, sent so many messages, and the silence on her end was deafening. What the hell was going on? The only thing I could think about was getting back to campus, back to Sophia, and getting some answers. This engagement—God, everything felt so rushed, so wrong. My parents, Bianca, the whole damn situation. It was all closing in on me. Screw it. I wasn’t sticking around for this charade. I needed to see Sophia, and I needed to do it now.

I threw my clothes into my suitcase without bothering to fold them. I’d explain to my parents later, or maybe not at all. Bianca? She’d figure it out when I didn’t show up. My mind was made up. I was leaving this place behind. As I pulled my suitcase out of the room and made my way down the hallway, I nearly crashed into Ethan. His grin was wide and irritatingly smug. "Dude, congrats on the engagement," he said, clapping me on the shoulder. "Bianca’s perfect for you. Sophia… well, she was never the one anyway, right?"

I stopped dead in my tracks. My parents had barely spoken to me about this engagement, and suddenly Ethan knew everything? “How do you know all this?” I asked, narrowing my eyes. “I never told you my parents were meeting anyone.” Ethan shrugged, too casual. “Oh, it’s all over campus gossip. Everyone knows, Matteo. Big news, right?” But something wasn’t adding up. I didn’t say anything about meeting my parents or the engagement being confirmed. Ethan was fumbling, trying to brush it off, saying he just saw Bianca with my parents and assumed.

Yeah, right. I forced a tight smile, keeping my suspicions to myself. “I’m just heading out to meet my parents. Gonna see if I can get them to postpone this whole thing. I’m not ready for any of it.” Ethan’s eyes searched my face, trying to read if I was bluffing. I didn’t wait for him to figure it out—I just nodded and walked off, heart racing, but my mind set.

The flight back to campus felt like a blur, every minute dragging slower than the last. I barely noticed the turbulence or the announcements over the speakers. All I could think about was Sophia. I needed to see her, to figure out what the hell was going on. As soon as I landed, I turned my phone back on and finally—finally—there it was. A message from Sophia: "I need to talk to you." Relief flooded through me, and I grabbed my bag, practically sprinting to her dorm. I didn’t care about anything else. Just Sophia.

I knocked on her door, my heart in my throat. When she opened it, she looked like she’d been crying. Her eyes were red, but when she saw me, they lit up, and before I knew it, she pulled me into a tight hug. God, I’d missed her. We sat down, the words coming in a rush. “Sophia, what’s going on? Why didn’t you respond? I’ve been trying to reach you all night,” I said, still holding her close. She pulled back, confusion clouding her eyes. “Matteo, I didn’t get any calls or messages. Nothing. I thought… I thought you were avoiding me because of the engagement.”

I yanked my phone out and scrolled through the call logs and texts. She was right—nothing was there except her one message from earlier. “This doesn’t make sense,” I muttered. Sophia’s brows furrowed. “Where were you last night?” I asked. She hesitated before replying, “Tara and Graham dragged me out to a party. I was so out of it—I don’t even remember most of it.” My gut twisted. Something wasn’t right. “Sophia, I think they messed with our phones. And Ethan was acting weird too, like he didn’t want me to come back here. None of this feels right.”

Sophia nodded, her face pale. “Graham was the one who told me about the engagement. He made it sound like… like you wanted this. That you’d agreed to it all. And then he said that Bianca and he are cousins. Matteo, this whole thing—it’s been one big setup.” My blood boiled as it all started to click into place. Ethan, Bianca, Graham, even Tara—they’d all been in on this, trying to keep me and Sophia apart. The pieces were finally coming together, and I was done playing their game.

I stood up, grabbing Sophia’s hand. “We’re going to Tara’s,” I said, voice firm. “She’s the weakest link in all of this. If anyone’s going to crack, it’s her.” Sophia didn’t hesitate, just squeezed my hand and nodded. We marched over to Tara’s dorm, and I didn’t bother knocking softly. The door swung open, and there they were—Graham and Tara, caught in some compromising position. Tara’s face turned crimson, and Graham just looked like a deer caught in headlights.

“What the hell is going on?” I snapped, stepping forward. Tara stammered something, trying to shield Graham from my glare, but I was done listening to their lies. I grabbed Graham by the collar, shoving him against the wall. “Start talking, now,” I growled. Tara was shouting for me to stop, but I didn’t care. I was sick of all of it. Finally, Graham caved, his voice shaking as he confessed. “It was Bianca’s idea. And Ethan… he went along with it. They wanted to split you and Sophia up.”

I let go of Graham, my head spinning with anger and betrayal. All this time, it had been their plan—Bianca, Ethan, Graham, and even Tara. But now, it was over. I looked at Sophia, her expression a mix of shock and resolve. We were done being played. Together, we were going to make sure no one got away with this.