I had disintegrated tearfully into a million shreds, like that one time I accidentally broke my mom's crystal vase. If only my ruined day was as easy to replace as a crystal vase. I managed with great difficulty to scrape up the broken pieces of myself, got up from the couch, pushed open the door connecting the porch to watch the ocean.

The beach house would be lovely under normal circumstances. The waves lapped against the sand softly like a chiffon dress, breaking and melting into tiny white bubbles. The fireplace in the living room was lit, and there were cashmere blankets to wrap myself in when the temperature dropped at night. There was, however, nothing remotely normal about the scene before me. The house was eerily silent, and I was all alone.

I pulled out my phone and called Janet. "Jan, can you come to my beach house now?"

"What? Right now? I'm on a date with Brian. He's—"

"Please!! This is an emergency!" I wiped my tears away savagely. If I wasn't careful I'd break into another hysterical wail, but I didn't want to scare Janet.

"Flora, are you crying?"

I sniffled. "No."

"You are. What happened?"

"Can you please ask Sandy and Carmen to come too? I don't want to repeat the story three times."

There was a pause on the other end. "I haven't seen Brian in two weeks," she said and sighed. "But sure, we'll be there."

A short while later my closest three friends were gathered at my beach house for another emergency meeting. I really should stop turning this into an annual event. This was a lot more serious than the Max and the V-card incident, however, and as soon as I saw them I melted down. Watching their horrified faces, I realized I'd never cried in front of them before.

Or perhaps it was because my Lancome mascara wasn't exactly waterproof and I looked like the Joker in Batman.

"I just don't understand," I said in between hiccups. "I thought we were going great."

"Well, technically, you broke up with him," Sandra offered as a consolation. "He just agreed. So you can still tell everyone you dumped him." In Sandra's world the first thing one had to clarify in a failed relationship was who brought up the subject.

"I don't care who the dumper is! The point is I didn't want to break up but he did. And I'm just so confused. Has he been unhappy this whole time?"

"Come on, Flora." Carmen patted me on the back, soothingly, like rocking a baby to sleep. "Forget about him. You're broken up already and it really is meaningless trying to pick apart everything."

"It's not meaningless. I just really need to know if-if this whole happy couple's thing is my illusion, and I let myself fall for this heartless creature. How could he suddenly blindside me like this and make me question everything that happened between us!"

"Maybe he just really hates sex," Sandra said. We all ignored her.

"He said I'm spoiled and self-centered and insensitive," I whimpered. "I admit I can be like that sometimes, but he never said anything! It's bad enough when the relationship is going stale and you know it's coming, but to break up abruptly just makes it that much harder."

"I know," Carmen said, although I seriously doubted she knew. The girl never had a boyfriend in her seventeen years of life. "I know how hard it must be for you."

"Oh come on," Sandra said. "You only dated for three months. He turned out to be a real jerk but at least you got out in time."

I flicked my gaze to Janet, willing her to differ. I knew Janet didn't want to take sides. She always said she couldn't be the lawyer of two parties that had conflicting interests.

"Sean's not a cruel person," Janet said, "I have no idea why he freaked out like that. Maybe...never mind."

"Maybe what?" I narrowed my eyes. I smelled bad news.

She chewed on her bottom lip like it was the best thing she'd ever tasted. "Maybe he's been having second thoughts. Sean's lazy about working on his relationships. He gives up easily."

"I can work for both of us," I said. "I can try harder. I can be a better girl—"

"Flora, can you be more pathetic?" Sandra cut in. "He probably blew his test and took it out on you. What a loser."

"Sean would never do that," I said. "Blow his test, I mean. He's a genius on the way to a Nobel Prize."

Sandra made a disgruntled sound at the back of her throat.

I turned my attention to Janet again. She was the mutual friend and it was her original sin. "Can you talk to him?"

She stared back at me, a frown on her face that clearly said 'leave me out of it'.

"Now?" I pressed.

With a loud sigh, she picked up her phone. I listened to her cut right to the chase and ask him about our break up. The phone conversation was extremely brief, but Janet was able to summarize the following: "He said it's none of my business, he doesn't feel like talking about it, and then he asked about you. Before I could say anything, he changed his mind and said he doesn't want to know." She gave me a sympathetic smile, the kind doctors on TV always wore right after they said 'we tried our best'.

I could feel a fresh supply of rage replacing my sorrow. "He's unbelievable! I'll call him myself!"

Sandra snatched my phone away from my hand.

"What are you doing, Sandy?"

"Flora, we all gave up on our dates tonight to support you. I mean, Janet gave up on being with Brian, and I had to cancel with Dan, while Carmen..." She snuck a playful glance at Carmen before returning to my phone. Her fingers were tapping furiously over the screen. "Well Carmen doesn't have to give up on anything."

"Hey!" Carmen shoved her.

"My point is, I want our sacrifices to serve a purpose and I'm glad I'm here to save the last remaining thing in your dead relationship. Your dignity." She tossed my phone back to me. "I deleted his number and all the boring texts he sent you. He really needs to take a text class or something."

I gasped. "Sandra! How dare you!" I fumbled for my phone frantically and saw that it was a lost cause. There were no more cute nerdy texts from Sean about biology trivia and how I was as unique to him as the Holstein's spot patterns on a cow. "You're too bossy for your own good. Those are...those are...I really like the texts he sent me!"

"Someday you'll learn to thank me and realize what a good friend I truly am."

"Yeah, Flora," Carmen agreed. "Calling him won't change anything."

Sandra stared at me. Her gaze was harsh, but I could also see a thin veil of worry, like she was afraid I'd get even more hurt than I was already. "You said I love you and he spat in your face. That would've done it for me," she said.

The dark memory cut me like a lightsaber. She was right. How much lower could I possibly get? I was already at ground level, staring up at him on his throne, worshiping him for three months, yet he didn't hesitate for one second when he threw my love back at me. He didn't want it any more than he wanted my gifts. Or my body, for that matter.

"I think my guardian angel must really be against premarital sex," I said. "The first time I had sex Max broke up with me. This time I didn't even get that far. I only planned on doing it and suddenly I'm single again."

They laughed, relieved that Flora Morgan was back. This was what I did all the time, after all. Making them laugh. We all had our purposes in life. Carmen was there to sooth, Sandra to tell the truth, Janet to analyze, and my job was to entertain. I told them I'd be back to my old dating routine in no time.

I didn't want them to worry. It was my responsibility to assure them that I was better, that they did a good job of comforting me. After they left, I curled up in a ball on my bed. The truth was I felt like Bridget Jones when she was listening to All by Myself in her PJ's, dumped and lonely, and I had no intention of dating anyone.

I missed Sean with every shaky breath that I took. It wasn't hard to get his phone number back again, but I stared at the screen for what felt like years before I started to type him a text.

"I'm sorry about everything. Forgive me. I miss you."

I should have been more supportive. I shouldn't have gotten mad at him for choosing to study. I should be more sensitive to his feelings and be more reasonable—

"Goodbye, Flora."

I broke down in a fresh wave of tears. It was so unfair. I overreacted, yes, but I was only a teenage girl in love for the first time. I was allowed to lose it sometimes, but The King had allowed me no room for error. One strike and I was out. This was like being sentenced to death for stealing an apple.

For the rest of the night, I scrolled through my phone and examined every photo I had of him. Those were the survivors of the raid by Sandra. We looked so happy. He was adorable and loving in all of them. He didn't like the camera that much but apparently the camera adored him.

When did we start to go wrong?

I didn't need to dwell on it anymore. He said goodbye. I should be saying goodbye too instead of marveling over how cute he was, and I knew everytime I looked at the photos they would mock me again.

A part of our memory died with every photo I deleted, and I worked and cried until all I had left was the one last text from him. It served as a reminder, under the display name of heartless creature.

***

For the next two weeks in school, I avoided him like the clearance sale. Everyone knew we broke up since we were the power couple of Riverside High. I made sure my appearance was impeccable and I proudly accepted the title of the dumper, but at home my tears dropped like a snapped pearl necklace.

If my life were a movie this would be the part where I dyed my hair a different color, went on a journey to Bali to cleanse my soul and find myself, and came back a new and improved person. In real life I pulled myself together with a fat check from my parents and a burning hatred for Sean Foster. The hate propelled me forward. If he were to beg for me to come back, I would laugh at him.

I was sorting through my locker one day after school when Sean walked up to me. This was our first encounter after the breakup. My heart would've softened if he had looked a little disheveled, but no, he was as confident and aloof as usual, like we were perfect strangers. In that instant I knew I hated all of him, especially his composure which I used to adore.

"How can I be of assistance?" I asked coldly, trying to sound smart.

"I have been thinking a lot," he said. "There's something—"

"Flora, I heard you're single again." We were interrupted rudely by Liam Turner. Liam was a senior and the captain of the basketball team, and one of the few people that Sean didn't like.

"I certainly am," I replied.

"Then maybe you want to go out with me?" he asked, smiling arrogantly like he was doing me a favor.

What kind of person would do this in front of the ex-boyfriend? Not to mention they were teammates. Liam was clearly a douche. "Go fill out a form, Liam," I said. "There happens to be a line."

"Don't keep me waiting for too long. I'm graduating soon."

"I'll get back to you."

He laughed as he walked away.

Sean turned his gaze to my face. "Don't go out with him, Flora."

He had the nerve to give me another command! "I don't remember asking for your opinion."

"Liam is exactly the kind of person that gives jocks a bad name," he insisted.

"Sean, you're in no position to interfere with what I do and who I date," I reminded him. We were no longer together and he was still acting like he owned me. "You're not my boyfriend anymore. I can finally breathe again."

He narrowed his eyes. "What does that mean?"

"I'm tired of serving your highness and pretending to admire you when the truth is you bore me to tears. I can't believe I wasted three months of my life on you."

He looked at me like I hit him.

"What do you want anyway?" I asked.

He wanted to say something but then he shut his mouth again. He reached into his backpack to take out his keys, and I watched him as he unlatched the Prada heart keychain. I couldn't believe he still carried it.

He held it out to me. "I want to give this back to you."

I stared at it for a second. It was my gift to him, and he didn't want it anymore. He didn't want my heart anymore.

I grabbed it from his hand and strode to the nearest trash can. I threw it back to where it belonged, and it made a dull sound when it landed. I walked back with my head held high. "There. All taken care of. Anything else?"

There was a watery light of sadness in his eyes. "No. That's all. Just that...we have a lot of mutual friends and I think we should try to be civilized around each other."

I laughed. "What makes you think I can't be civilized? I'll still cheer for you at your games and we can all hang out in one big group."

Did he think I was emotionally immature? I could handle a break up just fine.

Two days later I started dating Liam Turner.

***