[Eng Sub] Watch Forward Without Him Free 🗽 Best Friend Betrayal | Dailymotion #ReelShort─影片 Dailymotion

ReelShort All-in-One

😊Click to download the app to watch all episodes for free: https://reelslink.com/marketing/kQJs70 🌎For FULL HD Episodes on ReelShort site:🔗 https://www.reelshort.com/movie/forward-without-him-6ab3cc6bccf5221f6c029385  🍁Notice: ReelShort All-in-One is an officially authorized publisher of ReelShort content.  Checklist for the worst day ever: ✅ Get your university dream crushed behind your back. ✅ Fly out to surprise your boyfriend. ✅ Catch him cheating with your absolute best friend.  In "Forward Without Him", Taylor experiences all three at once! Will she forgive them? Or will she leave them in the dust? 🚕💨 Hit play to see her counterattack!  🏷️ GENRE: Campus, Female

Transcript

00:00:07The day my Columbia acceptance letter alived, I kept it a secret from everyone.

00:00:11Flew to New York to surprise my boyfriend Ethan and my best friend Lexi.

00:00:14Instead, I overheard them confess it themselves to keep dating behind my back.

00:00:18They'd altered my application, costing me an entire gap year.

00:00:22Ethan, once Taylor gets here, can we really still be this close?

00:00:25I wish she'd never gotten to Columbia.

00:00:28Don't say that.

00:00:29Last year, to make your birthday wish come true, with the one where you wanted to date me,

00:00:33we snuck into her college application portal and clicked decline offer before decision day.

00:00:39Made her miss the deadline.

00:00:40She had to take a whole gap year because of us.

00:00:42We've been dating here in New York behind her back this entire time.

00:00:44That's already bad enough.

00:00:45When she moves to the city, I'll go back to being her boyfriend.

00:00:48Obviously.

00:00:51So we can still keep meeting like this?

00:00:53In secret?

00:00:53As long as Taylor doesn't find out.

00:00:55Right then, I was standing there.

00:00:56A complete joke.

00:00:57Ethan kept going, comforting her.

00:01:00I promised you a full year as your guy.

00:01:01Not one day less.

00:01:03Your birthday wish kicked in May 1st last year.

00:01:05It runs through May 1st this year.

00:01:07I'll give you an extra three months on top of that.

00:01:09I'm yours.

00:01:10Until the fall semester starts.

00:01:11I already told Taylor I'm staying in New York this summer.

00:01:13To do pre-med clinical volunteering at Mount Simi.

00:01:15Not going home.

00:01:17We'll stay in the city together.

00:01:18Whatever you want to do, I'm there.

00:01:28I thought back to last May 1st.

00:01:30That was Lexi's birthday.

00:01:31It was also the day I found out I was locked out of my dream school for good.

00:01:34I'd stared at my student portal showing offer declined and couldn't believe it.

00:01:37My SAT scores and GPA were the highest out of the three of us.

00:01:40Both of them had gotten into Columbia without a problem.

00:01:42Only me, somehow, impossibly had lost my spot.

00:01:45My parents panicked and called the admissions office.

00:01:47That's when we found out someone had used my account to click decline and cancel the

00:01:51deposit before the deadline.

00:01:53How is that even possible?

00:01:54The admissions rep sounded genuinely sorry.

00:01:56Your record is outstanding.

00:01:58If we'd received the confirmation, you absolutely would have been on the fall roster.

00:02:01But what the system shows us is what it shows us.

00:02:04There's nothing we can do on our end.

00:02:06Is it possible a wrong option was selected during confirmation?

00:02:08I was devastated.

00:02:10I couldn't accept it.

00:02:11And right then, Lexi FaceTimed me.

00:02:12Taylor, my birthday party's starting.

00:02:14Get over here.

00:02:15Ethan's already here.

00:02:16We're just waiting on you.

00:02:16I told them what happened.

00:02:18Lexi went into overdrive, trying to make me feel better.

00:02:20Oh my god.

00:02:21How does that even happen?

00:02:23These things happen to everyone sometimes.

00:02:25So what are you going to do now?

00:02:26If all else fails, pick up some credits at community college and transfer next year?

00:02:29I looked at my parents' worried faces.

00:02:31I thought about four years of work.

00:02:33No.

00:02:34I'm taking a gap year and reapplying.

00:02:35There was a beat of silence on the call.

00:02:37Then Ethan's voice.

00:02:38With your record, community college would be a waste of your time.

00:02:41Focus on reapplying.

00:02:43Lexi and I will be waiting for you at Columbia.

00:02:45Ethan's right.

00:02:46Then my birthday wish this year is for our tailor to get her Columbia offer next year.

00:02:50No problem.

00:02:50Back then, I was so touched, I almost couldn't speak.

00:02:54Turns out every bit of it was something they'd planned together.

00:02:56All of it just to hide what they were doing.

00:02:58To make her real birthday wish come true.

00:03:00Dating my boyfriend.

00:03:03I knew Lexi had a boyfriend once she got to New York.

00:03:05That part didn't surprise me.

00:03:07What I didn't know was that her boyfriend and my boyfriend were the same person.

00:03:11She texted me constantly, every day, sharing little updates about this amazing guy she was seeing.

00:03:15I was home grinding through essays and AP coursework.

00:03:17Every weekend, I'd unlock my phone to a wall of unread messages from her.

00:03:20My boyfriend sat in on my sociology lecture today.

00:03:27The professor called on him randomly, and he completely blanked.

00:03:31I'm dead.

00:03:32He'd been eyeing this vintage turntable for a while, so, drumroll, I bought it for him.

00:03:37We got a hotel room last night.

00:03:39He's so hot.

00:03:42Hey, Taylor, have you and Ethan ever actually done it?

00:03:45No.

00:03:47Ethan and I had made it official on prom night.

00:03:50After that, it was straight into the chaos of application season.

00:03:53There wasn't exactly a lot of time for anything else, and then the whole mess with my acceptance happened.

00:03:57And that killed whatever mood was left.

00:03:58When Lexi heard Ethan and I hadn't gone all the way, she sent back a voice note that was practically

00:04:02a performance.

00:04:03No?

00:04:04No way!

00:04:11Taylor, don't you know, if a guy doesn't even want to sleep with you, he's not actually into you.

00:04:15Oops, did I say something wrong?

00:04:17I swear I'm not trying to start anything.

00:04:20Looking back, every single one of those messages was loaded.

00:04:23I was too stressed out from applications to catch it at the time.

00:04:27I just changed the subject.

00:04:28Anyway, you move fast.

00:04:30You got a boyfriend your first week of school at some party?

00:04:32What does he look like?

00:04:34Send a pic.

00:04:34Let me see if he's good enough for you.

00:04:36One word.

00:04:37Hot.

00:04:38How hot?

00:04:39Hot enough that the second you saw his face, you'd pass out on the spot.

00:04:42But he hates photos, so no pics for you.

00:04:45And now, standing outside the apartment, watching the two of them together, I genuinely felt a little dizzy.

00:04:50What are you up to?

00:04:56At the hospital doing shadowing, completely slammed.

00:04:59I held down the nausea and replied,

00:05:01Take a pic of the hospital and send it to me.

00:05:04Again?

00:05:05Why does she keep bothering you?

00:05:06She's taking up time that's supposed to be mine.

00:05:08She said it like she was the real girlfriend.

00:05:10Like I was some unhinged stalker.

00:05:13Good thing I'm careful.

00:05:14I got photos of a hospital hallway from an upperclassman ahead of time.

00:05:17Covers it.

00:05:17Lexi still wasn't happy.

00:05:18She pushed a little further.

00:05:19You're that scared of her finding out?

00:05:21You could just tell her about us?

00:05:24If she really cares about you, really thinks of me as her best friend,

00:05:27how could she even be mad?

00:05:28Don't.

00:05:28Whatever's going on between us, she cannot find out.

00:05:31Ever.

00:05:31Lexi read his face and switched gears fast.

00:05:34Okay, okay, forget it.

00:05:35Don't go back to the dorms tonight.

00:05:38Let's do something fun.

00:05:41That desperate?

00:05:45I'll take care of it tonight.

00:05:47ER is slammed.

00:05:48Hospital has strict HIPAA requirements.

00:05:50Phone access is limited until this is over.

00:05:52Don't worry.

00:05:53Love you.

00:05:53I read every word.

00:05:54Then I texted my parents.

00:05:56Mom, Dad, I'm not going to Columbia.

00:05:58I'm accepting MIT's offer.

00:06:03They called immediately.

00:06:05Sweetie, what happened?

00:06:06What changed?

00:06:07You've been talking about Columbia for a year.

00:06:08Being in New York with Lexi and Ethan.

00:06:10Lexi and Ethan are together.

00:06:11My mom pulled a sharp breath on the other end.

00:06:13What?

00:06:14But at prom last year, Ethan was...

00:06:16She stopped herself.

00:06:17Like she just figured something out.

00:06:19Didn't finish the sentence.

00:06:19I was the one reassuring them.

00:06:21My application this year was stronger.

00:06:23I got into MIT.

00:06:24Physics at MIT is better than Columbia by a long shot anyway.

00:06:27I was willing to go to New York because I had people there.

00:06:30Turns out those two aren't worth giving up the top engineering school in the country.

00:06:33I'll talk later.

00:06:34I need to book a flight home.

00:06:35Tonight I want your barbecue.

00:06:37My dad's voice came through, anger barely under control.

00:06:39We were all fooled.

00:06:40Lexi's private high school tuition.

00:06:42Her college tuition right now.

00:06:44Your mother and I have been paying all of it.

00:06:46If this is how she's going to treat you, we are done being her ATM next semester.

00:06:50Done.

00:06:51Okay.

00:06:51Lexi and I had grown up together.

00:06:53She came from a broken home.

00:06:54Ninth grade.

00:06:55Her parents divorced and moved to separate states.

00:06:57Left her behind.

00:06:58No plan for her education.

00:06:59Nothing.

00:07:00I was the one who begged my parents to step in.

00:07:02Mom, Dad, can we please help her?

00:07:04She doesn't even have money to finish high school.

00:07:06Just think of it as charity.

00:07:07When we're in college, we'll get jobs and pay you back.

00:07:09My parents didn't even hesitate.

00:07:11They said yes.

00:07:12Paid her private high school tuition.

00:07:13Let her move into the guest room.

00:07:15Covered Columbia's 80-something thousand a year in tuition and housing without blinking.

00:07:18Taylor, I will never forget what your family has done for me.

00:07:20When I graduate and land something on Wall Street, I'll pay back every cent with interest.

00:07:24Turns out this was her version of paying it back.

00:07:28I turned around and called an Uber to JFK Airport.

00:07:40Boyfriend booked the room.

00:07:41$2,000 a night.

00:07:43He wants me to put in the effort tonight.

00:07:44What do you think I should do for him?

00:07:45I thought back to a night three months before the application deadline.

00:07:48I was barely holding it together.

00:07:50I called Ethan.

00:07:52Taylor?

00:07:53Can you come home this weekend?

00:07:54Just once?

00:07:54I really need you.

00:07:56He said no without missing a beat.

00:07:57Taylor, I genuinely can't afford the train ticket right now.

00:07:59You haven't been here yet.

00:08:00You don't know how expensive New York is.

00:08:02There's always something to spend money on.

00:08:04My coursework is brutal.

00:08:06I can't carve out the time.

00:08:07Can you try to be a little more mature about this?

00:08:11Couldn't scrape together a $40 train fare.

00:08:13But a $2,000 hotel suite?

00:08:15No problem.

00:08:15Brutal coursework.

00:08:16Sure.

00:08:17Racing to spend every available minute with my best friend.

00:08:21BFF jealous?

00:08:22I bet you've never stayed in a plaza suite.

00:08:24When you move to New York, I'll have my boyfriend book you your own room for a night.

00:08:27Just you.

00:08:28All to yourself.

00:08:32Reading her smug little mean girl tone, I almost felt sick.

00:08:35I didn't reply.

00:08:40Lexi didn't hear back from Taylor and didn't think much of it.

00:08:43She figured Taylor was just too jealous to respond, which honestly made sense.

00:08:48Lexi had spent the last year living her best college life using Taylor's parents' card,

00:08:53going everywhere with Taylor's boyfriend.

00:08:54And Taylor, still home, hunched over essays.

00:08:59Her main priority now was locking Ethan down for good.

00:09:02She was dying to rub all of it in Taylor's face.

00:09:05But the timing wasn't right yet.

00:09:07For one thing, Ethan still felt guilty about Taylor.

00:09:11He'd been enjoying what she'd essentially handed him.

00:09:13But Lexi could tell, in the back of his mind, Ethan still saw Taylor as the right kind of girl.

00:09:19The one you actually end up with.

00:09:20If she pushed him into a confrontation with Taylor now, there was a real chance Ethan would panic and drop

00:09:25her to try to fix things.

00:09:27That was not the ending she was going for.

00:09:28Her plan was to replace Taylor in his head slowly, step by step, until Ethan was the one who called

00:09:34it.

00:09:34That moment hadn't come yet.

00:09:35And for another thing, she still needed Taylor's parents to cover the rest of her tuition.

00:09:39She could not blow this up too early.

00:09:40Although, Ethan's family had money.

00:09:42Real money.

00:09:43Once she had him fully, tuition would be the least of her problems.

00:09:46She was still running through the fantasy.

00:09:49Who are you texting?

00:09:51Nobody.

00:09:52Ethan.

00:09:53For the next two months, can you stop talking to Taylor?

00:09:55I want you completely to myself.

00:09:57That worshipful, clingy thing she did worked on him every time.

00:10:00He didn't mind giving her that.

00:10:01It was a small ask.

00:10:02She only had two months of being his anyway, officially.

00:10:05After that, he and Taylor had all the time in the word.

00:10:07The volunteer program here is really demanding.

00:10:09There are strict rules around phone use.

00:10:11I'll be hard to reach for a while, slow to respond.

00:10:13Don't worry.

00:10:15I'll pick you up from the airport on move-in day.

00:10:18You're the best.

00:10:19I got that text sitting at my kitchen table eating barbecue.

00:10:23This little...

00:10:24He's still lying to you?

00:10:25Right now?

00:10:26Block him.

00:10:27Block both of them.

00:10:28So disgusting.

00:10:29Done.

00:10:30All blocked.

00:10:31Those two are never touching my life again.

00:10:34Time moved fast.

00:10:36Before long, it was move-in day.

00:10:39The last messages were from the day the results came out.

00:10:43Him telling her not to contact him over the summer.

00:10:46Ethan, I'm finally coming to New York to find you.

00:10:48He'd told her not to reach out, fine.

00:10:50But she'd actually gone the whole summer without sending a single text.

00:10:55Still, today was the day she was flying in.

00:10:58He let it go and started typing.

00:11:01Babe, are you at the airport yet?

00:11:03I'll come get you.

00:11:07He'd been blocked.

00:11:08He figured he'd misread it.

00:11:10What was going on?

00:11:17He called her straight to voicemail.

00:11:21The number you are trying to reach is unavailable.

00:11:26That line, too.

00:11:27Blocked.

00:11:47The day my Columbia acceptance letter arrived, I kept it a secret from everyone.

00:11:51Flew to New York to surprise my boyfriend, Ethan, and my best friend, Lexi.

00:11:54Instead, I overheard them confess it themselves.

00:11:56To keep dating behind my back, they'd altered my application, costing me an entire gap year.

00:12:02Ethan, once Taylor gets here, can we really still be this close?

00:12:05I wish you'd never gotten to Columbia.

00:12:08Don't say that.

00:12:10Last year, to make your birthday wish come true, with the one where you wanted to date me, we snuck

00:12:14into her college application portal and clicked the client offer before decision day.

00:12:18Made her miss the deadline.

00:12:20She had to take a whole gap year because of us.

00:12:22We've been dating here in New York behind her back this entire time.

00:12:24That's already bad enough.

00:12:25When she moves to the city, I'll go back to being her boyfriend.

00:12:28Obviously.

00:12:31So we can still keep meeting like this?

00:12:33In secret?

00:12:33As long as Taylor doesn't find out.

00:12:35Right then, I was standing there.

00:12:36A complete joke.

00:12:38Ethan kept going, comforting her.

00:12:39I promised you a full year as your guy.

00:12:41Not one day less.

00:12:43Your birthday wish kicked in May 1st last year.

00:12:45It runs through May 1st this year.

00:12:47I'll give you an extra three months on top of that.

00:12:49I'm yours.

00:12:50Until the fall semester starts.

00:12:51I already told Taylor I'm staying in New York this summer.

00:12:53to do pre-med clinical volunteering at Mount Sinai.

00:12:55Not going home.

00:12:57We'll stay in the city together.

00:12:58Whatever you want to do, I'm there.

00:13:08I thought back to last May 1st.

00:13:10That was Lexi's birthday.

00:13:11It was also the day I found out I was locked out of my dream school for good.

00:13:14I'd stared at my student portal showing offer declined.

00:13:17I couldn't believe it.

00:13:17My SAT scores and GPA were the highest out of the three of us.

00:13:20Both of them had gotten into Columbia without a problem.

00:13:22Only me, somehow, impossibly had lost my spot.

00:13:25My parents panicked and called the admissions office.

00:13:28That's when we found out someone had used my account to click decline

00:13:30and cancel the deposit before the deadline.

00:13:33How is that even possible?

00:13:34The admissions rep sounded genuinely sorry.

00:13:36Your record is outstanding.

00:13:38If we'd received the confirmation, you absolutely would have been on the fall roster.

00:13:41But what the system shows us is what it shows us.

00:13:44There's nothing we can do on our end.

00:13:46Is it possible a wrong option was selected during confirmation?

00:13:48I was devastated.

00:13:49I couldn't accept it.

00:13:51And right then, Lexi FaceTimed me.

00:13:52Taylor!

00:13:53My birthday party's starting!

00:13:54Get over here!

00:13:55Ethan's already here!

00:13:56We're just waiting on you!

00:13:57I told them what happened.

00:13:58Lexi went into overdrive trying to make me feel better.

00:14:00Oh my god!

00:14:01How does that even happen?

00:14:03These things happen to everyone sometime.

00:14:04So what are you gonna do now?

00:14:06If all else fails, pick up some credits at community college and transfer next year?

00:14:09I looked at my parents' worried faces.

00:14:11I thought about four years of work.

00:14:13No.

00:14:14I'm taking a gap year and reapplying.

00:14:15There was a beat of silence on the call.

00:14:17Then Ethan's voice.

00:14:18With your record, community college would be a waste of your time.

00:14:21Focus on reapplying.

00:14:23Lexi and I will be waiting for you at Columbia.

00:14:25Ethan's right.

00:14:26Then my birthday wish this year is for our tailor to get her Columbia offer next year.

00:14:29No problem.

00:14:30Back then, I was so touched, I almost couldn't speak.

00:14:34Turns out every bit of it was something they'd planned together.

00:14:36All of it just to hide what they were doing.

00:14:38To make her real birthday wish come true.

00:14:40Dating my boyfriend.

00:14:43I knew Lexi had a boyfriend once she got to New York.

00:14:45That part didn't surprise me.

00:14:47What I didn't know was that her boyfriend and my boyfriend were the same person.

00:14:50She texted me constantly, every day, sharing little updates about this amazing guy she was seeing.

00:14:55I was home grinding through essays and AP coursework.

00:14:57Every weekend, I'd unlock my phone to a wall of unread messages from her.

00:15:00My boyfriend sat in on my sociology lecture today.

00:15:07The professor called on him randomly, and he completely blanked.

00:15:11I'm dead.

00:15:12He'd been eyeing this vintage turntable for a while, so, drumroll, I bought it for him.

00:15:17We got a hotel room last night.

00:15:19He's so hot.

00:15:22Hey Taylor, have you and Ethan ever actually done it?

00:15:25No.

00:15:27Ethan and I had made it official on prom night.

00:15:30After that, it was straight into the chaos of application season.

00:15:33There wasn't exactly a lot of time for anything else, and then the whole mess with my acceptance happened.

00:15:37And that killed whatever mood was left.

00:15:38When Lexi heard Ethan and I hadn't gone all the way, she sent back a voice note that was practically

00:15:42a performance.

00:15:43No?

00:15:44No way!

00:15:51Taylor, don't you know, if a guy doesn't even want to sleep with you, he's not actually into you.

00:15:55Oops, did I say something wrong?

00:15:57I swear I'm not trying to start anything.

00:16:00Looking back, every single one of those messages was loaded.

00:16:03I was too stressed out from applications to catch it at the time.

00:16:06I just changed the subject.

00:16:08Anyway, you move fast.

00:16:10You got a boyfriend your first week of school at some party?

00:16:12What does he look like?

00:16:14Send a pic.

00:16:14Let me see if he's good enough for you.

00:16:16One word.

00:16:17Hot.

00:16:17How hot?

00:16:19Hot enough that the second you saw his face, you'd pass out on the spot.

00:16:22But he hates photos, so no pics for you.

00:16:25And now, standing outside the apartment watching the two of them together, I genuinely felt a little dizzy.

00:16:30What are you up to?

00:16:36At the hospital doing shadowing, completely slammed.

00:16:39I held down the nausea and replied.

00:16:41Take a pic of the hospital and send it to me.

00:16:44Again?

00:16:45Again?

00:16:45Why does she keep bothering you?

00:16:46She's taking up time that's supposed to be mine.

00:16:48She said it like she was the real girlfriend.

00:16:50Like I was some unhinged stalker.

00:16:53Good thing I'm careful.

00:16:54I got photos of a hospital hallway from an upperclassman ahead of time.

00:16:57Covers it.

00:16:57Lexi still wasn't happy.

00:16:58She pushed a little further.

00:16:59You're that scared of her finding out?

00:17:01You could just tell her about us?

00:17:04If she really cares about you, really thinks of me as her best friend, how could she even be mad?

00:17:08Don't.

00:17:08Whatever's going on between us, she cannot find out.

00:17:11Ever.

00:17:11Lexi read his face and switched gears fast.

00:17:14Okay, okay, forget it.

00:17:15Don't go back to the dorms tonight.

00:17:18Let's do something fun.

00:17:20That desperate?

00:17:25I'll take care of it tonight.

00:17:27ER is slammed.

00:17:28Hospital has strict HIPAA requirements.

00:17:30Phone access is limited until this is over.

00:17:32Don't worry.

00:17:33Love you.

00:17:33I read every word.

00:17:34Then I texted my parents.

00:17:35Mom, Dad, I'm not going to Columbia.

00:17:38I'm accepting MIT's offer.

00:17:43They called immediately.

00:17:45Sweetie, what happened?

00:17:46What changed?

00:17:46You've been talking about Columbia for a year.

00:17:48Being in New York with Lexi and Ethan?

00:17:50Lexi and Ethan are together.

00:17:51My mom pulled a sharp breath on the other end.

00:17:53What?

00:17:54But at prom last year, Ethan was...

00:17:56She stopped herself.

00:17:57Like she just figured something out.

00:17:59Didn't finish the sentence.

00:17:59I was the one reassuring them.

00:18:01My application this year was stronger.

00:18:03I got into MIT.

00:18:04Physics at MIT is better than Columbia by a long shot anyway.

00:18:07I was willing to go to New York because I had people there.

00:18:10Turns out those two aren't worth giving up the top engineering school in the country.

00:18:13I'll talk later.

00:18:14I need to book a flight home.

00:18:15Tonight I want your barbecue.

00:18:17My dad's voice came through, anger barely under control.

00:18:19We were all fooled.

00:18:20Lexi's private high school tuition, her college tuition right now.

00:18:24Your mother and I have been paying all of it.

00:18:26If this is how she's going to treat you, we are done being her ATM next semester.

00:18:30Done.

00:18:31Okay.

00:18:31Lexi and I had grown up together.

00:18:33She came from a broken home.

00:18:34Ninth grade.

00:18:35Her parents divorced and moved to separate states.

00:18:37Left her behind.

00:18:38No plan for her education.

00:18:39Nothing.

00:18:40I was the one who begged my parents to step in.

00:18:42Mom, Dad, can we please help her?

00:18:44She doesn't even have money to finish high school.

00:18:46Just think of it as charity.

00:18:47When we're in college, we'll get jobs and pay you back.

00:18:49My parents didn't even hesitate.

00:18:51They said yes.

00:18:52Paid her private high school tuition.

00:18:53Let her move into the guest room.

00:18:55Covered Columbia's 80-something thousand a year in tuition and housing without blinking.

00:18:58Taylor, I will never forget what your family has done for me.

00:19:01When I graduate and land something on Wall Street, I'll pay back every cent with interest.

00:19:04Turns out this was her version of paying it back.

00:19:08I turned around and called an Uber to JFK Airport.

00:19:20Boyfriend booked the room.

00:19:21$2,000 a night.

00:19:23He wants me to put in the effort tonight.

00:19:24What do you think I should do for him?

00:19:25I thought back to a night three months before the application deadline.

00:19:28I was barely holding it together.

00:19:30I called Ethan.

00:19:32Taylor?

00:19:33Can you come home this weekend?

00:19:34Just once?

00:19:34I really need you.

00:19:35He said no without missing a beat.

00:19:37Taylor, I genuinely can't afford the train ticket right now.

00:19:39You haven't been here yet.

00:19:40You don't know how expensive New York is.

00:19:42There's always something to spend money on.

00:19:44My coursework is brutal.

00:19:45I can't carve out the time.

00:19:47Can you try to be a little more mature about this?

00:19:51Couldn't scrape together a $40 train fare.

00:19:53But a $2,000 hotel suite?

00:19:55No problem.

00:19:55Brutal coursework.

00:19:56Sure.

00:19:57Racing to spend every available minute with my best friend.

00:20:01BFF jealous?

00:20:02I bet you've never stayed in a plaza suite.

00:20:04When you move to New York, I'll have my boyfriend book you your own room for a night.

00:20:07Just you.

00:20:08All to yourself.

00:20:12Reading her smug little mean girl tone, I almost felt sick.

00:20:15I didn't reply.

00:20:20Lexi didn't hear back from Taylor and didn't think much of it.

00:20:23She figured Taylor was just too jealous to respond, which honestly made sense.

00:20:28Lexi had spent the last year living her best college life, using Taylor's parents' card,

00:20:33going everywhere with Taylor's boyfriend.

00:20:35And Taylor?

00:20:36Still home, hunched over essays.

00:20:39Her main priority now was locking Ethan down for good.

00:20:42She was dying to rub all of it in Taylor's face.

00:20:45But the timing wasn't right yet.

00:20:47For one thing, Ethan still felt guilty about Taylor.

00:20:51He'd been enjoying what she'd essentially handed him.

00:20:53But Lexi could tell, in the back of his mind, Ethan still saw Taylor as the right kind of girl.

00:20:59The one you actually end up with.

00:21:00If she pushed him into a confrontation with Taylor now,

00:21:03there was a real chance Ethan would panic and drop her to try to fix things.

00:21:07That was not the ending she was going for.

00:21:08Her plan was to replace Taylor in his head slowly, step by step,

00:21:12until Ethan was the one who called it.

00:21:14That moment hadn't come yet.

00:21:15And for another thing, she still needed Taylor's parents to cover the rest of her tuition.

00:21:19She could not blow this up too early.

00:21:20Although, Ethan's family had money.

00:21:22Real money.

00:21:23Once she had him fully, tuition would be the least of her problems.

00:21:26She was still running through the fantasy.

00:21:29Who are you texting?

00:21:32Nobody, Ethan.

00:21:33For the next two months, can you stop talking to Taylor?

00:21:35I want you completely to myself.

00:21:37That worshipful, clingy thing she did worked on him every time.

00:21:40He didn't mind giving her that.

00:21:41It was a small ask.

00:21:42She only had two months of being his anyway, officially.

00:21:45After that, he and Taylor had all the time in the word.

00:21:47The volunteer program here is really demanding.

00:21:49There are strict rules around phone use.

00:21:51I'll be hard to reach for a while, slow to respond.

00:21:53Don't worry.

00:21:54I'll pick you up from the airport on move-in day.

00:21:58You're the best.

00:21:59I got that text, sitting at my kitchen table, eating barbecue.

00:22:03This little...

00:22:04He's still lying to you?

00:22:05Right now?

00:22:06Block him.

00:22:07Block both of them.

00:22:08So disgusting.

00:22:09Done.

00:22:10All blocked.

00:22:11Those two are never touching my life again.

00:22:14Time moved fast.

00:22:16Before long, it was move-in day.

00:22:19The last messages were from the day the results came out.

00:22:23Him telling her not to contact him over the summer.

00:22:26Ethan, I'm finally coming to New York to find you.

00:22:28He'd told her not to reach out, fine.

00:22:30But she'd actually gone the whole summer without sending a single text.

00:22:35Still, today was the day she was flying in.

00:22:37He let it go and started typing.

00:22:41Babe, are you at the airport yet?

00:22:43I'll come get you.

00:22:47He'd been blocked.

00:22:48He figured he'd misread it.

00:22:50What was going on?

00:22:57He called her straight to voicemail.

00:23:00The number you are trying to reach is unavailable.

00:23:06That line, too.

00:23:07Blocked.

00:23:27The day my Columbia acceptance letter arrived, I kept it a secret from everyone.

00:23:31Flew to New York to surprise my boyfriend, Ethan, and my best friend, Lexi.

00:23:34Instead, I overheard them confess it themselves.

00:23:36To keep dating behind my back, they'd altered my application.

00:23:40Costing me an entire gap year.

00:23:41Ethan, once Taylor gets here, can we really still be this close?

00:23:45I wish she'd never gotten to Columbia.

00:23:48Don't say that.

00:23:49Last year, to make your birthday wish come true.

00:23:52The one where you wanted to date me.

00:23:53We snuck into her college application portal and clicked decline offer before decision day.

00:23:58Made her miss the deadline.

00:24:00She had to take a whole gap year because of us.

00:24:02We've been dating here in New York behind her back this entire time.

00:24:04That's already bad enough.

00:24:05When she moves to the city, I'll go back to being her boyfriend.

00:24:08Obviously.

00:24:11So we can still keep meeting like this?

00:24:13In secret?

00:24:13As long as Taylor doesn't find out.

00:24:15Right then, I was standing there.

00:24:16A complete joke.

00:24:17Ethan kept going, comforting her.

00:24:19I promised you a full year as your guy.

00:24:21Not one day less.

00:24:23Your birthday wish kicked in May 1st last year.

00:24:25It runs through May 1st this year.

00:24:27I'll give you an extra three months on top of that.

00:24:29I'm yours.

00:24:30Until the fall semester starts.

00:24:31I already told Taylor I'm staying in New York this summer.

00:24:33To do pre-med clinical volunteering at Mount Simai.

00:24:35Not going home.

00:24:36We'll stay in the city together.

00:24:38Whatever you want to do, I'm there.

00:24:48I thought back to last May 1st.

00:24:50That was Lexi's birthday.

00:24:51It was also the day I found out I was locked out of my dream school for good.

00:24:54I'd stared at my student portal showing offer declined and couldn't believe it.

00:24:57My SAT scores and GPA were the highest out of the three of us.

00:25:00Both of them had gotten into Columbia without a problem.

00:25:02Only me, somehow, impossibly had lost my spot.

00:25:05My parents panicked and called the admissions office.

00:25:07That's when we found out someone had used my account to click decline and cancel the

00:25:11deposit before the deadline.

00:25:13How is that even possible?

00:25:14The admissions rep sounded genuinely sorry.

00:25:16Your record is outstanding.

00:25:18If we'd received the confirmation, you absolutely would have been on the fall roster.

00:25:21But what the system shows us is what it shows us.

00:25:24There's nothing we can do on our end.

00:25:26Is it possible a wrong option was selected during confirmation?

00:25:28I was devastated.

00:25:29I couldn't accept it.

00:25:31And right then, Lexi FaceTimed me.

00:25:32Taylor, my birthday party's starting.

00:25:34Get over here.

00:25:35Ethan's already here.

00:25:36We're just waiting on you.

00:25:37I told them what happened.

00:25:38Lexi went into overdrive trying to make me feel better.

00:25:40Oh my god.

00:25:41How does that even happen?

00:25:43These things happen to everyone sometime.

00:25:44So what are you going to do now?

00:25:46If all else fails, pick up some credits at community college and transfer next year?

00:25:49I looked at my parents' worried faces.

00:25:51I thought about four years of work.

00:25:53No, I'm taking a gap year and reapplying.

00:25:55There was a beat of silence on the call, then Ethan's voice.

00:25:58With your record, community college would be a waste of your time.

00:26:01Focus on reapplying.

00:26:03Lexi and I will be waiting for you at Columbia.

00:26:05Ethan's right.

00:26:06Then my birthday wish this year is for our tailor to get her Columbia offer next year.

00:26:09No problem.

00:26:10Back then, I was so touched, I almost couldn't speak.

00:26:14Turns out every bit of it was something they'd planned together.

00:26:16All of it just to hide what they were doing.

00:26:18To make her real birthday wish come true.

00:26:20Dating my boyfriend.

00:26:23I knew Lexi had a boyfriend once she got to New York.

00:26:25That part didn't surprise me.

00:26:27What I didn't know was that her boyfriend and my boyfriend were the same person.

00:26:30She texted me constantly, every day, sharing little updates about this amazing guy she was seeing.

00:26:35I was home grinding through essays and AP coursework.

00:26:37Every weekend, I'd unlock my phone to a wall of unread messages for her.

00:26:40My boyfriend sat in on my sociology lecture today.

00:26:47The professor called on him randomly, and he completely blanked.

00:26:51I'm dead.

00:26:52He'd been eyeing this vintage turntable for a while, so drum roll, I bought it for him.

00:26:57We got a hotel room last night.

00:26:59He's so hot.

00:27:02Hey Taylor, have you and Ethan ever actually done it?

00:27:05No.

00:27:07Ethan and I had made it official on prom night.

00:27:10After that, it was straight into the chaos of application season.

00:27:13There wasn't exactly a lot of time for anything else.

00:27:15And then the whole mess with my acceptance happened.

00:27:17And that killed whatever mood was left.

00:27:18When Lexi heard Ethan and I hadn't gone all the way,

00:27:21she sent back a voice note that was practically a performance.

00:27:23No?

00:27:24No way!

00:27:31Taylor, don't you know, if a guy doesn't even want to sleep with you,

00:27:34he's not actually into you.

00:27:35Oops, did I say something wrong?

00:27:37I swear I'm not trying to start anything.

00:27:40Looking back, every single one of those messages was loaded.

00:27:43I was too stressed out from applications to catch it at the time.

00:27:46I just changed the subject.

00:27:48Anyway, you move fast.

00:27:50You got a boyfriend your first week of school at some party?

00:27:52What does he look like?

00:27:53Send a pic.

00:27:54Let me see if he's good enough for you.

00:27:56One word.

00:27:57Hot.

00:27:57How hot?

00:27:59Hot enough that the second you saw his face, you'd pass out on the spot.

00:28:02But he hates photos, so no pics for you.

00:28:05And now, standing outside the apartment, watching the two of them together,

00:28:08I genuinely felt a little dizzy.

00:28:10What are you up to?

00:28:16At the hospital doing shadowing, completely slammed.

00:28:19I held down the nausea and replied,

00:28:21Take a pic of the hospital and send it to me.

00:28:24Again?

00:28:25Why does she keep bothering you?

00:28:26She's taking up time that's supposed to be mine.

00:28:28She said it like she was the real girlfriend.

00:28:30Like I was some unhinged stalker.

00:28:33Good thing I'm careful.

00:28:34I got photos of a hospital hallway from an upperclassman ahead of time.

00:28:37Covers it.

00:28:37Lexi still wasn't happy.

00:28:38She pushed a little further.

00:28:39You're that scared of her finding out?

00:28:41You could just tell her about us?

00:28:44If she really cares about you, really thinks of me as her best friend,

00:28:46how could she even be mad?

00:28:48Don't.

00:28:48Whatever's going on between us, she cannot find out.

00:28:51Ever.

00:28:51Lexi read his face and switched gears fast.

00:28:54Okay, okay, forget it.

00:28:55Don't go back to the dorms tonight.

00:28:58Let's do something fun.

00:29:01That desperate?

00:29:05I'll take care of it tonight.

00:29:07ER is slammed.

00:29:08Hospital has strict HIPAA requirements.

00:29:10Phone access is limited until this is over.

00:29:12Don't worry.

00:29:13Love you.

00:29:13I read every word.

00:29:14Then I texted my parents.

00:29:15Mom, Dad, I'm not going to Columbia.

00:29:17I'm accepting MIT's offer.

00:29:23They called immediately.

00:29:25Sweetie, what happened?

00:29:26What changed?

00:29:26You've been talking about Columbia for a year.

00:29:28Being in New York with Lexi and Ethan.

00:29:30Lexi and Ethan are together.

00:29:31My mom pulled a sharp breath on the other end.

00:29:33What?

00:29:34But at prom last year, Ethan was...

00:29:36She stopped herself.

00:29:37Like she just figured something out.

00:29:39Didn't finish the sentence.

00:29:39I was the one reassuring them.

00:29:41My application this year was stronger.

00:29:43I got into MIT.

00:29:44Physics at MIT is better than Columbia by a long shot anyway.

00:29:47I was willing to go to New York because I had people there.

00:29:50Turns out those two aren't worth giving up the top engineering school in the country.

00:29:53I'll talk later.

00:29:54I need to book a flight home.

00:29:55Tonight I want your barbecue.

00:29:56My dad's voice came through, anger barely under control.

00:29:59We were all fooled.

00:30:00Lexi's private high school tuition.

00:30:02Her college tuition right now.

00:30:04Your mother and I have been paying all of it.

00:30:06If this is how she's going to treat you, we are done being her ATM next semester.

00:30:10Done.

00:30:11Okay.

00:30:11Lexi and I had grown up together.

00:30:13She came from a broken home.

00:30:14Ninth grade.

00:30:15Her parents divorced and moved to separate states.

00:30:17Left her behind.

00:30:18No plan for her education.

00:30:19Nothing.

00:30:20I was the one who begged my parents to step in.

00:30:22Mom, Dad, can we please help her?

00:30:24She doesn't even have money to finish high school.

00:30:26Just think of it as charity.

00:30:27When we're in college, we'll get jobs and pay you back.

00:30:29My parents didn't even hesitate.

00:30:31They said yes.

00:30:31Paid her private high school tuition.

00:30:33Let her move into the guest room.

00:30:34Covered Columbia's 80-something thousand a year in tuition and housing without blinking.

00:30:38Taylor, I will never forget what your family has done for me.

00:30:40When I graduate and land something on Wall Street, I'll pay back every cent with interest.

00:30:44Turns out this was her version of paying it back.

00:30:48I turned around and called an Uber to JFK Airport.

00:31:00Boyfriend booked the room.

00:31:01$2,000 a night.

00:31:03He wants me to put in the effort tonight.

00:31:04What do you think I should do for him?

00:31:05I thought back to a night three months before the application deadline.

00:31:08I was barely holding it together.

00:31:10I called Ethan.

00:31:12Taylor?

00:31:13Can you come home this weekend?

00:31:14Just once?

00:31:14I really need you.

00:31:15He said no without missing a beat.

00:31:17Taylor, I genuinely can't afford the train ticket right now.

00:31:19You haven't been here yet.

00:31:20You don't know how expensive New York is.

00:31:22There's always something to spend money on.

00:31:24My coursework is brutal.

00:31:25I can't carve out the time.

00:31:27Can you try to be a little more mature about this?

00:31:31Couldn't scrape together a $40 train fare.

00:31:33But a $2,000 hotel suite?

00:31:34No problem.

00:31:35Brutal coursework, sure.

00:31:37Racing to spend every available minute with my best friend.

00:31:41BFF jealous?

00:31:42I bet you've never stayed in a plaza suite.

00:31:44When you move to New York, I'll have my boyfriend book you your own room for a night.

00:31:47Just you, all to yourself.

00:31:52Reading her smug little mean girl tone, I almost felt sick.

00:31:55I didn't reply.

00:32:00Lexi didn't hear back from Taylor and didn't think much of it.

00:32:03She figured Taylor was just too jealous to respond, which honestly made sense.

00:32:08Lexi had spent the last year living her best college life using Taylor's parents' card,

00:32:13going everywhere with Taylor's boyfriend.

00:32:15And Taylor?

00:32:16Still home, hunched over essays.

00:32:19Her main priority now was locking Ethan down for good.

00:32:22She was dying to rub all of it in Taylor's face.

00:32:25But the timing wasn't right yet.

00:32:27For one thing, Ethan still felt guilty about Taylor.

00:32:31He'd been enjoying what she'd essentially handed him.

00:32:33But Lexi could tell, in the back of his mind,

00:32:36Ethan still saw Taylor as the right kind of girl.

00:32:39The one you actually end up with.

00:32:40If she pushed him into a confrontation with Taylor now,

00:32:43there was a real chance Ethan would panic and drop her to try to fix things.

00:32:46That was not the ending she was going for.

00:32:48Her plan was to replace Taylor in his head slowly, step by step,

00:32:52until Ethan was the one who called it.

00:32:54That moment hadn't come yet.

00:32:55And for another thing, she still needed Taylor's parents to cover the rest of her tuition.

00:32:59She could not blow this up too early.

00:33:00Although Ethan's family had money.

00:33:02Real money.

00:33:03Once she had him fully, tuition would be the least of her problems.

00:33:05She was still running through the fantasy.

00:33:09Who are you texting?

00:33:11Nobody.

00:33:12Ethan.

00:33:13For the next two months, can you stop talking to Taylor?

00:33:15I want you completely to myself.

00:33:17That worshipful, clingy thing she did worked on him every time.

00:33:20He didn't mind giving her that.

00:33:21It was a small ask.

00:33:22She only had two months of being his anyway, officially.

00:33:25After that, he and Taylor had all the tea in the word.

00:33:26The volunteer program here is really demanding.

00:33:29There are strict rules around phone use.

00:33:31I'll be hard to reach for a while, slow to respond.

00:33:33Don't worry.

00:33:34I'll pick you up from the airport on move-in day.

00:33:38You're the best.

00:33:39I got that text, sitting at my kitchen table, eating barbecue.

00:33:43This little...

00:33:44He's still lying to you?

00:33:45Right now?

00:33:46Block him.

00:33:47Block both of them.

00:33:48So disgusting.

00:33:49Done.

00:33:50All blocked.

00:33:51Those two are never touching my life again.

00:33:54Time moved fast.

00:33:56Before long, it was move-in day.

00:33:59The last messages were from the day the results came out.

00:34:03Him telling her not to contact him over the summer.

00:34:06Ethan, I'm finally coming to New York to find you.

00:34:08He'd told her not to reach out, fine.

00:34:10But she'd actually gone the whole summer without sending a single text.

00:34:14Still, today was the day she was flying in.

00:34:17He let it go and started typing.

00:34:21Babe, are you at the airport yet?

00:34:23I'll come get you.

00:34:27He'd been blocked.

00:34:28He figured he'd misread it.

00:34:30What was going on?

00:34:37He called her straight to voicemail.

00:34:41The number you are trying to reach is unavailable.

00:34:46That line, too.

00:34:47Blocked.

00:35:07The day my Columbia acceptance letter arrived, I kept it a secret from everyone.

00:35:11Flew to New York to surprise my boyfriend, Ethan, and my best friend, Lexi.

00:35:14Instead, I overheard them confess it themselves.

00:35:16To keep dating behind my back, they'd altered my application, costing me an entire gap year.

00:35:21Ethan, once Taylor gets here, can we really still be this close?

00:35:25I wish she'd never gotten to Columbia.

00:35:28Don't say that.

00:35:29Don't say that.

00:35:30Last year, to make your birthday wish come true, you were the one where you wanted to date me,

00:35:33we snuck into her college application portal and clicked decline offer before decision day.

00:35:38Made her miss the deadline.

00:35:40She had to take a whole gap year because of us.

00:35:42We've been dating here in New York behind her back this entire time.

00:35:44That's already bad enough.

00:35:45When she moves to the city, I'll go back to being her boyfriend.

00:35:48Obviously.

00:35:51So we can still keep meeting like this?

00:35:53In secret?

00:35:53As long as Taylor doesn't find out.

00:35:55Right then, I was standing there.

00:35:56A complete joke.

00:35:57Ethan kept going, comforting her.

00:35:59I promised you a full year as your guy.

00:36:01Not one day less.

00:36:03Your birthday wish kicked in May 1st last year.

00:36:05It runs through May 1st this year.

00:36:07I'll give you an extra three months on top of that.

00:36:09I'm yours.

00:36:10Until the fall semester starts.

00:36:11I already told Taylor I'm staying in New York this summer.

00:36:13To do pre-med clinical volunteering at Mount Simi.

00:36:15Not going home.

00:36:16We'll stay in the city together.

00:36:18Whatever you want to do, I'm there.

00:36:28I thought back to last May 1st.

00:36:30That was Lexi's birthday.

00:36:31It was also the day I found out I was locked out of my dream school for good.

00:36:34I'd stared at my student portal showing offer declined.

00:36:37I couldn't believe it.

00:36:37My SAT scores and GPA were the highest out of the three of us.

00:36:40Both of them had gotten into Columbia without a problem.

00:36:42Only me, somehow, impossibly had lost my spot.

00:36:45My parents panicked and called the admissions office.

00:36:47That's when we found out someone had used my account to click decline and cancel the deposit before the deadline.

00:36:52How is that even possible?

00:36:54The admissions rep sounded genuinely sorry.

00:36:56Your record is outstanding.

00:36:58If we'd received the confirmation, you absolutely would have been on the fall roster.

00:37:01But what the system shows us is what it shows us.

00:37:04There's nothing we can do on our end.

00:37:06Is it possible a wrong option was selected during confirmation?

00:37:08I was devastated.

00:37:09I couldn't accept it.

00:37:10And right then, Lexi FaceTimed me.

00:37:12Taylor!

00:37:13My birthday party's starting!

00:37:14Get over here!

00:37:15Ethan's already here!

00:37:16We're just waiting on you!

00:37:17I told them what happened.

00:37:18Lexi went into overdrive trying to make me feel better.

00:37:20Oh my god!

00:37:21How does that even happen?

00:37:22These things happen to everyone sometimes.

00:37:24So what are you going to do now?

00:37:26If all else fails, pick up some credits at community college and transfer next year?

00:37:29I looked at my parents' worried faces.

00:37:31I thought about four years of work.

00:37:33No.

00:37:34I'm taking a gap year and reapplying.

00:37:35There was a beat of silence on the call.

00:37:37Then Ethan's voice.

00:37:38With your record, community college would be a waste of your time.

00:37:41Focus on reapplying.

00:37:43Lexi and I will be waiting for you at Columbia.

00:37:45Ethan's right.

00:37:46Then my birthday wish this year is for our tailor to get her Columbia offer next year.

00:37:49No problem.

00:37:50Back then, I was so touched, I almost couldn't speak.

00:37:54Turns out every bit of it was something they'd planned together.

00:37:56All of it just to hide what they were doing.

00:37:58To make her real birthday wish come true.

00:38:00Dating my boyfriend.

00:38:03I knew Lexi had a boyfriend once she got to New York.

00:38:05That part didn't surprise me.

00:38:07What I didn't know was that her boyfriend and my boyfriend were the same person.

00:38:10She texted me constantly, every day, sharing little updates about this amazing guy she was seeing.

00:38:15I was home grinding through essays and AP coursework.

00:38:17Every weekend, I'd unlock my phone to a wall of unread messages for her.

00:38:20My boyfriend sat in on my sociology lecture today.

00:38:27The professor called on him randomly, and he completely blanked.

00:38:31I'm dead.

00:38:32He'd been eyeing this vintage turntable for a while, so, drumroll, I bought it for him.

00:38:37We got a hotel room last night.

00:38:39He's so hot.

00:38:42Hey Taylor, have you and Ethan ever actually done it?

00:38:45No.

00:38:46Ethan and I had made it official on prom night.

00:38:50After that, it was straight into the chaos of application season.

00:38:53There wasn't exactly a lot of time for anything else, and then the whole mess with my acceptance happened.

00:38:57And that killed whatever mood was left.

00:38:58When Lexi heard Ethan and I hadn't gone all the way, she sent back a voice note that was practically

00:39:02a performance.

00:39:03No?

00:39:04No way!

00:39:11Taylor, don't you know, if a guy doesn't even want to sleep with you, he's not actually into you.

00:39:15Oops, did I say something wrong?

00:39:17I swear I'm not trying to start anything.

00:39:20Looking back, every single one of those messages was loaded.

00:39:23I was too stressed out from applications to catch it at the time.

00:39:26I just changed the subject.

00:39:28Anyway, you move fast.

00:39:30You got a boyfriend your first week of school at some party?

00:39:32What does he look like?

00:39:33Send a pic. Let me see if he's good enough for you.

00:39:36One word. Hot.

00:39:37How hot?

00:39:39Hot enough that the second you saw his face, you'd pass out on the spot.

00:39:42But he hates photos, so no pics for you.

00:39:44And now, standing outside the apartment watching the two of them together, I genuinely felt a little dizzy.

00:39:50What are you up to?

00:39:56At the hospital doing shadowing, completely slammed.

00:39:59I held down the nausea and replied,

00:40:01Take a pic of the hospital and send it to me.

00:40:04Again?

00:40:05Why does she keep bothering you?

00:40:06She's taking up time that's supposed to be mine.

00:40:08She said it like she was the real girlfriend.

00:40:10Like I was some unhinged stalker.

00:40:13Good thing I'm careful.

00:40:14I got photos of a hospital hallway from an upperclassman ahead of time.

00:40:17Covers it.

00:40:17Lexi still wasn't happy.

00:40:18She pushed a little further.

00:40:19You're that scared of her finding out?

00:40:21You could just tell her about us.

00:40:24If she really cares about you, really thinks of me as her best friend,

00:40:26how could she even be mad?

00:40:28Don't.

00:40:28Whatever's going on between us, she cannot find out.

00:40:31Ever.

00:40:31Lexi read his face and switched gears fast.

00:40:34Okay, okay, forget it.

00:40:35Don't go back to the dorms tonight.

00:40:38Let's do something fun.

00:40:40That desperate?

00:40:45I'll take care of it tonight.

00:40:47ER is slammed.

00:40:48Hospital has strict HIPAA requirements.

00:40:50Phone access is limited until this is over.

00:40:52Don't worry.

00:40:53Love you.

00:40:53I read every word.

00:40:54Then I texted my parents.

00:40:55Mom, Dad, I'm not going to Columbia.

00:40:58I'm accepting MIT's offer.

00:41:03They called immediately.

00:41:05Sweetie, what happened?

00:41:06What changed?

00:41:06You've been talking about Columbia for a year.

00:41:08Being in New York with Lexi and Ethan?

00:41:10Lexi and Ethan are together.

00:41:11My mom pulled a sharp breath on the other end.

00:41:13What?

00:41:14But at prom last year, Ethan was...

00:41:16She stopped herself.

00:41:17Like she just figured something out.

00:41:18Didn't finish the sentence.

00:41:19I was the one reassuring them.

00:41:21My application this year was stronger.

00:41:23I got into MIT.

00:41:24Physics at MIT is better than Columbia by a long shot anyway.

00:41:27I was willing to go to New York because I had people there.

00:41:30Turns out those two aren't worth giving up the top engineering school in the country.

00:41:33I'll talk later.

00:41:34I need to book a flight home.

00:41:35Tonight I want your barbecue.

00:41:36My dad's voice came through, anger barely under control.

00:41:39We were all fooled.

00:41:40Hold Lexi's private high school tuition.

00:41:42Her college tuition right now.

00:41:44Your mother and I have been paying all of it.

00:41:46If this is how she's going to treat you, we are done being her ATM next semester.

00:41:50Done.

00:41:51Okay.

00:41:51Lexi and I had grown up together.

00:41:53She came from a broken home.

00:41:54Ninth grade.

00:41:55Her parents divorced and moved to separate states.

00:41:57Left her behind.

00:41:58No plan for her education.

00:41:59Nothing.

00:42:00I was the one who begged my parents to step in.

00:42:02Mom, Dad, can we please help her?

00:42:04She doesn't even have money to finish high school.

00:42:06Just think of it as charity.

00:42:07When we're in college, we'll get jobs and pay you back.

00:42:09My parents didn't even hesitate.

00:42:11They said yes.

00:42:11Paid her private high school tuition.

00:42:13Let her move into the guest room.

00:42:14Covered Columbia's 80-something thousand a year in tuition and housing without blinking.

00:42:18Taylor, I will never forget what your family has done for me.

00:42:20When I graduate and land something on Wall Street, I'll pay back every cent with interest.

00:42:24Turns out this was her version of paying it back.

00:42:28I turned around and called an Uber to JFK Airport.

00:42:40Boyfriend booked the room.

00:42:41$2,000 a night.

00:42:43He wants me to put in the effort tonight.

00:42:44What do you think I should do for him?

00:42:45I thought back to a night three months before the application deadline.

00:42:48I was barely holding it together.

00:42:50I called Ethan.

00:42:52Taylor?

00:42:53Can you come home this weekend?

00:42:54Just once?

00:42:54I really need you.

00:42:55He said no without missing a beat.

00:42:57Taylor, I genuinely can't afford the train ticket right now.

00:42:59You haven't been here yet.

00:43:00You don't know how expensive New York is.

00:43:02There's always something to spend money on.

00:43:04My coursework is brutal.

00:43:05I can't carve out the time.

00:43:07Can you try to be a little more mature about this?

00:43:11Couldn't scrape together a $40 train fare.

00:43:13But a $2,000 hotel suite?

00:43:14No problem.

00:43:15Brutal coursework.

00:43:16Sure.

00:43:17Racing to spend every available minute with my best friend.

00:43:21BFF jealous?

00:43:22I bet you've never stayed in a plaza suite.

00:43:24When you move to New York, I'll have my boyfriend book you your own room for a night.

00:43:27Just you.

00:43:28All to yourself.

00:43:32Reading her smug little mean girl tone, I almost felt sick.

00:43:35I didn't reply.

00:43:40Lexi didn't hear back from Taylor and didn't think much of it.

00:43:43She figured Taylor was just too jealous to respond, which honestly made sense.

00:43:48Lexi had spent the last year living her best college life using Taylor's parents' card, going everywhere with Taylor's boyfriend.

00:43:54And Taylor, still home, hunched over essays.

00:43:59Her main priority now was locking Ethan down for good.

00:44:02She was dying to rub all of it in Taylor's face.

00:44:05But the timing wasn't right yet.

00:44:07For one thing, Ethan still felt guilty about Taylor.

00:44:11He'd been enjoying what she'd essentially handed him.

00:44:13But Lexi could tell, in the back of his mind, Ethan still saw Taylor as the right kind of girl.

00:44:18The one you actually end up with.

00:44:20If she pushed him into a confrontation with Taylor now, there was a real chance Ethan would panic and drop

00:44:25her to try to fix things.

00:44:26That was not the ending she was going for.

00:44:28Her plan was to replace Taylor in his head slowly, step by step, until Ethan was the one who called

00:44:34it.

00:44:34That moment hadn't come yet.

00:44:35And for another thing, she still needed Taylor's parents to cover the rest of her tuition.

00:44:39She could not blow this up too early.

00:44:40Although, Ethan's family had money.

00:44:42Real money.

00:44:42Once she had him fully, tuition would be the least of her problems.

00:44:45She was still running through the fantasy.

00:44:49Who are you texting?

00:44:51Nobody.

00:44:52Ethan.

00:44:53For the next two months, can you stop talking to Taylor?

00:44:55I want you completely to myself.

00:44:57That worshipful, clingy thing she did worked on him every time.

00:45:00He didn't mind giving her that.

00:45:01It was a small ask.

00:45:02She only had two months of being his anyway, officially.

00:45:05After that, he and Taylor had all the time in the word.

00:45:07The volunteer program here is really demanding.

00:45:09There are strict rules around phone use.

00:45:11I'll be hard to reach for a while, slow to respond.

00:45:13Don't worry.

00:45:14I'll pick you up from the airport on move-in day.

00:45:17You're the best.

00:45:19I got that text sitting at my kitchen table eating barbecue.

00:45:23This little...

00:45:24He's still lying to you?

00:45:25Right now?

00:45:26Block him.

00:45:27Block both of them.

00:45:28So disgusting.

00:45:29Done.

00:45:30All blocked.

00:45:30Those two are never touching my life again.

00:45:34Time moved fast.

00:45:35Before long, it was move-in day.

00:45:39The last messages were from the day the results came out.

00:45:42Him telling her not to contact him over the summer.

00:45:46Ethan, I'm finally coming to York to find you.

00:45:48He'd told her not to reach out.

00:45:49Fine.

00:45:50But she'd actually gone the whole summer without sending a single text.

00:45:54Still, today was the day she was flying in.

00:45:57He let it go and started typing.

00:46:01Babe, are you at the airport yet?

00:46:03I'll come get you.

00:46:07He'd been blocked.

00:46:08He figured he'd misread it.

00:46:10What was going on?

00:46:17He called her straight to voicemail.

00:46:20The number you are trying to reach is unavailable.

00:46:26That line, too.

00:46:27Blocked.

00:46:47The day my Columbia acceptance letter arrived, I kept it a secret from everyone.

00:46:51Flew to New York to surprise my boyfriend, Ethan, and my best friend, Lexi.

00:46:54Instead, I overheard them confess it themselves.

00:46:56To keep dating behind my back, they'd altered my application, costing me an entire gap year.

00:47:01Ethan, once Taylor gets here, can we really still be this close?

00:47:05I wish she'd never gotten to Columbia.

00:47:08Don't say that.

00:47:09Don't say that.

00:47:10Last year, to make your birthday wish come true, with the one where you wanted to date me,

00:47:13we snuck into her college application portal and clicked decline offer before decision day.

00:47:18Made her miss the deadline.

00:47:20She had to take a whole gap year because of us.

00:47:22We've been dating here in New York behind her back this entire time.

00:47:24That's already bad enough.

00:47:25When she moves to the city, I'll go back to being her boyfriend.

00:47:28Obviously.

00:47:31So we can still keep meeting like this?

00:47:33In secret?

00:47:33As long as Taylor doesn't find out.

00:47:35Right then, I was standing there.

00:47:36A complete joke.

00:47:37Ethan kept going, comforting her.

00:47:39I promised you a full year as your guy.

00:47:41Not one day less.

00:47:42Your birthday wish kicked in May 1st last year.

00:47:45It runs through May 1st this year.

00:47:47I'll give you an extra three months on top of that.

00:47:49I'm yours.

00:47:50Until the fall semester starts.

00:47:51I already told Taylor I'm staying in New York this summer.

00:47:53To do pre-med clinical volunteering at Mount Simi.

00:47:55Not going home.

00:47:56We'll stay in the city together.

00:47:58Whatever you want to do, I'm there.

00:48:08I thought back to last May 1st.

00:48:10That was Lexi's birthday.

00:48:11It was also the day I found out I was locked out of my dream school for good.

00:48:14I'd stared at my student portal showing offer declined and couldn't believe it.

00:48:17My SAT scores and GPA were the highest out of the three of us.

00:48:20Both of them had gotten into Columbia without a problem.

00:48:22Only me, somehow, impossibly had lost my spot.

00:48:25My parents panicked and called the admissions office.

00:48:27That's when we found out someone had used my account to click decline and cancel the deposit before the deadline.

00:48:32How is that even possible?

00:48:34The admissions rep sounded genuinely sorry.

00:48:36Your record is outstanding.

00:48:38If we'd received the confirmation, you absolutely would have been on the fall roster.

00:48:41But what the system shows us is what it shows us.

00:48:44There's nothing we can do on our end.

00:48:45Is it possible a wrong option was selected during confirmation?

00:48:48I was devastated.

00:48:49I couldn't accept it.

00:48:51And right then, Lexi FaceTimed me.

00:48:52Taylor!

00:48:53My birthday party's starting!

00:48:54Get over here!

00:48:55Ethan's already here!

00:48:56We're just waiting on you!

00:48:57I told them what happened.

00:48:58Lexi went into overdrive trying to make me feel better.

00:49:00Oh my god!

00:49:01How does that even happen?

00:49:02These things happen to everyone sometimes.

00:49:04So what are you gonna do now?

00:49:05If all else fails, pick up some credits at community college and transfer next year?

00:49:09I looked at my parents' worried faces.

00:49:11I thought about four years of work.

00:49:13No.

00:49:14I'm taking a gap year and reapplying.

00:49:16There was a beat of silence on the call.

00:49:17Then Ethan's voice.

00:49:18With your record, community college would be a waste of your time.

00:49:21Focus on reapplying.

00:49:23Lexi and I will be waiting for you at Columbia.

00:49:25Ethan's right.

00:49:26Then my birthday wish this year is for our tailor to get her Columbia offer next year.

00:49:29No problem.

00:49:30Back then, I was so touched, I almost couldn't speak.

00:49:34Turns out every bit of it was something they'd planned together.

00:49:36All of it just to hide what they were doing.

00:49:38To make her real birthday wish come true.

00:49:40Dating my boyfriend.

00:49:43I knew Lexi had a boyfriend once she got to New York.

00:49:45That part didn't surprise me.

00:49:47What I didn't know was that her boyfriend and my boyfriend were the same person.

00:49:50She texted me constantly, every day, sharing little updates about this amazing guy she was seeing.

00:49:55I was home grinding through essays and AP coursework.

00:49:57Every weekend, I'd unlock my phone to a wall of unread messages from her.

00:50:00My boyfriend sat in on my sociology lecture today.

00:50:07The professor called on him randomly, and he completely blanked.

00:50:11I'm dead.

00:50:12He'd been eyeing this vintage turntable for a while, so, drum roll, I bought it for him.

00:50:17We got a hotel room last night.

00:50:19He's so hot.

00:50:22Hey, Taylor, have you and Ethan ever actually done it?

00:50:25No.

00:50:27Ethan and I had made it official on prom night.

00:50:30After that, it was straight into the chaos of application season.

00:50:33There wasn't exactly a lot of time for anything else.

00:50:35And then the whole mess with my acceptance happened.

00:50:37And that killed whatever mood was left.

00:50:38When Lexi heard Ethan and I hadn't gone all the way,

00:50:41she sent back a voice note that was practically a performance.

00:50:43No?

00:50:44No way!

00:50:51Taylor, don't you know?

00:50:52If a guy doesn't even want to sleep with you, he's not actually into you.

00:50:55Oops.

00:50:56Did I say something wrong?

00:50:57I swear I'm not trying to start anything.

00:51:00Looking back, every single one of those messages was loaded.

00:51:03I was too stressed out from applications to catch it at the time.

00:51:06I just changed the subject.

00:51:08Anyway, you move fast.

00:51:10You got a boyfriend your first week of school at some party?

00:51:12What does he look like?

00:51:13Send a pic.

00:51:14Let me see if he's good enough for you.

00:51:16One word.

00:51:17Hot.

00:51:17How hot?

00:51:19Hot enough that the second you saw his face, you'd pass out on the spot.

00:51:22But he hates photos, so no pics for you.

00:51:24And now, standing outside the apartment, watching the two of them together,

00:51:28I genuinely felt a little dizzy.

00:51:30What are you up to?

00:51:36At the hospital doing shadowing, completely slammed.

00:51:39I held down the nausea and replied,

00:51:40Take a pic of the hospital and send it to me.

00:51:44Again?

00:51:45Why does she keep bothering you?

00:51:46She's taking up time that's supposed to be mine.

00:51:48She said it like she was the real girlfriend.

00:51:50Like I was some unhinged stalker.

00:51:53Good thing I'm careful.

00:51:54I got photos of a hospital hallway from an upperclassman ahead of time.

00:51:57Covers it.

00:51:57Lexi still wasn't happy.

00:51:58She pushed a little further.

00:51:59You're that scared of her finding out?

00:52:01You could just tell her about us?

00:52:03If she really cares about you, really thinks of me as her best friend, how could she even be mad?

00:52:08Don't.

00:52:08Whatever's going on between us, she cannot find out.

00:52:11Ever.

00:52:11Lexi read his face and switched gears fast.

00:52:14Okay, okay, forget it.

00:52:15Don't go back to the dorms tonight.

00:52:18Let's do something fun.

00:52:20That desperate?

00:52:25I'll take care of it tonight.

00:52:27ER is slammed.

00:52:28Hospital has strict HIPAA requirements.

00:52:30Phone access is limited until this is over.

00:52:32Don't worry.

00:52:32Love you.

00:52:33I read every word.

00:52:34Then I texted my parents.

00:52:35Mom, Dad, I'm not going to Columbia.

00:52:38I'm accepting MIT's offer.

00:52:43They called immediately.

00:52:45Sweetie, what happened?

00:52:46What changed?

00:52:46You've been talking about Columbia for a year.

00:52:48Being in New York with Lexi and Ethan.

00:52:50Lexi and Ethan are together.

00:52:51My mom pulled a sharp breath on the other end.

00:52:53What?

00:52:54But at prom last year, Ethan was...

00:52:56She stopped herself.

00:52:57Like she just figured something out.

00:52:58Didn't finish the sentence.

00:52:59I was the one reassuring them.

00:53:01My application this year was stronger.

00:53:03I got into MIT.

00:53:04Physics at MIT is better than Columbia by a long shot anyway.

00:53:07I was willing to go to New York because I had people there.

00:53:10Turns out those two aren't worth giving up the top engineering school in the country.

00:53:13I'll talk later.

00:53:14I need to book a flight home.

00:53:15Tonight I want your barbecue.

00:53:16My dad's voice came through, anger barely under control.

00:53:19We were all fooled.

00:53:20Lexi's private high school tuition, her college tuition right now, your mother and I have

00:53:25been paying all of it.

00:53:26If this is how she's going to treat you, we are done being her ATM next semester.

00:53:30Done.

00:53:31Okay.

00:53:31Lexi and I had grown up together.

00:53:33She came from a broken home.

00:53:34Ninth grade.

00:53:35Her parents divorced and moved to separate states.

00:53:37Left her behind.

00:53:38No plan for her education.

00:53:39Nothing.

00:53:39I was the one who begged my parents to step in.

00:53:42Mom, dad, can we please help her?

00:53:44She doesn't even have money to finish high school.

00:53:46Just think of it as charity.

00:53:47When we're in college, we'll get jobs and pay you back.

00:53:49My parents didn't even hesitate.

00:53:51They said yes.

00:53:51Paid her private high school tuition.

00:53:53Let her move into the guest room.

00:53:54Covered Columbia's 80-something thousand a year in tuition and housing without blinking.

00:53:58Taylor, I will never forget what your family has done for me.

00:54:00When I graduate and land something on Wall Street, I'll pay back every cent with interest.

00:54:04Turns out this was her version of paying it back.

00:54:08I turned around and called an Uber to JFK Airport.

00:54:20Boyfriend booked the room.

00:54:21Two thousand dollars a night.

00:54:23He wants me to put in the effort tonight.

00:54:24What do you think I should do for him?

00:54:25I thought back to a night three months before the application deadline.

00:54:28I was barely holding it together.

00:54:30I called Ethan.

00:54:32Taylor?

00:54:32Can you come home this weekend?

00:54:34Just once?

00:54:34I really need you.

00:54:35He said no without missing a beat.

00:54:37Taylor, I genuinely can't afford the train ticket right now.

00:54:39You haven't been here yet.

00:54:40You don't know how expensive New York is.

00:54:42There's always something to spend money on.

00:54:44My coursework is brutal.

00:54:45I can't carve out the time.

00:54:47Can you try to be a little more mature about this?

00:54:51Couldn't scrape together a $40 train fare.

00:54:53But a $2,000 hotel suite?

00:54:54No problem.

00:54:55Brutal coursework.

00:54:56Sure.

00:54:57Racing to spend every available minute with my best friend.

00:55:01BFF Jealous?

00:55:01I bet you've never stayed in a plaza suite.

00:55:04When you move to New York, I'll have my boyfriend book you your own room for a night.

00:55:07Just you, all to yourself.

00:55:12Reading her smug little mean girl tone, I almost felt sick.

00:55:15I didn't reply.

00:55:20Lexi didn't hear back from Taylor and didn't think much of it.

00:55:23She figured Taylor was just too jealous to respond, which honestly made sense.

00:55:28Lexi had spent the last year living her best college life, using Taylor's parents' card,

00:55:32going everywhere with Taylor's boyfriend.

00:55:34And Taylor?

00:55:36Still home, hunched over essays.

00:55:39Her main priority now was locking Ethan down for good.

00:55:42She was dying to rub all of it in Taylor's face.

00:55:45But the timing wasn't right yet.

00:55:47For one thing, Ethan still felt guilty about Taylor.

00:55:51He'd been enjoying what she'd essentially handed him.

00:55:53But Lexi could tell, in the back of his mind, Ethan still saw Taylor as the right kind of girl.

00:55:58The one you actually end up with.

00:56:00If she pushed him into a confrontation with Taylor now,

00:56:03there was a real chance Ethan would panic and drop her to try to fix things.

00:56:06That was not the ending she was going for.

00:56:08Her plan was to replace Taylor in his head slowly, step by step,

00:56:12until Ethan was the one who called it.

00:56:14That moment hadn't come yet.

00:56:15And for another thing, she still needed Taylor's parents to cover the rest of her tuition.

00:56:19She could not blow this up too early.

00:56:20Although Ethan's family had money.

00:56:22Real money.

00:56:22Once she had him fully, tuition would be the least of her problems.

00:56:25She was still running through the fantasy.

00:56:29Who are you texting?

00:56:31Nobody.

00:56:32Ethan.

00:56:33For the next two months, can you stop talking to Taylor?

00:56:35I want you completely to myself.

00:56:37That worshipful, clingy thing she did worked on him every time.

00:56:40He didn't mind giving her that.

00:56:41It was a small ask.

00:56:42She only had two months of being his anyway, officially.

00:56:45After that, he and Taylor had all the time in the word.

00:56:47The volunteer program here is really demanding.

00:56:49There are strict rules around phone use.

00:56:51I'll be hard to reach for a while, slow to respond.

00:56:53Don't worry.

00:56:54I'll pick you up from the airport on move-in day.

00:56:57You're the best.

00:56:59I got that text, sitting at my kitchen table, eating barbecue.

00:57:03This little...

00:57:04He's still lying to you?

00:57:05Right now?

00:57:06Block him.

00:57:07Block both of them.

00:57:08So disgusting.

00:57:09Done.

00:57:10All blocked.

00:57:11Those two are never touching my life again.

00:57:14Time moved fast.

00:57:15Before long, it was move-in day.

00:57:19The last messages were from the day the results came out.

00:57:23Him telling her not to contact him over the summer.

00:57:26Ethan, I'm finally coming to New York to find you.

00:57:28He'd told her not to reach out, fine.

00:57:30But she'd actually gone the whole summer without sending a single text.

00:57:34Still, today was the day she was flying in.

00:57:37He let it go and started typing.

00:57:41Babe, are you at the airport yet?

00:57:43I'll come get you.

00:57:47He'd been blocked.

00:57:48He figured he'd misread it.

00:57:50What was going on?

00:57:57He called her straight to voicemail.

00:58:01The number you are trying to reach is unavailable.

00:58:05That line, too.

00:58:07Blocked.

00:58:27The day my Columbia acceptance letter arrived, I kept it a secret from everyone.

00:58:31Flew to New York to surprise my boyfriend, Ethan, and my best friend, Lexi.

00:58:34Instead, I overheard them confess it themselves.

00:58:36To keep dating behind my back, they'd altered my application, costing me an entire gap year.

00:58:41Ethan, once Taylor gets here, can we really still be this close?

00:58:45I wish she'd never gotten to Columbia.

00:58:48Don't say that.

00:58:49Last year, to make your birthday wish come true, with the one where you wanted to date me,

00:58:53we snuck into her college application portal and clicked decline offer before decision day.

00:58:58Made her miss the deadline.

00:59:00She had to take a whole gap year because of us.

00:59:02We've been dating here in New York behind her back this entire time.

00:59:04That's already bad enough.

00:59:05When she moves to the city, I'll go back to being her boyfriend.

00:59:08Obviously.

00:59:11So we can still keep meeting like this?

00:59:12In secret?

00:59:13As long as Taylor doesn't find out.

00:59:15Right then, I was standing there.

00:59:16A complete joke.

00:59:17Ethan kept going, comforting her.

00:59:19I promised you a full year as your guy.

00:59:21Not one day less.

00:59:22Your birthday wish kicked in May 1st last year.

00:59:25It runs through May 1st this year.

00:59:27I'll give you an extra three months on top of that.

00:59:29I'm yours.

00:59:30Until the fall semester starts.

00:59:31I already told Taylor I'm staying in New York this summer.

00:59:33To do pre-med clinical volunteering at Mount Simi.

00:59:35Not going home.

00:59:36We'll stay in the city together.

00:59:38Whatever you want to do, I'm there.

01:00:09My account to click decline and cancel the deposit before the deadline.

01:00:12How is that even possible?

01:00:14The admissions rep sounded genuinely sorry.

01:00:16Your record is outstanding.

01:00:18If we'd received the confirmation, you absolutely would have been on the fall roster.

01:00:21But what the system shows us is what it shows us.

01:00:24There's nothing we can do on our end.

01:00:25Is it possible a wrong option was selected during confirmation?

01:00:28I was devastated.

01:00:29I couldn't accept it.

01:00:31And right then, Lexi FaceTimed me.

01:00:32Taylor, my birthday party's starting.

01:00:34Get over here.

01:00:35Ethan's already here.

01:00:36We're just waiting on you.

01:00:37I told them what happened.

01:00:38Lexi went into overdrive trying to make me feel better.

01:00:40Oh my god.

01:00:41How does that even happen?

01:00:42These things happen to everyone sometimes.

01:00:44So what are you going to do now?

01:00:45If all else fails, pick up some credits at community college and transfer next year?

01:00:49I looked at my parents' worried faces.

01:00:51I thought about four years of work.

01:00:53No.

01:00:54I'm taking a gap year and reapplying.

01:00:55There was a beat of silence on the call.

01:00:57Then Ethan's voice.

01:00:58With your record, community college would be a waste of your time.

01:01:01Focus on reapplying.

01:01:03Lexi and I will be waiting for you at Columbia.

01:01:05Ethan's right.

01:01:06Then my birthday wish this year is for our tailor to get her Columbia offer next year.

01:01:09No problem.

01:01:10Back then, I was so touched, I almost couldn't speak.

01:01:13Turns out every bit of it was something they'd planned together.

01:01:16All of it just to hide what they were doing.

01:01:18To make her real birthday wish come true.

01:01:20Dating my boyfriend.

01:01:23I knew Lexi had a boyfriend once she got to New York.

01:01:25That part didn't surprise me.

01:01:27What I didn't know was that her boyfriend and my boyfriend were the same person.

01:01:30She texted me constantly, every day, sharing little updates about this amazing guy she was seeing.

01:01:35I was home grinding through essays and AP coursework.

01:01:37Every weekend, I'd unlock my phone to a wall of unread messages for her.

01:01:40My boyfriend sat in on my sociology lecture today.

01:01:47The professor called on him randomly, and he completely blanked.

01:01:51I'm dead.

01:01:52He'd been eyeing this vintage turntable for a while, so, drum roll, I bought it for him.

01:01:57We got a hotel room last night.

01:01:59He's so hot.

01:02:02Hey Taylor, have you and Ethan ever actually done it?

01:02:05No.

01:02:07Ethan and I had made it official on prom night.

01:02:10After that, it was straight into the chaos of application season.

01:02:13There wasn't exactly a lot of time for anything else, and then the whole mess with my acceptance happened.

01:02:17And that killed whatever mood was left.

01:02:18When Lexi heard Ethan and I hadn't gone all the way, she sent back a voice note that was practically

01:02:22a performance.

01:02:23No?

01:02:24No way!

01:02:31Taylor, don't you know?

01:02:32If a guy doesn't even want to sleep with you, he's not actually into you.

01:02:35Oops, did I say something wrong?

01:02:37I swear I'm not trying to start anything.

01:02:40Looking back, every single one of those messages was loaded.

01:02:43I was too stressed out from applications to catch it at the time.

01:02:46I just changed the subject.

01:02:48Anyway, you move fast.

01:02:50You got a boyfriend your first week of school at some party?

01:02:52What does he look like?

01:02:53Send a pic.

01:02:54Let me see if he's good enough for you.

01:02:56One word.

01:02:57Hot.

01:02:57How hot?

01:02:59Hot enough that the second you saw his face, you'd pass out on the spot.

01:03:02But he hates photos, so no pics for you.

01:03:04And now, standing outside the apartment, watching the two of them together, I genuinely felt a little dizzy.

01:03:10What are you up to?

01:03:16At the hospital doing shadowing, completely slammed.

01:03:18I held down the nausea and replied.

01:03:21Take a pic of the hospital and send it to me.

01:03:24Again?

01:03:25Why does she keep bothering you?

01:03:26She's taking up time that's supposed to be mine.

01:03:28She said it like she was the real girlfriend.

01:03:30Like I was some unhinged stalker.

01:03:33Good thing I'm careful.

01:03:34I got photos of a hospital hallway from an upperclassman ahead of time.

01:03:37Covers it.

01:03:37Lexi still wasn't happy.

01:03:38She pushed a little further.

01:03:39You're that scared of her finding out?

01:03:40You could just tell her about us?

01:03:43If she really cares about you, really thinks of me as her best friend, how could she even be mad?

01:03:48Don't.

01:03:48Whatever's going on between us, she cannot find out.

01:03:50Ever.

01:03:51Lexi read his face and switched gears fast.

01:03:54Okay, okay, forget it.

01:03:55Don't go back to the dorms tonight.

01:03:58Let's do something fun.

01:04:00That desperate?

01:04:05I'll take care of it tonight.

01:04:07ER is slammed.

01:04:08Hospital has strict HIPAA requirements.

01:04:10Phone access is limited until this is over.

01:04:12Don't worry.

01:04:12Love you.

01:04:13I read every word.

01:04:14Then I texted my parents.

01:04:15Mom, Dad, I'm not going to Columbia.

01:04:17I'm accepting MIT's offer.

01:04:23They called immediately.

01:04:25Sweetie, what happened?

01:04:26What changed?

01:04:26You've been talking about Columbia for a year.

01:04:28Being in New York with Lexi and Ethan.

01:04:30Lexi and Ethan are together.

01:04:31My mom pulled a sharp breath on the other end.

01:04:33What?

01:04:34But at prom last year, Ethan was...

01:04:36She stopped herself.

01:04:37Like she just figured something out.

01:04:38Didn't finish the sentence.

01:04:39I was the one reassuring them.

01:04:41My application this year was stronger.

01:04:43I got into MIT.

01:04:44Physics at MIT is better than Columbia by a long shot anyway.

01:04:47I was willing to go to New York because I had people there.

01:04:50Turns out those two aren't worth giving up the top engineering school in the country.

01:04:53I'll talk later.

01:04:54I need to book a flight home.

01:04:55Tonight, I want your barbecue.

01:04:56My dad's voice came through, anger barely under control.

01:04:59We were all fooled.

01:05:00Lexi's private high school tuition, her college tuition right now.

01:05:04Your mother and I have been paying all of it.

01:05:06If this is how she's going to treat you, we are done being her ATM next semester.

01:05:10Done.

01:05:11Okay.

01:05:11Lexi and I had grown up together.

01:05:13She came from a broken home.

01:05:14Ninth grade.

01:05:15Her parents divorced and moved to separate states.

01:05:17Left her behind.

01:05:18No plan for her education.

01:05:19Nothing.

01:05:19I was the one who begged my parents to step in.

01:05:22Mom, dad, can we please help her?

01:05:24She doesn't even have money to finish high school.

01:05:26Just think of it as charity.

01:05:27When we're in college, we'll get jobs and pay you back.

01:05:29My parents didn't even hesitate.

01:05:31They said yes.

01:05:31Paid her private high school tuition.

01:05:33Let her move into the guest room.

01:05:34Covered Columbia's 80-something thousand a year in tuition and housing without blinking.

01:05:38Taylor, I will never forget what your family has done for me.

01:05:40When I graduate and land something on Wall Street, I'll pay back every cent with interest.

01:05:44Turns out this was her version of paying it back.

01:05:48I turned around and called an Uber to JFK Airport.

01:06:00Boyfriend booked the room.

01:06:01$2,000 a night.

01:06:02He wants me to put in the effort tonight.

01:06:04What do you think I should do for him?

01:06:05I thought back to a night three months before the application deadline.

01:06:08I was barely holding it together.

01:06:10I called Ethan.

01:06:12Taylor?

01:06:12Can you come home this weekend?

01:06:14Just once?

01:06:14I really need you.

01:06:15He said no without missing a beat.

01:06:17Taylor, I genuinely can't afford the train ticket right now.

01:06:19You haven't been here yet.

01:06:20You don't know how expensive New York is.

01:06:22There's always something to spend money on.

01:06:24My coursework is brutal.

01:06:25I can't carve out the time.

01:06:27Can you try to be a little more mature about this?

01:06:31Couldn't scrape together a $40 train fare.

01:06:33But a $2,000 hotel suite?

01:06:34No problem.

01:06:35Brutal coursework.

01:06:36Sure.

01:06:37Racing to spend every available minute with my best friend.

01:06:41BFF Jealous?

01:06:41I bet you've never stayed in a plaza suite.

01:06:44When you move to New York, I'll have my boyfriend book you your own room for a night.

01:06:47Just you.

01:06:48All to yourself.

01:06:52Reading her smug little mean girl tone, I almost felt sick.

01:06:55I didn't reply.

01:07:00Lexi didn't hear back from Taylor and didn't think much of it.

01:07:03She figured Taylor was just too jealous to respond, which honestly made sense.

01:07:08Lexi had spent the last year living her best college life, using Taylor's parents' card,

01:07:12going everywhere with Taylor's boyfriend.

01:07:14And Taylor, still home, hunched over essays.

01:07:19Her main priority now was locking Ethan down for good.

01:07:22She was dying to rub all of it in Taylor's face.

01:07:25But the timing wasn't right yet.

01:07:27For one thing, Ethan still felt guilty about Taylor.

01:07:30He'd been enjoying what she'd essentially handed him.

01:07:33But Lexi could tell, in the back of his mind, Ethan still saw Taylor as the right kind of girl.

01:07:38The one you actually end up with.

01:07:40If she pushed him into a confrontation with Taylor now,

01:07:43there was a real chance Ethan would panic and drop her to try to fix things.

01:07:46That was not the ending she was going for.

01:07:48Her plan was to replace Taylor in his head slowly, step by step,

01:07:52until Ethan was the one who called it.

01:07:54That moment hadn't come yet.

01:07:55And for another thing, she still needed Taylor's parents to cover the rest of her tuition.

01:07:59She could not blow this up too early.

01:08:00Although, Ethan's family had money.

01:08:02Real money.

01:08:02Once she had him fully, tuition would be the least of her problems.

01:08:05She was still running through the fantasy.

01:08:09Who are you texting?

01:08:12Nobody, Ethan.

01:08:13For the next two months, can you stop talking to Taylor?

01:08:15I want you completely to myself.

01:08:17That worshipful, clingy thing she did worked on him every time.

01:08:20He didn't mind giving her that.

01:08:21It was a small ask.

01:08:22She only had two months of being his anyway, officially.

01:08:25After that, he and Taylor had all the tea in the word.

01:08:27The volunteer program here is really demanding.

01:08:29There are strict rules around phone use.

01:08:31I'll be hard to reach for a while, slow to respond.

01:08:33Don't worry.

01:08:34I'll pick you up from the airport on move-in day.

01:08:37You're the best.

01:08:39I got that text, sitting at my kitchen table, eating barbecue.

01:08:43This little...

01:08:44He's still lying to you?

01:08:45Right now?

01:08:46Block him.

01:08:47Block both of them.

01:08:48So disgusting.

01:08:49Done.

01:08:50All blocked.

01:08:51Those two are never touching my life again.

01:08:54Time moved fast.

01:08:55Before long, it was move-in day.

01:08:59The last messages were from the day the results came out.

01:09:02Him telling her not to contact him over the summer.

01:09:06Ethan, I'm finally coming to New York to find you.

01:09:08He'd told her not to reach out, fine.

01:09:10But she'd actually gone the whole summer without sending a single text.

01:09:14Still, today was the day she was flying in.

01:09:17He let it go and started typing.

01:09:21Babe, are you at the airport yet?

01:09:23I'll come get you.

01:09:27He'd been blocked.

01:09:28He figured he'd misread it.

01:09:30What was going on?

01:09:37He called her straight to voicemail.

01:09:41The number you are trying to reach is unavailable.

01:09:45That line, too.

01:09:47Blocked.

01:09:53The number you are trying to reach.

01:09:57You

[Eng Sub] Watch Forward Without Him Free 🗽 Best Friend Betrayal | Dailymotion #ReelShort

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