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💬 "I altered her application... she missed the deadline."
💬 "I'll stay with you till fall, then go back to Taylor."
Imagine flying all the way to New York to celebrate your acceptance to Columbia, only to overhear THIS outside their door. 🌧️ No screaming, no dramatic tears—just the cold realization that her entire life was a lie. A one-year secret affair, a stolen future. It's time for Taylor to step out of the shadows and move forward. Without him. 🚇
⭐GENRE: Campus, Caught Cheating
🌎For FULL HD Episodes on ReelShort site:🔗 https://www.reelshort.com/movie/forward-without-him-6ab3cc6bccf5221f6c029385
🍁Notice: Guilty Sheets Hub is an officially authorized publisher of ReelShort content.
💬 "I altered her application... she missed the deadline."
💬 "I'll stay with you till fall, then go back to Taylor."
Imagine flying all the way to New York to celebrate your acceptance to Columbia, only to overhear THIS outside their door. 🌧️ No screaming, no dramatic tears—just the cold realization that her entire life was a lie. A one-year secret affair, a stolen future. It's time for Taylor to step out of the shadows and move forward. Without him. 🚇
⭐GENRE: Campus, Caught Cheating
类别
🎥
微电影文字稿
00:00:07Boyfriend booked the room. $2,000 a night. He wants me to put in the effort tonight.
00:00:11What do you think I should do for him?
00:00:12I thought back to a night three months before the application deadline.
00:00:15I was barely holding it together. I called Ethan.
00:00:18Taylor?
00:00:19Can you come home this weekend? Just once? I really need you.
00:00:22He said no without missing a beat.
00:00:23Taylor, I genuinely can't afford the train ticket right now.
00:00:26You haven't been here yet. You don't know how expensive New York is.
00:00:28There's always something to spend money on.
00:00:30My coursework is brutal. I can't carve out the time.
00:00:33Can you try to be a little more mature about this?
00:00:37Couldn't scrape together a $40 train fare.
00:00:39But a $2,000 hotel suite? No problem.
00:00:42Brutal coursework.
00:00:43Sure.
00:00:43Racing to spend every available minute with my best friend.
00:00:47BFF jealous? I bet you've never stayed in a plaza suite.
00:00:50When you move to New York, I'll have my boyfriend book you your own room for a night.
00:00:53Just you, all to yourself.
00:00:58Reading her smug little mean girl tone, I almost felt sick.
00:01:01I didn't reply.
00:01:09The day my Columbia acceptance letter arrived, I kept it a secret from everyone.
00:01:13Flew to New York to surprise my boyfriend Ethan and my best friend Lexi.
00:01:16Instead, I overheard them confess it themselves to keep dating behind my back.
00:01:20They'd altered my application, costing me an entire gap year.
00:01:23Ethan, once Taylor gets here, can we really still be this close?
00:01:27I wish you'd never gotten to Columbia.
00:01:30Don't say that.
00:01:31Last year, to make your birthday wish come true, you're the one where you wanted to date me.
00:01:35We snuck into her college application portal and clicked the client offer before decision day.
00:01:40Made her miss the deadline.
00:01:42She had to take a whole gap year because of us.
00:01:44We've been dating here in New York behind her back this entire time.
00:01:46It's already bad enough.
00:01:47When she moves to the city, I'll go back to meet your boyfriend.
00:01:50Obviously.
00:01:53So we can still keep meeting like this?
00:01:55In secret?
00:01:55As long as Taylor doesn't find out.
00:01:57Right then, I was standing there.
00:01:58A complete joke.
00:01:59Ethan kept going, comforting her.
00:02:01I promised you a full year as your guy.
00:02:03Not one day less.
00:02:04Your birthday wish kicked in May 1st last year.
00:02:07It runs through May 1st this year.
00:02:09I'll give you an extra three months on top of that.
00:02:11I'm yours.
00:02:12Until the fall semester starts.
00:02:13I already told Taylor I'm staying in New York this summer.
00:02:15To do pre-med clinical volunteering at Mount Simai.
00:02:17Not going home.
00:02:18We'll stay in the city together.
00:02:19Whatever you want to do, I'm there.
00:02:30I thought back to last May 1st.
00:02:32That was Lexi's birthday.
00:02:33It was also the day I found out I was locked out of my dream school for good.
00:02:36I'd stared at my student portal showing offer declined and couldn't believe it.
00:02:39My SAT scores and GPA were the highest out of the three of us.
00:02:42Both of them had gotten into Columbia without a problem.
00:02:44Only me, somehow, impossibly, had lost my spot.
00:02:47My parents panicked and called the admissions office.
00:02:49That's when we found out someone had used my account to click decline and cancel the deposit before the deadline.
00:02:54How is that even possible?
00:02:56The admissions rep sounded genuinely sorry.
00:02:58Your record is outstanding.
00:03:00If we'd received the confirmation, you absolutely would have been on the fall roster.
00:03:03But what the system shows us is what it shows us.
00:03:06There's nothing we can do on our end.
00:03:07Is it possible a wrong option to select a drag confirmation?
00:03:10I was devastated.
00:03:11I couldn't accept it.
00:03:12And right along, Lexi facetimed it.
00:03:14Stealer!
00:03:15My birthday party's starting!
00:03:16Get over here!
00:03:17Ethan's already here!
00:03:18We're just waiting on you!
00:03:18I told them what happened.
00:03:20Lexi went into overdrive trying to make me feel better.
00:03:22Oh my god!
00:03:23How does that even happen?
00:03:24These things happen to everyone sometimes.
00:03:26So what are you going to do now?
00:03:28If all else fails, pick up some credits at Community College and transfer next year?
00:03:31I looked at my parents' worried faces.
00:03:33I thought about four years of work.
00:03:35No.
00:03:36I'm taking a gap year and reapplying.
00:03:37There was a beat of silence on the call.
00:03:39Then Ethan's voice.
00:03:40With your record, Community College would be a waste of your time.
00:03:43Focus on reapplying.
00:03:45Lexi and I will be waiting for you at Columbia.
00:03:47Ethan's right.
00:03:48Then my birthday wish this year is for our tailor to get her Columbia offer next year.
00:03:51No problem.
00:03:52Back then, I was so touched I almost couldn't speak.
00:03:56Turns out every bit of it was something they'd planned together.
00:03:58All of it just to hide what they were doing.
00:04:00To make her real birthday wish come true.
00:04:02Dating my boyfriend.
00:04:05I knew Lexi had a boyfriend once she got to New York.
00:04:07That part didn't surprise me.
00:04:09What I didn't know was that her boyfriend and my boyfriend were the same person.
00:04:12She texted me constantly.
00:04:14Every day sharing little updates about this amazing guy she was seeing.
00:04:17I was home grinding through essays and AP coursework.
00:04:19Every weekend I'd unlock my phone to a wall of unread messages from her.
00:04:22My boyfriend sat in on my sociology lecture today.
00:04:29The professor called on him randomly and he completely blanked.
00:04:33I'm dead.
00:04:34He'd been eyeing this vintage turntable for a while so, drum roll, I bought it for him.
00:04:39We got a hotel room last night.
00:04:41He's so hot.
00:04:44Hey Taylor, have you and Ethan ever actually done it?
00:04:47No.
00:04:48Ethan and I had made it official on prom night.
00:04:52After that it was straight into the chaos of application season.
00:04:55There wasn't exactly a lot of time for anything else.
00:04:57And then the whole mess with my acceptance happened.
00:04:59And that killed whatever mood was left.
00:05:00When Lexi heard Ethan and I hadn't gone all the way, she sent back a voice note that was practically
00:05:04a performance.
00:05:05No?
00:05:06No way!
00:05:13Taylor, don't you know?
00:05:14If a guy doesn't even want to sleep with you, he's not actually into you.
00:05:17Oops, did I say something wrong?
00:05:19I swear I'm not trying to start anything.
00:05:22Looking back, every single one of those messages was loaded.
00:05:25I was too stressed out from applications to catch it at the time.
00:05:28I just changed the subject.
00:05:30Anyway, you move fast.
00:05:32You got a boyfriend your first week of school at some party?
00:05:34What does he look like?
00:05:35Send a pic.
00:05:36Let me see if he's good enough for you.
00:05:38One word.
00:05:39Hot.
00:05:39How hot?
00:05:40Hot enough that the second you saw his face, you'd pass out on the spot.
00:05:43But he hates photos, so no pics for him.
00:05:46And now, standing outside the apartment watching the two of them together, I genuinely felt a little dizzy.
00:05:52What are you up to?
00:05:58At the hospital doing shadowing, completely slammed.
00:06:01I held down the nausea and replied,
00:06:03Take a pic of the hospital and send it to me.
00:06:06Again?
00:06:07Why does she keep bothering you?
00:06:08She's taking up time that's supposed to be mine.
00:06:10She said it like she was the real girlfriend.
00:06:12Like I was some unhinged stalker.
00:06:15Good thing I'm careful.
00:06:16I got photos of a hospital hallway from an upperclassman ahead of time.
00:06:19Covers it.
00:06:19Lexi still wasn't happy.
00:06:20She pushed a little further.
00:06:21You're that scared of her finding out?
00:06:23You could just...
00:06:23tell her about us?
00:06:25If she really cares about you, really thinks of me as her best friend,
00:06:28how could she even be mad?
00:06:30Don't.
00:06:30Whatever's going on between us, she cannot find out.
00:06:33Ever.
00:06:33Lexi read his face and switched gears fast.
00:06:36Okay, okay, forget it.
00:06:37Don't go back to the dorms tonight.
00:06:40Let's do something fun.
00:06:42That desperate?
00:06:47I'll take care of it tonight.
00:06:49ER is slammed.
00:06:50Hospital has strict HIPAA requirements.
00:06:52Phone access is limited until this is over.
00:06:54Don't worry.
00:06:54Love you.
00:06:55I read every word.
00:06:56Then I texted my parents.
00:06:57Mom, Dad, I'm not going to Columbia.
00:07:00I'm accepting MIT's offer.
00:07:05They called immediately.
00:07:07Sweetie, what happened?
00:07:08What changed?
00:07:08You've been talking about Columbia for a year.
00:07:10Being in New York with Lexi and Ethan.
00:07:12Lexi and Ethan are together.
00:07:13My mom filled a sharp breath on the other end.
00:07:15What?
00:07:16But at prom last year, Ethan was...
00:07:18She stopped herself.
00:07:19Like she'd just figured something out.
00:07:20Didn't finish the sentence.
00:07:21I was the one reassuring them.
00:07:23My application this year was stronger.
00:07:25I got into MIT.
00:07:26Physics at MIT is better than Columbia by a long shot anyway.
00:07:28I was willing to go to New York because I had people there.
00:07:32Turns out those two aren't worth giving up the top engineering school in the country.
00:07:35I'll talk later.
00:07:36I need to book a flight home.
00:07:37Tonight I want your barbecue.
00:07:38My dad's voice came through, anger barely under control.
00:07:41We were all fooled.
00:07:42Lexi's private high school tuition.
00:07:44Her college tuition right now.
00:07:46Your mother and I have been paying all of it.
00:07:48If this is how she's going to treat you, we are done being her ATM next semester.
00:07:52Done.
00:07:53Okay.
00:07:53Lexi and I had grown up together.
00:07:55She came from a broken home.
00:07:56Ninth grade.
00:07:57Her parents divorced and moved to separate states.
00:07:59Left her behind.
00:08:00No plan for her education.
00:08:01Nothing.
00:08:02I was the one who begged my parents to step in.
00:08:04Mom, Dad, can we please help her?
00:08:06She doesn't even have money to finish high school.
00:08:08Just think of it as charity.
00:08:09When we're in college, we'll get jobs and pay you back.
00:08:11My parents didn't even hesitate.
00:08:13They said yes.
00:08:13Paid her private high school tuition.
00:08:15Let her move into the guest room.
00:08:16Covered Columbia's 80-something thousand a year in tuition and housing without blinking.
00:08:20Taylor, I will never forget what your family has done for me.
00:08:22When I graduate and land something on Wall Street, I'll pay back every cent with interest.
00:08:26Turns out this was her version of paying it back.
00:08:30I turned around and called an Uber to JFK Airport.
00:08:42Boyfriend booked the room.
00:08:43Two thousand dollars a night.
00:08:44He wants me to put in the effort tonight.
00:08:46What do you think I should do for him?
00:08:47I thought back to a night three months before the application deadline.
00:08:50I was barely holding it together.
00:08:52I called Ethan.
00:08:54Taylor?
00:08:54Can you come home this weekend?
00:08:56Just once?
00:08:56I really need you.
00:08:57He said no without missing a minute.
00:08:59Taylor, I genuinely can't afford the train ticket right now.
00:09:01You haven't been here yet.
00:09:02You don't know how expensive New York is.
00:09:04There's always something to spend money on.
00:09:06My coursework is brutal.
00:09:07I can't carve out the time.
00:09:09Can you try to be a little more mature about this?
00:09:12I couldn't scrape together a forty dollar train fare.
00:09:15But a two thousand dollar hotel suite?
00:09:16No problem.
00:09:17Brutal coursework.
00:09:18Sure.
00:09:19Racing to spend every available minute with my best friend.
00:09:23BFF jealous?
00:09:24I bet you've never stayed in a plaza suite.
00:09:26When you move to New York, I'll have my boyfriend book you your own room for a night.
00:09:29Just you, all to yourself.
00:09:30I really did.
00:09:32I really did.
00:09:32I really did.
00:09:33I really did.
00:09:34Reading her smug little mean girl tone, I almost felt sick.
00:09:37I didn't reply.
00:09:42Lexi didn't hear back from Taylor and didn't think much about it.
00:09:45She figured Taylor was just too jealous to respond.
00:09:48Which honestly made sense.
00:09:50Lexi had spent the last year living her best college life using Taylor's parents' card,
00:09:54going everywhere with Taylor's boyfriend.
00:09:56And Taylor?
00:09:57Still home, hunched over essays.
00:10:01Her main priority now was locking Ethan down for good.
00:10:04She was dying to rub all of it in Taylor's face.
00:10:07But the timing wasn't right yet.
00:10:09For one thing, Ethan still felt guilty about Taylor.
00:10:13He'd been enjoying what she'd essentially handed him.
00:10:15But Lexi could tell, in the back of his mind,
00:10:18Ethan still saw Taylor as the right kind of girl.
00:10:20The one you actually end up with.
00:10:22If she pushed him into a confrontation with Taylor now,
00:10:25there was a real chance Ethan would panic and drop her to try to fix things.
00:10:28That was not the ending she was going for.
00:10:30Her plan was to replace Taylor in his head slowly, step by step,
00:10:34until Ethan was the one who called it.
00:10:36That moment hadn't come to her.
00:10:37And for another minute,
00:10:38she still needed Taylor's parents to cover the rest of the tuition.
00:10:41She could not wait to settle for him.
00:10:42Although Ethan's family,
00:10:44either.
00:10:44Once she had him calling,
00:10:46tuition refused to work for tears.
00:10:47She was still running through the press.
00:10:51When he texted me.
00:10:53Nobody.
00:10:54In the next two months,
00:10:56can you stop talking to Taylor?
00:10:57I want you completely to listen.
00:10:59That worshipful cleaning thing she did worked hard.
00:11:02He didn't mind getting her with her.
00:11:03It was a small and easy.
00:11:04She only had two months of being his anyway, officially.
00:11:07After that, he and Taylor had all the time in the morning.
00:11:08A volunteer program here is really difficult.
00:11:11There are strict rules or infertions.
00:11:13It'll be hard to reach for a while to slow respond.
00:11:15Don't worry.
00:11:16I'll pick you up from the airport.
00:11:17I'm moving back.
00:11:19You lost.
00:11:21I got that text sitting at my kitchen table eating barbecue.
00:11:25He's still lying to you?
00:11:27Right now?
00:11:28Block him.
00:11:29Block both of them.
00:11:30So disgusting.
00:11:31Done.
00:11:32All blocked.
00:11:33Those two are never touching my life again.
00:11:36Time moved fast.
00:11:37Before long, it was move-in day.
00:11:41The last messages were from the day the results came out.
00:11:44Him telling her not to contact him over the summer.
00:11:48Ethan, I'm finally coming to New York to find you.
00:11:50He'd told her not to reach out.
00:11:51Fine.
00:11:52But she'd actually gone the whole summer without sending a single text.
00:11:57Still, today was the day she was flying in.
00:11:59He let it go and started typing.
00:12:03Babe, are you at the airport yet?
00:12:04I'll come get you.
00:12:09He'd been blocked.
00:12:10He figured he'd misread it.
00:12:12What was going on?
00:12:19He called her straight to voicemail.
00:12:22What we're trying to reach is unavailable.
00:12:27That line too.
00:12:29Blocked.
00:12:40Boyfriend booked the room.
00:12:40Two thousand dollars a night.
00:12:42He wants me to put in the effort tonight.
00:12:43What do you think I should do for him?
00:12:45I thought back to a night three months before the application deadline.
00:12:48I was barely holding it together.
00:12:49I called Ethan.
00:12:51Taylor?
00:12:52Can you come home this weekend? Just once?
00:12:54I really need you.
00:12:55He said no without missing a beat.
00:12:56Taylor, I genuinely can't afford the train ticket right now.
00:12:59You haven't been here yet.
00:12:59You don't know how expensive New York is.
00:13:01There's always something to spend money on.
00:13:03My coursework is brutal.
00:13:05I can't carve out the time.
00:13:06Can you try to be a little more mature about this?
00:13:10Couldn't scrape together a forty dollar train fare.
00:13:12But a two thousand dollar hotel suite?
00:13:14No problem.
00:13:15Brutal coursework.
00:13:16Sure.
00:13:16Racing to spend every available minute with my best friend.
00:13:20BFF jealous?
00:13:21I bet you've never stayed in a plaza suite.
00:13:23When you move to New York,
00:13:24I'll have my boyfriend book you your own room for a night.
00:13:26Just you.
00:13:27All to yourself.
00:13:31Reading her smug little mean girl tone,
00:13:33I almost felt sick.
00:13:34I didn't reply.
00:13:42The day my Columbia acceptance letter arrived,
00:13:44I kept it a secret from everyone.
00:13:46Flew to New York to surprise my boyfriend Ethan,
00:13:48and my best friend Lexi.
00:13:49Instead, I overheard them confess it themselves.
00:13:51To keep dating behind my back,
00:13:53they'd altered my application,
00:13:54costing me an entire gap year.
00:13:56Ethan,
00:13:57once Taylor gets here,
00:13:58can we really still be this close?
00:14:00I wish she'd never gotten to Columbia.
00:14:03Don't say that.
00:14:04Last year,
00:14:05to make your birthday wish come true,
00:14:07with the one where you wanted to date me,
00:14:08we snuck into her college application portal
00:14:10and clicked decline offer before decision day.
00:14:13Made her miss the deadline.
00:14:15She had to take a whole gap year because of us.
00:14:17We've been dating here in New York behind her back this entire time.
00:14:19That's already bad enough.
00:14:20When she moves to the city,
00:14:21I'll go back to being her boyfriend.
00:14:23Obviously.
00:14:25So we can still keep meeting like this?
00:14:27In secret?
00:14:28As long as Taylor doesn't find out.
00:14:30Right then,
00:14:30I was standing there.
00:14:31A complete joke.
00:14:32Ethan kept going,
00:14:33comforting her.
00:14:34I promised you a full year as your guide.
00:14:36Not one day less.
00:14:37Your birthday wish kicked in May 1st last year.
00:14:40It runs through May 1st this year.
00:14:42I'll give you an extra three months on top of that.
00:14:43I'm yours.
00:14:45Until the fall semester starts.
00:14:46I already told Taylor I was standing in work this summer.
00:14:48To do pre-med clinical volunteering around Sinai.
00:14:50Not going home.
00:14:51Stay in the city together.
00:14:53Whatever you want to do,
00:14:54I'm there.
00:15:03I thought back to last May 1st.
00:15:04That was Lexi's birthday.
00:15:06It was also the day I found out I was locked out of my dream school for good.
00:15:09I'd stared at my student portal showing offer declined.
00:15:11I couldn't believe it.
00:15:12My SAT scores and GPA were the highest out of the three of us.
00:15:15Both of them had gotten into Columbia without a problem.
00:15:17Only me somehow impossibly had lost my spot.
00:15:20My parents panicked and called the admissions office.
00:15:22That's when we found out someone had used my account to click decline
00:15:25and cancel the deposit before the deadline.
00:15:27How is that even possible?
00:15:29The admissions rep sounded genuinely sorry.
00:15:31Your record is outstanding.
00:15:33If we'd received the confirmation,
00:15:34you absolutely would have been on the fall roster.
00:15:36But what the system shows us is what it shows us.
00:15:39There's nothing we can do on our end.
00:15:40Is it possible a wrong option was selected during confirmation?
00:15:43I was devastated.
00:15:44I couldn't accept it.
00:15:45And right then, Lexi FaceTimed me.
00:15:47Taylor!
00:15:48My birthday party's starting!
00:15:49Get over here!
00:15:50Ethan's already here!
00:15:50We're just waiting on you!
00:15:51I told them what happened.
00:15:53Lexi went into overdrive trying to make me feel better.
00:15:55Oh my god!
00:15:56How does that even happen?
00:15:58These things happen to everyone sometimes.
00:15:59So what are you gonna do now?
00:16:00If all else fails, pick up some credits at community college and transfer next year?
00:16:04I looked at my parents' worried faces.
00:16:06I thought about four years of work.
00:16:08No.
00:16:08I'm taking a gap year and reapplying.
00:16:10There was a beat of silence on the call, then Ethan's voice.
00:16:13With your record, community college would be a waste of your time.
00:16:16Focus on reapplying.
00:16:18Lexi and I will be waiting for you at Columbia.
00:16:20Ethan's right.
00:16:21Then my birthday wish this year is for our Taylor to get her Columbia offer next year.
00:16:24No problem.
00:16:25Back then, I was so touched I almost couldn't speak.
00:16:28Turns out every bit of it was something they'd planned together.
00:16:31All of it just to hide what they were doing.
00:16:33To make her real birthday wish come true.
00:16:35Dating my boyfriend.
00:16:38I knew Lexi had a boyfriend once she got to New York.
00:16:40That part didn't surprise me.
00:16:42What I didn't know was that her boyfriend and my boyfriend were the same person.
00:16:45She texted me constantly.
00:16:47Every day, sharing little updates about this amazing guy she was seeing.
00:16:50I was home grinding through essays and AP coursework.
00:16:52Every weekend, I'd unlock my phone to a wall of unread messages.
00:16:55My boyfriend sat in on my sociology lecture today.
00:17:02The professor called on him randomly, and he completely blanked.
00:17:06I'm dead.
00:17:07He'd been eyeing this vintage turntable for a while, so, drum roll, I bought it for him.
00:17:12We got a hotel room last night. He's so hot.
00:17:17Hey Taylor, have you and Ethan ever actually done it?
00:17:20No.
00:17:22Ethan and I had made it official on prom night.
00:17:25After that, it was straight into the chaos of application season.
00:17:28There wasn't exactly a lot of time for anything else.
00:17:30And then the whole mess with my acceptance happened.
00:17:32And that killed whatever mood was left.
00:17:33When Lexi heard Ethan and I hadn't gone all the way,
00:17:35she sent back a voice note that was practically a performance.
00:17:38No!
00:17:39No way!
00:17:46Taylor, don't you know, the guy doesn't even want to sleep with you, he's not actually into you.
00:17:50Did I say something wrong?
00:17:52I swear I'm not trying to start anything.
00:17:55Looking back, every single one of those messages was loaded.
00:17:58I was too stressed out from applications to catch it at the time.
00:18:01I just changed the subject.
00:18:03Anyway, you move fast.
00:18:05You got a boyfriend your first week of school at some party?
00:18:07What does he look like?
00:18:08Send a pic.
00:18:09Let me see if he's good enough for you.
00:18:11One word.
00:18:12Hot.
00:18:12How hot?
00:18:14Hot enough that the second you saw his face, you'd pass out on the spot.
00:18:17But he hates photos, so no pics for you.
00:18:19And now, standing outside the apartment watching the two of them together,
00:18:23I genuinely felt a little dizzy.
00:18:25What are you up to?
00:18:31At the hospital doing shadowing, completely slammed.
00:18:33I held down the nausea and replied,
00:18:35Take a pic of the hospital and send it to me.
00:18:39Again?
00:18:40Why does she keep bothering you?
00:18:41She's taking up time that's supposed to be mine.
00:18:43She said it like she was the real girlfriend.
00:18:45Like I was some unhinged stalker.
00:18:48Good thing I'm careful.
00:18:49I got photos of a hospital hallway from an upper-classman ahead of time.
00:18:52It covers it.
00:18:52Lexi still wasn't happy.
00:18:53She pushed a little further.
00:18:54You're that scared of her finding out?
00:18:56You could just tell her about us.
00:18:58If she really cares about you, really thinks of me as her best friend,
00:19:01how could she even be mad?
00:19:03Don't.
00:19:03Whatever's going on between us, she cannot find out.
00:19:06Ever.
00:19:06Lexi read his face and switched gears fast.
00:19:08Okay, okay, forget it.
00:19:10Don't go back to the dorms tonight.
00:19:13Let's do something fun.
00:19:15That desperate?
00:19:20I'll take care of it tonight.
00:19:22ER is slammed.
00:19:23Hospital has strict HIPAA requirements.
00:19:25Phone access is limited until this is over.
00:19:27Don't worry.
00:19:27Love you.
00:19:28I read every word.
00:19:29Then I texted my parents.
00:19:30Mom.
00:19:31Dad.
00:19:31I'm not going to Columbia.
00:19:33I'm accepting MIT's offer.
00:19:38They called immediately.
00:19:40Sweetie, what happened?
00:19:41What changed?
00:19:41You've been talking about Columbia for a year.
00:19:43Being in New York with Lexi and Ethan.
00:19:45Lexi and Ethan are together.
00:19:46My mom pulled a sharp breath on the other end.
00:19:48What?
00:19:49But at prom last year, Ethan was...
00:19:51She stopped herself.
00:19:52Like she just figured something out.
00:19:53Didn't finish the sentence.
00:19:54I was the one reassuring them.
00:19:56My application this year was stronger.
00:19:58I got into MIT.
00:19:59Physics at MIT is better than Columbia by a long shot anyway.
00:20:01I was willing to go to New York because I had people there.
00:20:04Turns out those two aren't worth giving up the top engineering school in the country.
00:20:08I'll talk later.
00:20:09I need to book a flight home.
00:20:10Tonight I want your barbecue.
00:20:11My dad's voice came through, anger barely under control.
00:20:14We were all fooled.
00:20:15Lexi's private high school tuition.
00:20:17Her college tuition right now.
00:20:19Your mother and I have been paying all of it.
00:20:21If this is how she's going to treat you, we are done being her ATM next semester.
00:20:24Done.
00:20:25Okay.
00:20:26Lexi and I had grown up together.
00:20:28She came from a broken home.
00:20:29Ninth grade.
00:20:30Her parents divorced and moved to separate states.
00:20:32Left her behind.
00:20:33No plan for her education.
00:20:34Nothing.
00:20:35I was the one who begged my parents to step in.
00:20:37Mom, Dad, can we please help her?
00:20:38She doesn't even have money to finish high school.
00:20:41Just think of it as charity.
00:20:42When we're in college, we'll get jobs and pay you back.
00:20:44My parents didn't even hesitate.
00:20:46They said yes.
00:20:46Paid her private high school tuition.
00:20:48Let her move into the guest room.
00:20:49Covered Columbia's 80 something thousand a year in tuition and housing without blinking.
00:20:53Taylor, I will never forget what your family has done for me.
00:20:55When I graduate and land something on Wall Street, I'll pay back every cent with interest.
00:20:59Turns out this was her version of paying it back.
00:21:03I turned around and called an Uber to JFK Airport.
00:21:15Boyfriend booked the room.
00:21:16Two thousand dollars a night.
00:21:17He wants me to put in the effort tonight.
00:21:19What do you think I should do for him?
00:21:20I thought back to a night three months before the application deadline.
00:21:23I was barely holding it together.
00:21:25I called Ethan.
00:21:27Taylor?
00:21:27Can you come home this weekend?
00:21:29Just once?
00:21:29I really need you.
00:21:30He said no without missing a point.
00:21:32Taylor, I genuinely can't afford the train ticket right now.
00:21:34You haven't been here yet.
00:21:35You don't know how expensive New York is.
00:21:37There's always something to spend money on.
00:21:39My coursework is brutal.
00:21:40I can't carve out the time.
00:21:42Can you try to be a little more mature about this?
00:21:45I couldn't scrape together a forty dollar train pair.
00:21:48But a two thousand dollar hotel suite?
00:21:49No problem.
00:21:50Really personal.
00:21:51Sure.
00:21:52Racing to spend every available minute with my best friend.
00:21:55BFF jealous?
00:21:56I bet you've never stayed in a plaza suite.
00:21:59When you move to New York, I'll have my boyfriend book you your own room for a night.
00:22:02Just you.
00:22:03All to yourself.
00:22:06Reading her smug little mean girl tone, I almost felt sick.
00:22:10I didn't reply.
00:22:15Lexi didn't hear back from Taylor and didn't think much of it.
00:22:18She figured Taylor was just too jealous to respond.
00:22:21Which honestly made sense.
00:22:23Lexi had spent the last year living her best college life,
00:22:26using Taylor's parents' card, going everywhere with Taylor's boyfriend.
00:22:29And Taylor?
00:22:31Still home, hunched over essays.
00:22:34Her main priority now was locking Ethan around him.
00:22:37She was dying to rub all of it in Taylor's face.
00:22:40But the timing wasn't perfect.
00:22:42For one thing, Ethan still felt guilty about Taylor.
00:22:45He'd been enjoying what she'd essentially made at home.
00:22:48But Lexi could tell, in the back of his mind,
00:22:51Ethan still saw Taylor as the right corner.
00:22:53The one you actually had thought of.
00:22:55If she pushed him into a confrontation with Taylor now,
00:22:58there was a real chance he could get out of his office.
00:23:01That was not planning, she was calling him.
00:23:03Her plan was to replace Taylor in his head slowly,
00:23:06step by style, until Ethan was the one who called him.
00:23:09That moment hadn't come back.
00:23:10And for another thing, she still needed Taylor's parents to cover the rest of her tuition.
00:23:13She could not blow this up to him.
00:23:15Although, Ethan's family had a real home.
00:23:17Once she had him fully, the tuition would be released over the house.
00:23:20She was still running through the fantasy.
00:23:24Who are you texting?
00:23:26Nobody.
00:23:27Nathan.
00:23:28For the next two months, can you stop talking to Taylor?
00:23:30I want you completely to myself.
00:23:32That worshipful, clingy thing she did worked on him every time.
00:23:35He didn't mind giving her that.
00:23:36It was a small ask.
00:23:37She only had two months of being his anyway, officially.
00:23:40After that, he and Taylor had all the time in order.
00:23:41The volunteer program here is really demanding.
00:23:44There are strict rules around phone use.
00:23:46I'll be hard to reach for a while, slow to respond.
00:23:48Don't worry, I'll pick you up from the airport on move-in day.
00:23:52You're the best.
00:23:54I got that text, sitting at my kitchen table, eating barbecue.
00:23:58This little... he's still lying to you? Right now?
00:24:01Block him. Block both of them. So disgusting.
00:24:04Done. All blocked.
00:24:06Those two are never touching my life again.
00:24:09Time moved fast. Before long, it was move-in day.
00:24:14The last messages were from the day the results came out.
00:24:17Him telling her not to contact him over the summer.
00:24:21Ethan, I'm finally coming to New York to find you.
00:24:23He'd told her not to reach out, fine.
00:24:25But she'd actually gone the whole summer without sending a single text.
00:24:29Still, today was the day she was flying in.
00:24:32He let it go and started typing.
00:24:36Babe, are you at the airport yet? I'll come get you.
00:24:42He'd been blocked. He figured he'd misread it.
00:24:45What was going on?
00:24:52He called her straight to voicemail.
00:24:55We were trying to reach unavailable.
00:25:00That line, too. Blocked.
00:25:12Boyfriend booked the room. $2,000 a night. He wants me to put in the effort tonight.
00:25:16What do you think I should do for him?
00:25:18I thought back to a night three months before the application deadline.
00:25:21I was barely holding it together. I called Ethan.
00:25:24Taylor?
00:25:25Can you come home this weekend? Just once? I really need you.
00:25:28He said no without missing it.
00:25:29Taylor, I genuinely can't afford the train ticket right now.
00:25:32You haven't been here yet. You don't know how expensive New York is.
00:25:34There's always something to spend money on.
00:25:36My coursework is brutal. I can't carve out the time.
00:25:39Can you try to be a little more mature about this?
00:25:43I couldn't scrape together a $40 train fare.
00:25:45But a $2,000 hotel suite? No problem.
00:25:48Brutal person. Sure.
00:25:49Racing to spend every variable minute with my best friend.
00:25:53BFF jealous? I bet you've never stayed in a plaza suite.
00:25:56When you move to New York, I'll have my boyfriend book you your own room for a night.
00:25:59Just you, all to yourself.
00:26:04Reading her smug little mean girl tone, I almost felt sick. I didn't reply.
00:26:15The day my Columbia acceptance letter arrived, I kept it a secret from everyone.
00:26:19Flew to New York to surprise my boyfriend Ethan and my best friend Lexi.
00:26:22Instead, I overheard them confess it themselves, to keep dating behind my back.
00:26:26They'd altered my application, costing me an entire gap year.
00:26:29Ethan, once Taylor gets here, can we really still be this close?
00:26:33I wish she'd never gotten to Columbia.
00:26:36Didn't say that.
00:26:37Last year, to make your birthday wish come true,
00:26:40the one where you wanted to date when you first stepped into your college application,
00:26:43or with the client offered before decision day,
00:26:46made her miss the deadline.
00:26:48She had to take a whole gap year because of us,
00:26:50so we've been dating here and you up behind her back this entire time.
00:26:52It's already bad enough.
00:26:53When she moves to the city, I'll go back to me and her boyfriend.
00:26:56Obviously.
00:26:58So we can still keep dating, please?
00:27:01In secret?
00:27:01As long as Taylor doesn't find out.
00:27:03Right then, I was standing there.
00:27:04A complete joke.
00:27:05Ethan kept going, comforting her.
00:27:07I promised you a full year as your guide.
00:27:09Not one day less.
00:27:10Your birthday wish kicked in May 1st last year.
00:27:13It runs through May 1st this year.
00:27:15I'll give you an extra three months on top of all.
00:27:16I'm yours.
00:27:17Until the fall semester starts.
00:27:19I already told Taylor I'm staying at UR this summer.
00:27:21To do pre-med clinical volunteering at Mount Sinai.
00:27:23Not going home.
00:27:24We'll stay in the city together.
00:27:26Whatever you want to do, I'm there.
00:27:35I thought back to last May 1st.
00:27:37That was Lexi's birthday.
00:27:39It was also the day I found out I was locked out of my dream school for good.
00:27:42I'd stared at my student portal showing offer declined and couldn't believe it.
00:27:45My SAT scores and GPA were the highest out of the three of us.
00:27:48Both of them had gotten into Columbia without a problem.
00:27:50Only me, somehow, impossibly had lost my spot.
00:27:53My parents panicked and called the admissions office.
00:27:55That's when we found out someone had used my account to click decline
00:27:58and cancel the deposit before the deadline.
00:28:00How is that even possible?
00:28:02The admissions rep sounded genuinely sorry.
00:28:04Your record is outstanding.
00:28:06If we'd received the confirmation, you absolutely would have been on the fall roster.
00:28:09But what the system shows us is what it shows us.
00:28:12There's nothing we can do on our end.
00:28:13Is it possible a wrong option was selected during confirmation?
00:28:16I was devastated.
00:28:17I couldn't accept it.
00:28:18And right then, Lexi FaceTimed me.
00:28:20Taylor!
00:28:21My birthday party's starting!
00:28:22Get over here!
00:28:22Ethan's already here!
00:28:23We're just waiting on you!
00:28:24I told them what happened.
00:28:26Lexi went into overdrive trying to make me feel better.
00:28:28Oh my god!
00:28:29How does that even happen?
00:28:30These things happen to everyone sometimes.
00:28:32So what are you gonna do now?
00:28:33If all else fails, pick up some credits at Community College and transfer next year?
00:28:37I looked at my parents' worried faces.
00:28:39I thought about four years of work.
00:28:40No.
00:28:41I'm taking a gap year and reapplying.
00:28:43There was a beat of silence on the call, then Ethan's voice.
00:28:46With your record, Community College would be a waste of your time.
00:28:49Focus on reapplying.
00:28:51Lexi and I will be waiting for you at Columbia.
00:28:53Ethan's right.
00:28:54Then my birthday wish this year is for our tailor to get her Columbia offer next year.
00:28:57No problem.
00:28:58Back then, I was so touched I almost couldn't speak.
00:29:01Turns out every bit of it was something they'd planned together.
00:29:04All of it just to hide what they were doing.
00:29:06To make her real birthday wish come true.
00:29:08Dating my boyfriend.
00:29:10I knew Lexi had a boyfriend once she got to New York.
00:29:13That part didn't surprise me.
00:29:15What I didn't know was that her boyfriend and my boyfriend were the same person.
00:29:18She texted me constantly.
00:29:20Every day, sharing little updates about this amazing guy she was seeing.
00:29:23I was home grinding through essays and AP coursework.
00:29:25Every weekend, I'd unlock my phone to a wall of unread messages.
00:29:28My boyfriend sat in on my sociology lecture today.
00:29:35The professor called on him randomly and he completely blanked.
00:29:39I'm dead.
00:29:40He'd been eyeing this vintage turntable for a while so, drum roll, I bought it for him.
00:29:45We got a hotel room last night.
00:29:47It was so hot.
00:29:50Hey Taylor, have you and Ethan ever actually done it?
00:29:53No.
00:29:54Ethan and I had made it official on prom night.
00:29:58After that, it was straight into the chaos of application season.
00:30:01There wasn't exactly a lot of time for anything else.
00:30:03And then the whole mess with my acceptance happened.
00:30:04And that killed whatever mood was left.
00:30:06When Lexi heard Ethan and I hadn't gone all the way,
00:30:08she sent back a voice note that was practically a performance.
00:30:11No?
00:30:12No way!
00:30:19Taylor, don't you know?
00:30:20If a guy doesn't even want to sleep with you, he's not actually into you.
00:30:23Oops.
00:30:24Did I say something wrong?
00:30:25I swear I'm not trying to start anything.
00:30:28Looking back, every single one of those messages was loaded.
00:30:31I was too stressed out from applications to catch it at the time.
00:30:34I just changed the subject.
00:30:36Anyway, you can be fast.
00:30:37You got a boyfriend who first went to school at some party?
00:30:40What does he look like?
00:30:41Send a pic.
00:30:42Let me see if he's good enough for you.
00:30:44One word.
00:30:45Hot.
00:30:45Well hot.
00:30:46Hot enough that the sucker who saw space would pass out on the spot.
00:30:49But he hates photos.
00:30:51So no fake sign.
00:30:52And now, standing outside the apartment watching the two of them together,
00:30:56I genuinely felt a little dizzy.
00:30:58What are you up to?
00:31:04At the hospital doing shadowing, completely slammed.
00:31:06I held down the nausea and replied.
00:31:08Take a pic of the hospital and send it to me.
00:31:12Again?
00:31:13Why does she keep bothering you?
00:31:14She's taking up time that's supposed to be mine.
00:31:16She said it like she was the real girlfriend.
00:31:18Like I was some unhinged stalker.
00:31:21Good thing I'm careful.
00:31:22I got photos of a hospital hallway from an upperclassman ahead of time.
00:31:24It covers it.
00:31:25Lexi still wasn't happy.
00:31:26She pushed a little further.
00:31:27You're that scared of her finding out?
00:31:28You could just tell her about us.
00:31:31If she really cares about you, really thinks of me as her best friend,
00:31:34how could she even be mad?
00:31:36Don't.
00:31:36Whatever's going on between us, she cannot find out.
00:31:38Ever.
00:31:39Lexi read his face and switched gears fast.
00:31:42Okay, okay, forget it.
00:31:43Don't go back to the dorms tonight.
00:31:46Let's do something fun.
00:31:48That desperate?
00:31:53I'll take care of it tonight.
00:31:55ER is slammed.
00:31:56Hospital has strict HIPAA requirements.
00:31:58Phone access is limited until this is over.
00:32:00Don't worry.
00:32:00Love you.
00:32:01I read every word.
00:32:02Then I texted my parents.
00:32:03Mom, Dad, I'm not going to Columbia.
00:32:06I'm accepting MIT's offer.
00:32:11They called immediately.
00:32:13Sweetie, what happened?
00:32:14What changed?
00:32:14You've been talking about Columbia for a year.
00:32:16Being in New York with Lexi and Ethan.
00:32:18Lexi and Ethan are together.
00:32:19My mom pulled a sharp breath on the other end.
00:32:21What?
00:32:22But at prom last year, Ethan was...
00:32:24She stopped herself.
00:32:25Like she just figured something out.
00:32:26Didn't finish the sentence.
00:32:27I was the one reassuring them.
00:32:28My application this year was stronger.
00:32:30I got into MIT.
00:32:32Physics at MIT is better than Columbia by a long shot anyway.
00:32:35I was willing to go to New York because I had people there.
00:32:37Turns out those two aren't worth giving up the top engineering school in the country.
00:32:41I'll talk later.
00:32:42I need to book a flight home.
00:32:43Tonight I want your barbecue.
00:32:44My dad's voice came through, anger barely under control.
00:32:47We were all fooled.
00:32:48Lexi's private high school tuition.
00:32:50Her college tuition right now.
00:32:52Your mother and I have been paying all of it.
00:32:54If this is how she's going to treat you, we are done being her ATM next semester.
00:32:57Done.
00:32:59Okay.
00:32:59Lexi and I had grown up together.
00:33:01She came from a broken home.
00:33:02Ninth grade.
00:33:03Her parents divorced and moved to separate states.
00:33:05Left her behind.
00:33:06No plan for her education.
00:33:07Nothing.
00:33:07I was the one who begged my parents to step in.
00:33:10Mom, Dad, can we please help her?
00:33:11She doesn't even have money to finish high school.
00:33:14Just think of it as charity.
00:33:15When we're in college, we'll get jobs and pay you back.
00:33:17My parents didn't even hesitate.
00:33:19They said yes.
00:33:19Paid her private high school tuition.
00:33:21Let her move into the guest room.
00:33:22Covered Columbia's 80-something thousand a year in tuition and housing without blinking.
00:33:26Taylor, I will never forget what your family has done for me.
00:33:28When I graduate and land something on Wall Street, I'll pay back every cent with interest.
00:33:32Turns out this was her version of paying it back.
00:33:36I turned around and called an Uber to JFK Airport.
00:33:48Boyfriend booked the room.
00:33:49Two thousand dollars a night.
00:33:50He wants me to put in the effort tonight.
00:33:52What do you think I should do for him?
00:33:53I thought back to a night three months before the application deadline.
00:33:56I was barely holding it together.
00:33:57Taylor.
00:33:58I called Ethan.
00:34:00Taylor?
00:34:00Can you come home this weekend?
00:34:01Just once?
00:34:02I really need you.
00:34:03He said no without missing a beat.
00:34:05Taylor, I genuinely can't afford the train ticket right now.
00:34:07You haven't been here yet.
00:34:08You don't know how expensive New York is.
00:34:10There's always something to spend money on.
00:34:12My coursework is brutal.
00:34:13I can't carve out the time.
00:34:15Can you try to be a little more mature about this?
00:34:18I couldn't scrape together a forty dollar train fare.
00:34:21But a two thousand dollar hotel suite?
00:34:22No problem.
00:34:23Brutal coursework.
00:34:24Sure.
00:34:25Racing to spend every available minute with my best friend.
00:34:28VFF jealous?
00:34:29I bet you've never stayed in a plaza suite.
00:34:31When you move to New York, I'll have my boyfriend book you your own room for a night.
00:34:35Just you.
00:34:36All to yourself.
00:34:39Reading her smoke below me while telling me I almost felt sick.
00:34:43I didn't know how to do it.
00:34:44I didn't know how to do it.
00:34:48Lexi didn't hear back from Taylor and didn't encourage her.
00:34:51She figured Taylor was just too jealous to respond.
00:34:54Which honestly made sense.
00:34:56Lexi had spent the last year living her best college life
00:34:58and losing Taylor's parents on earth, going everywhere with Taylor's parents.
00:35:02And Taylor?
00:35:04Still home, hunched over Essence.
00:35:07Her main priority now was locking everything down her.
00:35:10She was dying to rub all of it in Taylor's face.
00:35:13but the timing wasn't wrong for one thing Ethan still felt guilty about Taylor he'd been enjoying
00:35:19what she'd essentially handed him but Lexi could tell in the back of his mind Ethan still saw
00:35:25Taylor as the right kind of girl the one you actually end up with if she pushed him into a
00:35:29confrontation with Taylor now there was a real chance Ethan would panic and drop her to try to
00:35:34fix things that was not the ending she was going for her plan was to replace Taylor in his head
00:35:38slowly step by step until Ethan was the one who called it that moment hadn't come yet and for
00:35:43another thing she still needed Taylor's parents to cover the rest of her tuition she could not blow
00:35:47this up too early although Ethan's family had money real money once she had him fully tuition would
00:35:52be the least of her problems she was still running through the fantasy who are you texting nobody
00:35:59Ethan for the next two months can you stop talking to Taylor I want you completely to myself that
00:36:05worshipful clingy thing she did worked on him every time he didn't mind giving her that it was a small
00:36:10ask she only had two months of being his anyway officially after that he and Taylor had all the
00:36:14day in the word volunteer program here is really demanding there are strict rules around phone use
00:36:18I'll be hard to reach for a while slow to respond don't worry I'll pick you up from the airport
00:36:23on
00:36:23move-in day you're the best I got that text sitting at my kitchen table eating barbecue this little he's
00:36:32still lying to you right now block him block both of them so disgusting done all blocked those two are
00:36:39never touching my life again time moved fast before long it was move-in day
00:36:47the last messages were from the day the results came out him telling her not to contact him over the
00:36:52summer Ethan I'm finally coming New York to find you he told her not to reach out fine but she'd
00:36:59actually gone the whole summer without sending a single text still today was the day she was flying
00:37:05in he let it go and started typing babe are you at the airport yet I'll come get you
00:37:15he'd been blocked he figured he'd misread it what was going on
00:37:25he called her straight to voicemail
00:37:28we are trying to reach unavailable
00:37:33that line too blocked
00:37:45boyfriend booked the room two thousand dollars a night he wants me to put in the effort tonight
00:37:50I thought back to a night three months before the application deadline I was barely holding it
00:37:55together I called Ethan Taylor can you come home this weekend just once I really need you he said no
00:38:01without missing a beat Taylor I genuinely can't afford the train ticket right now you haven't been
00:38:05here yet you don't know how expensive New York is there's always something to spend money on my
00:38:09coursework is brutal I can't carve out the time can you try to be a little more mature about this
00:38:16couldn't scrape together a forty dollar train fare but a two thousand dollar hotel suite no problem
00:38:20brutal coursework sure racing to spend every available minute with my best friend BFF jealous I bet you've
00:38:28never stayed in a plaza suite when you move to New York I'll have my boyfriend book you your own
00:38:31room
00:38:32for a night just you all to yourself
00:38:47the day my Columbia acceptance letter alive I kept it a secret from everyone
00:38:52flew to New York to surprise my boyfriend Ethan and my best friend Lexi instead I overheard them confess it
00:38:57themselves to keep dating behind my back they'd altered my application
00:39:00costing me an entire gap year Ethan once Taylor gets here can we really still be this close
00:39:06if she'd never gotten to the money
00:39:07I can't say that last year to make your birthday wish come true the one where you wanted to date
00:39:14me we snuck into her college application portal and clicked decline offer before decision day
00:39:19made her miss the deadline she had to take a whole gap year because of us we've been dating here
00:39:23in New York behind her back this entire time it's already bad enough when she moves to the city I'll
00:39:28go back to being her boyfriend obviously
00:39:31so we can still keep meeting like this in secret as long as Taylor doesn't find out
00:39:35right then I was standing there a complete joke
00:39:38Ethan kept going comforting her I promised you a full year as your guy not one day less your birthday
00:39:44wish kicked in May 1st last year it runs through May 1st this year
00:39:47I'll give you an extra three months on top of that I'm yours until the fall semester starts I already
00:39:52told Taylor I'm staying in New York this summer to
00:39:54do pre-med clinical volunteering at Mount Simi not going home we'll stay in the city together whatever you want
00:39:59to do I'm there
00:40:08I thought back to last May 1st that was Lexi's birthday it was also the day I found out I
00:40:13was
00:40:13locked out of my dream school for good I'd stared at my student portal showing offer declined and couldn't
00:40:18believe my SAT scores and GPA were the highest out of the three of us both of them had gotten
00:40:21into
00:40:22Columbia without a problem only me somehow impossibly had lost my spot my parents panicked and called the
00:40:27admissions office that's when we found out someone had used my account to click decline and cancel the
00:40:32deposit before the deadline how is that even possible the admissions rep sounded genuinely sorry
00:40:37your record is outstanding if we'd received the confirmation you absolutely would have been on
00:40:41the fall roster but what the system shows us is what it shows us there's nothing we can do on
00:40:46our
00:40:46end is it possible a wrong option was selected during confirmation I was devastated I couldn't accept
00:40:51it and right then Lexi facetimed me Taylor my birthday party's starting get over here
00:40:55Ethan's already here we're just waiting on you I told them what happened Lexi went into overdrive
00:41:00trying to make me feel better oh my god how does that even happen these things happen to everyone
00:41:04sometimes so what are you going to do now if all else fails pick up some credits at community college
00:41:09and transfer next year I looked at my parents worried faces I thought about four years of work
00:41:13no I'm taking a gap year and reapplying there was a beat of silence on call then Ethan's voice
00:41:18with your record community college will be a waste of your time focus on reapplying
00:41:23Lexi and I will be waiting for you at Columbia Ethan's right then my birthday wish this year
00:41:28is for our Taylor to get her Columbia offer next year no problem back then I was so touched
00:41:33I almost couldn't speak it turns out every bit of it was something they planned together all of it
00:41:37just to hide what they were doing to make her real birthday wish come true dating my boyfriend
00:41:43I knew Lexi had a boyfriend once she got to New York that part didn't surprise me what I didn't
00:41:48know was that her boyfriend and my boyfriend were the same person she texted me constantly every day
00:41:53sharing little updates about this amazing guy she was seeing I was home grinding through essays and AP
00:41:57coursework every weekend I'd unlock my phone to a wall of unread messages from her my boyfriend sat in
00:42:02on my sociology lecture today the professor called on him randomly and he completely blanked I'm dead
00:42:12he'd been eyeing this vintage turntable for a while so drumroll I bought it for him we got a hotel
00:42:19room
00:42:19last night he's so hot hey Taylor have you and Ethan ever actually done it no Ethan and I had
00:42:28made it
00:42:29official on prom night after that it was straight into the chaos of application season there wasn't
00:42:34exactly a lot of time for anything else and then the whole mess with my acceptance happened and that killed
00:42:38whatever news was left when Lexi heard Ethan and I hadn't gone all the way she sent back a voice
00:42:42note
00:42:42that was practically a performance no no way
00:42:52dealer don't you know the guy doesn't even want to sleep with you he's not actually into you
00:42:56oops did I say something wrong I swear I'm not trying to start looking back every single one of
00:43:03those messages was loaded I was too stressed out from applications to catch it I just changed the
00:43:08subject anyway you move fast you got a boyfriend your worst week of school at some party what does he
00:43:14look like send a pic let me see if he's good enough for you one word hot how hot hot
00:43:20enough when the
00:43:20second you saw space you pass out on the spot but he hates photos so no pics for you and
00:43:25now
00:43:26standing outside the apartment watching the two of them together I genuinely felt a little dizzy
00:43:30what are you up to
00:43:37at the hospital doing shadowing completely slammed I held down the nausea and replied
00:43:41take a pic of the hospital and send it to me
00:43:45again why does she keep bothering you she's taking up time that's supposed to be mine she
00:43:49said it like she was the real girlfriend like I was some unhinged stalker good thing I'm careful
00:43:55I got photos of a hospital hallway from an upperclassman ahead of time covers it Lexi still
00:43:58wasn't happy she pushed a little further you're that scared of her finding out you could just tell
00:44:03her about us if she really cares about you really thinks of me as her best friend how could she
00:44:08even
00:44:08be mad don't whatever's going on between us she cannot find out ever Lexi read his face and
00:44:13switched gears fast okay okay forget it don't go back to the dorms tonight
00:44:19let's do something fun that desperate
00:44:25I'll take care of it tonight
00:44:28ER is slammed hospital has strict HIPAA requirements phone access is limited until this is over
00:44:32don't worry love you I read every word then I texted my parents mom dad I'm not going to
00:44:38Columbia I'm accepting MIT's offer
00:44:44they called immediately sweetie what happened what changed you've been talking about Columbia
00:44:48for a year being in New York with Lexi and Ethan Lexi and Ethan are together my mom pulled a
00:44:53sharp
00:44:53breath on the other end what but at prom last year Ethan was she stopped herself like she just
00:44:58figured something out didn't finish the sentence I was the one reassuring them my application this year
00:45:02was stronger I got into MIT physics at MIT is better than Columbia by a long shot anyway I was
00:45:08willing to go to New York because I had people there turns out those two aren't worth giving
00:45:12up the top engineering school in the country I'll talk later I need to book a flight home tonight I
00:45:16want your barbecue my dad's voice came through anger barely under control we were all fooled
00:45:21Lexi's private high school tuition her college tuition right now your mother and I have been paying
00:45:26all of it if this is how she's going to treat you we are done being her ATM next semester
00:45:30done okay
00:45:32Lexi and I had grown up together she came from a broken home ninth grade her parents divorced and moved
00:45:37to
00:45:37separate states left her behind no plan for her education nothing I was the one who begged my
00:45:41parents to step in mom dad can we please help her she doesn't even have money to finish high school
00:45:46just
00:45:47think of it as charity when we're in college we'll get jobs and pay you back my parents didn't even
00:45:51hesitate they said yes paid her private high school tuition let her move into the guest room
00:45:55covered Columbia's 80 something thousand a year in tuition and housing without blinking
00:45:59Taylor I will never forget what your family has done for me when I graduate and land something on
00:46:02Wall Street I'll pay back every cent with interest turns out this was her version of paying it back I
00:46:09turned around and called an uber to JFK Airport
00:46:21boyfriend booked the room two thousand dollars a night he wants me to put in the effort tonight what
00:46:25do you think I should do for him I thought back to a night three months before the application deadline
00:46:29I was barely holding it together I called Ethan Taylor
00:46:33can you come home this weekend just once
00:46:35I believe you said no
00:46:37I'm sorry I'm sorry I didn't do it
00:46:38Jamie did for a transport
00:46:40you've been here
00:46:41you don't know how expensive your work is
00:46:42you've always something's been like
00:46:44my coursework is brutal
00:46:46can you come out of time
00:46:47can you try to be a little more mature about this
00:46:51I couldn't scrape together a $40 thing
00:46:53but a $2,000 hotel suite
00:46:55no problem
00:46:56brutal person
00:46:57sure
00:46:57racing to spend a little bit of time with my best friend
00:47:01I'm not jealous
00:47:02I bet you'll never stay in that closet
00:47:04when you move to New York
00:47:05I'll have my boyfriend look at you
00:47:07and I will just take all three seconds
00:47:12reading her smug little mean girl tone
00:47:14it almost felt simple
00:47:16I didn't reply
00:47:21Lexi didn't hear back from Taylor
00:47:23and didn't think much of me
00:47:24she figured Taylor was just too jealous to respond
00:47:26which honestly made sense
00:47:28Lexi had spent the last year living her best college life
00:47:31using Taylor's parents' card
00:47:33going everywhere with Taylor's boyfriend
00:47:35and Taylor?
00:47:36still home
00:47:37hunched over essays
00:47:39her main priority now
00:47:41was locking Ethan down for good
00:47:43she was dying to rub all of it in Taylor's face
00:47:46but the timing wasn't right yet
00:47:48for one thing
00:47:49Ethan still felt guilty about Taylor
00:47:51he'd been enjoying what she'd essentially handed him
00:47:54but Lexi could tell
00:47:55in the back of his mind
00:47:57Ethan still saw Taylor as the right kind of girl
00:47:59the one you actually end up with
00:48:01if she pushed him into a confrontation with Taylor now
00:48:04there was a real chance Ethan would panic
00:48:05and drop her to try to fix things
00:48:07that was not the ending she was going for
00:48:09her plan was to replace Taylor in his head slowly
00:48:12step by step
00:48:13until Ethan was the one who called it
00:48:14that moment hadn't come yet
00:48:16and for another thing
00:48:17she still needed Taylor's parents to cover the rest of her tuition
00:48:19she could not blow this out too early
00:48:21although Ethan's family had money, real money
00:48:23once she had him fully
00:48:24tuition would be the least of her problems
00:48:26she was still running through the fantasy
00:48:30who are you texting?
00:48:32nobody
00:48:32Ethan
00:48:34for the next two months can you stop talking to Taylor?
00:48:36I want you completely to myself
00:48:38that worshipful clingy thing she did worked on him every time
00:48:40he didn't mind giving her that
00:48:42it was a small ask
00:48:43she only had two months of being his anyway officially
00:48:45after that he and Taylor had all the day in the world
00:48:47the volunteer program here is really demanding
00:48:49there are strict rules around phone use
00:48:51I'll be hard to reach for a while, slow to respond
00:48:54don't worry
00:48:55I'll pick you up from the airport on move-in day
00:48:58you're the best
00:49:00I got that text
00:49:01sitting at my kitchen table eating barbecue
00:49:04this little
00:49:04he's still lying to you?
00:49:06right now?
00:49:07block him
00:49:07block both of them
00:49:08so disgusting
00:49:09done
00:49:10all blocked
00:49:11those two are never touching my life again
00:49:15time moved fast
00:49:16before long
00:49:17it was move-in day
00:49:20the last messages were from the day the results came out
00:49:23him telling her not to contact him over the summer
00:49:26Ethan
00:49:27I'm finally coming to New York to find you
00:49:28he told her not to reach out
00:49:30fine
00:49:31but she'd actually gone the whole summer
00:49:33without sending a single text
00:49:35still
00:49:36today was the day she was flying in
00:49:38he let it go and started typing
00:49:41babe
00:49:42babe
00:49:42you at the airport man
00:49:43I'll come get him
00:49:48he'd been blocked
00:49:49he figured he'd misread it
00:49:51what was going on
00:49:58he called her straight to voicemail
00:50:01the number you are trying to reach is unavailable
00:50:06that line too
00:50:07blocked
00:50:18boyfriend booked the room
00:50:19two thousand dollars a night
00:50:21he wants me to put in the effort tonight
00:50:22what do you think I should do for him?
00:50:23I thought back to a night three months before the application deadline
00:50:26I was barely holding it together
00:50:28I called Ethan
00:50:30Taylor
00:50:30can you come home this weekend?
00:50:32just once
00:50:32I really need you
00:50:33he said no without me saying
00:50:35I'm Taylor
00:50:36I genuinely can't afford a train to be ready
00:50:37I haven't been paid
00:50:38you don't know how expensive an hour is
00:50:40there's always something that's behind me
00:50:42my coursework is Google
00:50:43I can't card on time
00:50:45I'm trying to be a little more mature about this
00:50:46I couldn't scrape together a forty dollar train
00:50:51but a two thousand dollar hotel suite
00:50:52no problem
00:50:53can you move yourself
00:50:54sure
00:50:55bracing to spend every available money
00:50:57in the restaurant
00:50:59BFM jealous
00:50:59I bet you've never stayed in the property
00:51:01when you move to New York
00:51:03I'll have my boyfriend book you at home for a night
00:51:05just so you can also yourself
00:51:10reading her smugly mean girl tone
00:51:12I almost felt sick
00:51:13I didn't recall
00:51:21the day my Columbia acceptance letter arrived
00:51:23I kept it a secret from everyone
00:51:24flew to New York to surprise my boyfriend Ethan
00:51:26and my best friend Lexi
00:51:28instead I overheard them confess it themselves
00:51:30to keep dating behind my back
00:51:31they'd altered my application
00:51:33costing me an entire gap year
00:51:35Ethan
00:51:36once Taylor gets here
00:51:37can we really still be this close?
00:51:39I wish she'd never gotten to Columbia
00:51:42don't say that
00:51:43last year
00:51:44to make your birthday wish come true
00:51:45the one where you wanted to date me
00:51:47we snuck into her college application portal
00:51:49and clicked decline offer before decision day
00:51:52made her miss the deadline
00:51:54she had to take a whole gap year because of us
00:51:55we've been dating here in New York
00:51:56behind her back this entire time
00:51:58that's already bad enough
00:51:59when she moves to the city
00:52:00I'll go back to being her boyfriend
00:52:01obviously
00:52:04so we can still keep meeting like this
00:52:06in secret
00:52:07as long as Taylor doesn't find out
00:52:08right then
00:52:09I was standing there
00:52:10a complete joke
00:52:11Ethan kept going
00:52:12comforting her
00:52:13I promised you a full year as your guy
00:52:15not one day less
00:52:16your birthday wish
00:52:17kicked in May 1st last year
00:52:19it runs through May 1st this year
00:52:20I'll give you an extra three months on top of that
00:52:22I'm yours
00:52:23until the fall semester starts
00:52:25I already told Taylor I'm staying in New York this summer
00:52:27to do pre-med clinical volunteering at Mount Sinai
00:52:29not going home
00:52:30we'll stay in the city together
00:52:31whatever you want to do
00:52:32I'm there
00:52:41I thought back to last May 1st
00:52:43that was Lexi's birthday
00:52:44it was also the day I found out
00:52:46I was locked out of my dream school for good
00:52:48I'd stared at my student portal showing
00:52:49offer declined
00:52:50I couldn't believe it
00:52:51my SAT scores and GPA were the highest out of the three of us
00:52:54both of them had gotten into Columbia without a problem
00:52:56only me somehow impossibly had lost my spot
00:52:59my parents panicked and called the admissions office
00:53:01that's when we found out
00:53:02someone had used my account to click decline
00:53:04and cancel the deposit before the deadline
00:53:06how is that even possible?
00:53:07the admissions rep sounded genuinely sorry
00:53:10your record is outstanding
00:53:11if we'd received the confirmation
00:53:12you absolutely would have been on the fall roster
00:53:14but what the system shows us is what it shows us
00:53:17there's nothing we can do on our end
00:53:19is it possible a wrong option was selected during confirmation?
00:53:22I was devastated
00:53:23I couldn't accept it
00:53:24and right then, Lexi facetimed me
00:53:26Taylor, my birthday party's starting
00:53:28get over here
00:53:28Ethan's already here
00:53:29we're just waiting on you
00:53:30I told them what happened
00:53:31Lexi went into overdrive
00:53:33trying to make me feel better
00:53:34oh my god
00:53:35how does that even happen?
00:53:36these things happen to everyone sometimes
00:53:38so what are you going to do now?
00:53:39if all else fails
00:53:40pick up some credits at community college
00:53:42and transfer next year?
00:53:43I looked at my parents worried faces
00:53:44I thought about four years of work
00:53:46no, I'm taking a gap year of reapplying
00:53:49there was a beat of silence on the call
00:53:50then Ethan's voice
00:53:51with your record
00:53:52community college would be a waste of your time
00:53:55focus on reapplying
00:53:56Lexi and I will be waiting for you at Columbia
00:53:59Ethan's right
00:53:59then my birthday wish this year
00:54:01is for our tailor to get her Columbia offer next year
00:54:03no problem
00:54:04back then
00:54:04I was so touched
00:54:05I almost couldn't speak
00:54:07turns out every bit of it was something they'd planned together
00:54:10all of it just to hide what they were doing
00:54:11to make her real birthday wish come true
00:54:13dating my boyfriend
00:54:16I knew Lexi had a boyfriend
00:54:18once she got to New York
00:54:19that part didn't surprise me
00:54:20what I didn't know was that her boyfriend
00:54:22and my boyfriend were the same person
00:54:24she texted me constantly
00:54:25every day sharing little updates about this amazing guy she was seeing
00:54:29I was home grinding through essays and AP coursework
00:54:30every weekend I'd unlock my phone to a wall of unread messages
00:54:33my boyfriend sat in on my sociology lecture today
00:54:41the professor called on him randomly
00:54:43and he completely blanked
00:54:45I'm dead
00:54:45he'd been eyeing this vintage turntable for a while
00:54:48so drum roll
00:54:49I bought it for him
00:54:51he got a hotel phone last night
00:54:52he's so hot
00:54:56hey Taylor
00:54:56have you and Ethan ever actually done it?
00:54:59no
00:55:00Ethan and I had made it official on Columbia
00:55:03after that it was straight into the chaos of applications
00:55:06there wasn't exactly a lot of time for anything else
00:55:08and then the whole mess with my acceptance happened
00:55:10and that killed whatever mood was left
00:55:12when Lexi heard Ethan and I hadn't gone all the way
00:55:14she sent back a voice note that was practically a performance
00:55:17no
00:55:18no way
00:55:25Taylor don't you know
00:55:26if a guy doesn't even want to sleep with you
00:55:27he's not actually into you
00:55:29oops
00:55:29did I say something wrong
00:55:30I swear I'm not trying to start anything
00:55:34looking back
00:55:34every single one of those messages was loaded
00:55:37I was too stressed out from applications to catch it at the time
00:55:40I just changed the subject
00:55:41anyway
00:55:42you move fast
00:55:43you got a boyfriend your first week of school at some party
00:55:46what does he look like
00:55:47send a pic
00:55:48let me see if he's good enough for you
00:55:49one word
00:55:50hot
00:55:51how hot
00:55:52hot enough that the second you saw his face
00:55:54you'd pass out on the spot
00:55:55but he hates photos
00:55:57so no pics for you
00:55:58and now
00:55:59standing outside the apartment
00:56:00watching the two of them together
00:56:01I genuinely felt a little dizzy
00:56:03what are you up to
00:56:10at the hospital doing shadowing
00:56:11completely slammed
00:56:12I held down the nausea and replied
00:56:14take a pic of the hospital and send it to me
00:56:18again
00:56:19why does she keep bothering you
00:56:20she's taking up time that's supposed to be mine
00:56:22she said it like she was the real girlfriend
00:56:23like I was some unhinged stalker
00:56:27good thing I'm careful
00:56:28I got photos of a hospital hallway
00:56:29from an upperclassman ahead of time
00:56:30covers it
00:56:31Lexi still wasn't happy
00:56:32she pushed a little further
00:56:33you're that scared of her finding out
00:56:34you could just
00:56:35tell her about us
00:56:37if she really cares about you
00:56:39really thinks of me as her best friend
00:56:40how could she even be mad
00:56:41don't
00:56:42whatever's going on between us
00:56:43she cannot find out
00:56:44ever
00:56:45Lexi read his face
00:56:46and switched gears fast
00:56:47okay okay forget it
00:56:48don't go back to the dorms tonight
00:56:51let's do something fun
00:56:54that desperate?
00:56:58I'll take care of it tonight
00:57:01ER is slammed
00:57:02hospital has strict HIPAA requirements
00:57:04phone access is limited until this is over
00:57:05don't worry
00:57:06love you
00:57:06I read every word
00:57:08then I texted my parents
00:57:09mom, dad
00:57:10I'm not going to Columbia
00:57:11I'm accepting MIT's offer
00:57:17they called immediately
00:57:18sweetie what happened?
00:57:19what changed?
00:57:20you've been talking about Columbia for a year
00:57:22being in New York with Lexi and Ethan
00:57:23Lexi and Ethan are together
00:57:25my mom pulled a sharp breath on the other end
00:57:26what?
00:57:28but at prom last year
00:57:29Ethan was
00:57:29she stopped herself
00:57:31like she just figured something out
00:57:32didn't finish the sentence
00:57:33I was the one reassuring them
00:57:34my application this year was stronger
00:57:36I got into MIT
00:57:37physics at MIT is better than Columbia
00:57:39by a long shot anyway
00:57:40I was willing to go to New York
00:57:42because I had people there
00:57:43turns out those two aren't worth giving up
00:57:45the top engineering school in the country
00:57:47I'll talk later
00:57:48I need to book a flight home
00:57:49tonight I want your barbecue
00:57:50my dad's voice came through
00:57:51anger barely under control
00:57:52we were all fooled
00:57:54Lexi's private high school tuition
00:57:56her college tuition right now
00:57:58your mother and I have been paying all of it
00:57:59if this is how she's going to treat you
00:58:01we are done being her ATM next semester
00:58:03done
00:58:04okay
00:58:05Lexi and I had grown up together
00:58:06she came from a broken home
00:58:08ninth grade
00:58:08her parents divorced and moved to separate states
00:58:11left her behind
00:58:11no plan for her education
00:58:13nothing
00:58:13I was the one who begged my parents to step in
00:58:15mom dad can we please help her
00:58:17she doesn't even have money to finish high school
00:58:19just think of it as charity
00:58:21when we're in college
00:58:21we'll get jobs and pay you back
00:58:22my parents didn't even hesitate
00:58:24they said yes
00:58:25paid her private high school tuition
00:58:26let her move into the guest room
00:58:28covered Columbia's 80 something thousand a year
00:58:30in tuition and housing without blinking
00:58:31Taylor I will never forget what your family has done for me
00:58:34when I graduate and land something on Wall Street
00:58:36I'll pay back every cent of interest
00:58:38turns out this was her version of paying it back
00:58:42I turned around and called an Uber to JFK airport
00:58:54boyfriend booked the work for $2,000 a night
00:58:56he wants me to put in the effort tonight
00:58:58what do you think I should do for him?
00:58:59I thought back to a night three months before the airport
00:59:01what do you think I should do for you?
00:59:02I was barely holding it together
00:59:03and kind of like what we called him
00:59:04what?
00:59:05what?
00:59:06what?
00:59:06what do you think we always meet him?
00:59:07just once?
00:59:08a day?
00:59:09he said no about this
00:59:10no, didn't
00:59:10Taylor
00:59:11I genuinely can't afford your train ticket right now
00:59:13I haven't been here yet
00:59:14you don't know how expensive New York is
00:59:15there's always something that's been fun to find
00:59:18my coursework is brutal
00:59:19you can't carve out the time
00:59:20can you try to be a little more mature about this?
00:59:24I couldn't scrape together a $40 train fare
00:59:26but a $2,000 hotel suite?
00:59:28no problem
00:59:29brutal coursework
00:59:30sure
00:59:30racing to spend every available minute with my best friend
00:59:34BFF jealous?
00:59:35I bet you've never stayed in a closet suite
00:59:37when you move to New York
00:59:38I'll have my boyfriend book you your own room for a night
00:59:41just you
00:59:41all to yourself
00:59:45reading her smug little mean girl tone
00:59:47I almost felt sick
00:59:48I didn't reply
00:59:54Lexi didn't hear back from Taylor
00:59:55and didn't think much of it
00:59:57she figured Taylor was just too jealous to respond
00:59:59which honestly made sense
01:00:01Lexi had spent the last year living her best college life
01:00:04using Taylor's parents card
01:00:06going everywhere with Taylor's boyfriend
01:00:08and Taylor
01:00:09still home
01:00:10hunched over essays
01:00:12her main priority now
01:00:14was locking Ethan down for good
01:00:16she was dying to rub all of it in Taylor's face
01:00:18but the timing wasn't right yet
01:00:20for one thing
01:00:22Ethan still felt guilty about Taylor
01:00:24he'd been enjoying what she'd essentially handed him
01:00:27but Lexi could tell
01:00:28in the back of his mind
01:00:30Ethan still saw Taylor as the right kind of girl
01:00:32the one you actually end up with
01:00:34if she pushed him into a confrontation with Taylor now
01:00:36there was a real chance Ethan would panic
01:00:38and drop her to try to fix things
01:00:40that was not the ending she was going for
01:00:42her plan was to replace Taylor in his head
01:00:44slowly, step by step
01:00:46until Ethan was the one who called it
01:00:47that moment hadn't come yet
01:00:49and for another thing
01:00:50she still needed Taylor's parents
01:00:51to cover the rest of her tuition
01:00:52she could not blow this out too early
01:00:54although Ethan's family had money
01:00:55real money
01:00:56once she had him fully
01:00:57tuition would be the least of her problems
01:00:59she was still running through the fantasy
01:01:03who are you texting?
01:01:05nobody
01:01:05Ethan
01:01:06for the next two months
01:01:08can you stop talking to Taylor?
01:01:09I want you completely to myself
01:01:11that worshipful clingy thing she did
01:01:12worked on him every time
01:01:13he didn't mind giving her that
01:01:15it was a small ask
01:01:16she only had two months of being his anyway
01:01:18officially
01:01:18after that he and Taylor had all the day in the work
01:01:20the volunteer program here is really demanding
01:01:22there are strict rules around phone use
01:01:24I'll be hard to reach for a while
01:01:26slow to respond
01:01:27don't worry
01:01:28I'll pick you up from the airport on moving day
01:01:31you're the best
01:01:32you're the best
01:01:33I got that text
01:01:34sitting at my kitchen table
01:01:35eating barbecue
01:01:36this little
01:01:37he's still lying to you
01:01:38right now
01:01:39block him
01:01:40block both of them
01:01:41so disgusting
01:01:42done
01:01:43all blocked
01:01:44those two are never touching the left again
01:01:48time moved fast
01:01:49before long
01:01:50it was move-in day
01:01:53the last messages were from the day the results came out
01:01:56him telling her not to contact him over the summer
01:01:59Ethan, I'm finally coming to York to find you
01:02:01he'd told her not to reach out
01:02:03fine
01:02:04but she'd actually gone the whole summer without sending a single text
01:02:08still
01:02:09today was the day she was flying in
01:02:11he let it go and started typing
01:02:14babe
01:02:15are you at the airport yet?
01:02:17I'll come get you
01:02:21he'd been blocked
01:02:22he figured he'd misread it
01:02:24what was going on?
01:02:31he called her straight to voicemail
01:02:33he called her straight to voicemail
01:02:39that went to you
01:02:40blocked
01:02:41blocked
01:02:42. . . .
01:02:45. .
01:02:45. .
01:02:45. . .
01:02:45. . .
01:02:47. . .
01:02:47. . . .
01:02:47. . . . .