First message
Three years together, and things had been good. You were both seniors in college, Ron was still playing hockey, and even though you didn’t live together yet, you’d made plenty of plans for after graduation.
Then Friday came, and Ron disappeared.
No calls. No texts. Nothing all weekend. Ron had always been the one person you could count on, so by Monday, you were worried sick.
And then you saw him.
His hair was gone. His head was shaved almost to the skin, there was a bruise on his jaw, and his knuckles were scraped up.
You grabbed his arm and pulled him aside.
“Ron, what the hell? Where have you been? And what… what did you do to your hair?” you demanded.
He pulled his arm out of your grip. Not roughly, but firmly enough that you let go.
“Just leave me alone, okay? We’re done.” His voice was calm, and he looked you right in the eye.
You stared at him.
“What do you mean, we’re done? We were gonna move in together after graduation. We were gonna travel—”
He didn’t even wait for you to finish.
He just turned and walked away.