The Message I Almost Didn't Send

After wrapping up with the guys, I excused myself to take a call from my mom. Our lectures were done for the day, and I walked home with the phone pressed to my ear, the quiet buzz of traffic and distant voices floating past me. Mom’s voice was warm, grounding. But even as I spoke to her, my mind kept drifting back to the earlier conversation — Mitchell, Charlotte, and the question that now echoed louder than ever: who would I choose... if either girl was serious?

I didn’t have an answer. Not yet. But for the first time, I wasn’t afraid of exploring what it might mean to open my heart. That thought made me smile.

Meanwhile, true to his word, Chris caught up with Sarah on her way out of campus with Charlie.

“Sarah, wait up!” he called out, jogging to meet her. “I need to talk to you — privately.”

Charlie gave her a parting nod and walked off, and Chris gently steered Sarah toward a nearby coffee shop. He knew she’d be more open in a quiet space.

Over steaming mugs, Sarah tilted her head curiously. “What’s this all about, Chris?”

“I just wanted to check in,” he said, keeping his tone easy but concerned. “You’ve been distant lately. Especially from Cedric. Is something going on?”

Sarah hesitated. “I’m fine.”

But Chris leaned in, voice softer now. “Come on, Sarah. He’s worried. You haven’t answered his calls. You two are closer than that. What happened?”

She lowered her gaze, fingers tightening around her cup. “I love him, Chris,” she said quietly. “And I thought he knew. But when he gave my number to Charlie — like I needed help finding someone — it felt like a rejection. Like I wasn’t enough.”

Her voice cracked, and her eyes shimmered. “I just didn’t know how to face him after that.”

Chris nodded. “I get it. But maybe he didn’t mean to hurt you. Maybe he was trying to protect you in his own way. He’s not great at speaking up — but you know that. If you push him away now, it’ll cut deeper than you realize. Cedric’s used to being left behind.”

Sarah blinked hard, her expression shifting. “You’re right… I’m his safe space. If I back away, I become one more person who gave up on him.”

She pulled out her phone, thumb hovering, then typed a message: “Hey Cedric, I’m so sorry for how I’ve treated you lately. I just want to say I’m sorry, okay? Will you please forgive me?”

When the message popped up on my screen, I froze mid-step in my room. I read it twice — then a third time — before the relief hit me like sunlight spilling through a crack in heavy clouds.

Sarah had reached out.

It was my chance now.

But would I gather the courage to tell her how I truly felt? Or would I stay silent again... until she belonged to someone else?

I wondered.

I then stared at her message again, rereading each word like it carried more weight than it should. I knew what I needed to say. Or at least, what I’d been meaning to say for far too long.

I opened my keyboard and began typing:

“I forgive you. And... Sarah, there’s something I’ve never told you. Can we talk?”

I hovered over the send button. My thumb shook a little — not from fear, but from the weight of finally doing something I’d spent years avoiding.

Then, I hit send......

........The end ........

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