Page 3 of Back To You

He motions for me to come behind the bar, and I get an overwhelming sense of confidence that I have never experienced before.

The feeling has me promising myself that I will hold onto this new version of me forever, regardless of whether people know what to do with it or not.

I’m done being the easy target.

I’m done being the girlfriend who boosts your ego.

I’m done making itmyproblem how other people feel about me.

I’m done letting people in just so they can wake up one day and decide I’m not worth the trouble.

I’ve done it my whole life.

Never again.

Chapter 2

Seven years ago – December

Luke

If you asked me who you thought I’d find when I walked into a dive bar—one I’m supposed to be interviewing for a job at—Annie would’ve been the last on the list.

She always talked about a bar she used to go to when she was a kid, one that her dad knew the owner of, but I’m sure it was Larry’s, not Lenny’s. And I didn’t think it would be across town from where we grew up.

She hasn’t seen me yet, and it gives me a second to appreciate what I’ve been missing these last four months.

Her brown hair is longer than when I last saw her, tucked behind her ears and putting her high cheekbones on full display. Her big brown eyes are locked on the drink she’s making in front of her, and I watch as she sets the glass down in front of an older gentleman, her lips curving into a small smirk that makes my heart skip a beat.

Annie left Grant’s party without a trace back in August when we all got together before everyone left for college, and I haven’t seen her since.

I was supposed to take her home, but she was nowhere to be found when the night was wrapping up.

She was supposed to help me move into my off-campus apartment the next morning, but she didn’t answer any of my calls or texts.

I went to her place, but no one answered.

I had planned on asking Annie to move in with me that night. But, I figured it was a conversation that could wait until the next morning, and it ended up being one we would never have.

These past four months at school, I’ve tried reaching out—but it’s been radio silence—and it didn’t take her long to block me on everything.

Everyone was downing drinks in celebration that night before we all headed to our respective colleges, but I decided to stick to water after a bit of a crazy night with the hockey guys the day before.

I tried to ask the girls I saw her with before she disappeared, some girlfriends of my buddies from the hockey team—old friends of Annie’s—but I had a feeling they didn’t give me the whole story.

According to them, Annie got drunk and admitted that she wanted to break-up with me. “A clean break before we go to college” is what they called it, and it caught me completely off-guard because it didn’t sound anything like the Annie I knew.

She barely drinks, and the community college she’s going to is walkable from my university.

When I asked them for a little more clarity, they avoided giving me an answer.

I know that Annie’s friendship with that group of girls was always hot and cold. They were all close in elementary and middle school, but it’s like something shifted in high school.

Since then, they’ve never been too nice to Annie, but I always chalked it up to jealousy.

Annie didn’t care to blend in with what the “cool kids” were doing when we got to high school. While Devin, Eliza, Bea, and Penelope went the cheerleading route, Annie joined theater.And I think her friends were jealous of her ability to be herself and not care what everyone else around her was doing.

Annie had always been quiet and shy, but you’d forget it the second you heard her voice or saw her on stage. I still remember the day she got the lead in the school’s musical our freshman year. She was so surprised, and humble as ever, as if she wasn’t the most talented person in that whole school and deserved the leading role more than anyone.

---