The Group Chat Without Me, The Life They Had Without Me - Chapter (4)
Ch. The Group Chat Without Me, The Life They Had Without Me 4 The Group Chat Without Me, The Life They Had Without Me 4
Chapter 4
Friday night was Owen’s birthday.
I went after all-not because I had forgiven anyone, but because I wanted one last look at what they
were like together.
By the time I arrived, the living room was already full.
Rachel was in the kitchen helping plate the food. Dylan and Trevor were playing video games on the
couch, while Brooke sat at the dining table peeling an orange.
When Owen saw me, he ran over. “Nora! You came!”
His smile was radiant, as though nothing had happened.
Maybe, from his perspective, nothing had.
Caleb leaned out of the kitchen. “You’re here? Have a seat. Dinner’s almost ready.”
I sat down.
Brooke held out an orange segment. “Try this. It’s really sweet.”
I took it.
Everyone around the table was laughing and talking, and the mood was warm and easy.
I sat among them like an old piece of furniture forgotten in the corner. No one paid much attention
to me, but no one cared enough to be bothered by my presence either.
During dinner, Dylan asked, “What are we doing for my birthday next month?”
Rachel said, “That private event space we rented last year was pretty good. Want to book it again?”
“Works for me,” Trevor said. “We should reserve it early. Weekends fill up fast.”
Brooke glanced at me and smiled. “What about you, Nora? Are you free next month?”
Everyone looked at me.
In that moment, I finally understood.
They didn’t hide every gathering from me. Sometimes they invited me just for show.
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What really pleased them wasn’t whether I attended; it was when I took the hint and politely said
couldn’t make it.
“We’ll see.”
“Sure. We’ll figure it out later.”
Brooke smiled as though she had just breathed a sigh of relief.
Dylan and Trevor exchanged a glance, and quick smiles flashed across their faces before
disappearing.
I saw everything.
After dinner, we cut the cake, and Owen made a wish.
I stood behind everyone else and watched him close his eyes with solemn concentration.
When he finished and opened them, the first person he looked at wasn’t me.
It was Caleb.
“Caleb, thank you.”
Caleb patted him on the shoulder. “You don’t have to thank me. We’re family.”
Coming from him, the word family cut like a knife.
Caleb’s family included Owen, Rachel, Dylan, Trevor, and Brooke.
It just didn’t include me.
By ten thirty, everyone was getting ready to leave.
“It’s getting late. I’m calling a ride,” Brooke said.
Owen was leaving too, and Dylan offered to drive him since they were headed in the same direction.
Rachel was the last one out. Before leaving, she turned to Caleb and said, “Leave the dishes. You can
deal with them tomorrow.”
The door closed, and the apartment fell silent.
I started clearing the trash from the table.
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Caleb came up behind me and wrapped his arms around me.
“Thanks for everything tonight.”
I didn’t stop what I was doing.
“Caleb.”
“Yeah?”
“Let me see your phone.”
His arms stiffened for a fraction of a second.
“Why?”
“No reason. I just want to look.”
He released me and laughed. “Nora, why have you been so paranoid lately?”
“How many times have I told you-”
“When are you going to show me that group chat?”
His smile vanished.
“What group chat?”
“”Life’s Better Without Nora Bennett.’
Caleb stood completely still, his expression shifting from surprise to guilt and finally to offended
anger.
“You went through my phone?”
“I didn’t. The notification appeared while you were in the shower.”
“Nora, you-”
He took a deep breath. “Don’t you think snooping through someone else’s phone is way out of
line?”
“Don’t you think creating a group chat to exclude me and having everyone lie to me is way out of line?”
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He was silent for several seconds. Then he picked up a napkin from the table and wiped his hands
“That group chat isn’t as big a deal as you’re making it out to be.”
“What does that mean?”
“It just means that sometimes the rest of us want to hang out on our own.”
“The mood really does change when you’re there. Everyone gets a little guarded.”
He spoke calmly, as though what he was saying were perfectly reasonable.
“Nora, don’t you think you can be a little too sensitive sometimes?”
“At the last cookout, you said Dylan’s joke wasn’t funny, and you made things awkward for
everyone-”
“So your solution was to create a group chat, add everyone to it, and have them all lie to me?”
“Including my own brother?”
“They added Owen themselves. That had nothing to do with me.”
“Nothing to do with you? Caleb, my name is in the title of the group chat.”
He scrubbed a hand over the back of his head in frustration.
“Do you have to turn this into some huge moral issue?”
“Fine. The name was inappropriate. I’ll change it, okay?”
“You think the name is the problem?”
“Then what exactly is the problem? Nora, what do you expect me to do?”
“Do you expect everyone to revolve around you? Do you think you have to be included in every gathering? That isn’t realistic.”
I looked at him and suddenly felt exhausted.
I wasn’t exhausted from anger. The weariness came from somewhere much deeper.
“Caleb, over the past four years, how many times have you told me you were working late, away on business, or busy when you were actually with them?”
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“Not many-”
“What about my birthday last year?”
He fell silent.
After a long pause, he said, “I was wrong that day.”
“But I took you out another night to make up for it, and you agreed to let it go.”
“Because I didn’t know the truth then.”
“What difference does knowing make? Nora, people need space.”
“You can’t feel hurt just because other people have social lives of their own.”
He was still lecturing me.
In the calmest, most reasonable tone imaginable, he was telling me that my pain was my own
problem.
“Okay.”
“I don’t want to fight. Take some time to calm down-”
“I said okay.”
I set down the trash bag. “You’re right. People need space.”
I walked into the bedroom and pulled out the suitcase I had packed days earlier.
Caleb followed me. The moment he saw it, his expression changed.
“What are you doing?”
“Giving you space.”
“Nora, can you stop this? You can’t pack up and leave over one little thing-”
“Caleb.”
I turned to face him.
“Two years and three months. More than seven hundred messages. Eight people. That isn’t one little thing.”
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His mouth opened, but no words came out.
I dragged my suitcase to the door.
As I slipped on my shoes, he hurried over and grabbed the suitcase handle.
“Will you calm down? Where are you going this late?”
“I rented an apartment.”
He froze.
“When?”
“Last week.”
He released the handle and took half a step back as though I had struck him.
But I saw no panic in his expression, let alone any sign that he wanted me to stay.
What I saw was relief.
It lasted less than a second, but I saw it clearly.
“Nora, don’t leave yet. Let’s talk this through.”
Kopened the door.
“There’s nothing left to discuss.”
“The life you wanted never had me in it.”
The door closed behind me.
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