? Peter Pan - Kelsea Ballerini
Senior Prom, 18 years old
Ruby
Istep out of the gym, fisting the skirt of my teal satin gown as I scan the area for any sign of Connor. I’d been lost in conversation with the rest of our table when he slipped away to the bathroom, but it’s been a while, and he hasn’t returned.
Hushed voices reach me from somewhere down the dimly lit hallway, one is distinctly feminine while the other is unmistakable—Connor.
“Oh, come on. She’s never going to make it in Nashville,” she says.
“I mean, yeah, but nobody’s told her that. She’s chasing the dream anyway, and I’ll be a free manby summer.”
The words pierce through me like an expertly wielded dagger, and my stomach sinks.
Her voice turns almost sultry. “Poor Connor. I bet she doesn’t even know how to take care of you.”
I round the corner, and Ashley Anderson’s back is pinned to a locker with Connor leaning over her. One of her long fingernails trails down his pristine white shirt. She tugs on the teal tie we picked out to match my gown.
Their lips are almost touching. The sight has me frozen on the spot.
My knees buckle as I struggle to stand in my heels. “C-Connor?”
He jerks back at the sound of my voice, raking his hand through his disheveled hair. “It’s not what it looks like.” He holds up his hands defensively. “We were just talking.”
I look between the two guilty parties, unable to form words. Where Connor appears stricken, Ashley’s expression is downright malicious.
She slowly turns to me with a self-satisfied smirk on her lips. “You didn’t think he really cared about you, did you?”
“Ashley!” Connor snaps. “Leave her alone.”
His eyes are pleading as he returns his attention to me—his girlfriend or ex fucking girlfriend if I can get my mouth to move.
“What? She deserves to know the truth. She’s never going to be anything more than a small-town farm girl, and you know it.”
I don’t even bother trying to argue the difference between a farm and a ranch—it would only prove her point.
Connor blows out an exasperated breath, but he doesn’t defend me, and that tells me everything I need to know. He never loved me. Not really.
Finally finding my courage, I step into the hallway and straighten my spine. “You two belong together.” I gesturewildly between them. “I’m done. I deserve so much fucking better than this shit.” I toss my bouquet at Ashley’s feet, turning to stalk away from the nightmare.
“Ruby! Wait!” Connor chases after me and blocks my path to the gym.
“What do you want from me?” It takes every ounce of strength I have to choke back the well of emotion threatening to overwhelm me. “We’ve been growing apart for months, and we both know it. It’s best if we just end it now. You can be afree man.” I sneer, throwing his words back in his face.
He reaches for my hands, brows drawn together. “Let’s talk about this, babe.”
I rip my hands out of his grip and step back. “No.” I choke out the word around the lump in my throat.
Three years.
I gave this asshole three fucking years of my life, and he threw it all away in one night without a second thought. He doesn’t get to witness me breaking. I can only hope I look like I’m holding it together, but the truth is, I’m dying on the inside. “Goodbye, Connor.”
“Let me drive you home.”
For a fleeting moment, I consider the offer, then Ashley strides up beside him and places her hand on his arm.
“Let her go,” she says.
