I've had the break up planned for awhile. I don't feel feel sorry about it in the slightest. (Okay, so maybe a teeny bit sorry. A teeny bit.) Fight me in the comments.

Thank you for reading!

If it wasn't for school, Anora never would have gotten out of bed. Could it really be over that quickly? It didn't seem real. Sure, it had only been four days- but there wasn't this… finality to it. Or maybe there was and she was just too afraid to see it.

Everyone knew about the break up too. Strelitzia made that clear yesterday by coming over an inviting Anora for a tea break. Anora went, because it was rude not to, but she almost left early when Strelitzia said that Lauriam had told her about the break up. If Lauriam knew, that meant the rest of the Dandelions knew. They were all aware of what had happened and no one but Strelitzia dared to say a thing to Anora.

But it didn't matter. The Dandelions were never her friends, anyway.

Anora's alarm started to go off for the third time that morning. She groaned, turning her body over in her bed and using her pillow to block out the noise. Everything was too loud. Everything was too annoying to deal with. Couldn't she send an email to her teachers to say she was sick? Would any of them believe her? Today was a Friday, so it was likely that no teacher would listen to her half lies. She didn't think she had the strength to believe any of her own lies either.

Slowly, begrudgingly, Anora started to work herself out of her bed. She moved over to her desk where her phone sat and stared at it for a moment. The young woman bit her lip in thought. She pulled up her email -finding that she had no new messages- before starting to compose a new one. Anora took her time typing out the email. She just hoped that she didn't sound desperate.

'Who do I talk to when I have no one?'

Anora looked over the email a few more times- especially her last line. Kieran would know what to do. She sent the email off to her cousin and started to get ready for the rest of her day. When she left her room, she made sure that she locked the door behind her. After the break up, Anora went straight to Ava to get the locks on her door changed. Ava had given her a funny look, but didn't question it. The locks were changed the next day; soon after that someone tried to enter her dorm. After they couldn't undo the lock, they left without a word. Anora ignored them. Maybe if the other person wasn't such a coward, she would have listened to what they had to say. Rules about opposite genders in the dorms be damned. If he couldn't talk to her face to face, without having the higher ground, then she was better off without him.

Right?

. . .

Lunch was being spent off campus now. It wasn't all bad- Pyra's study group had joined her once. One other time Strelitzia even offered to go with Anora. But today she just wanted to be alone. Instead of heading toward town, though, she went in the opposite direction. She wanted to see how far she could go- not just in terms of when Route 7-13 actually ended, but as a mental egging on for her quiet desires to just run away.

She would have gone farther if she didn't have to go back to class.

Anora sat in science without so much as looking up at her teacher. She was almost completely spaced out when they started to go on about particle theories. Her notebook was starting to fill up with doodles and an impromptu calligraphy practice. A thought came to Anora's mind with a jolt; what was she going to do this Saturday if Ephemer wasn't going to visit? Better yet, what was she going to do at all without him taking her halfway across the countryside? Without Ephemer around, Anora suddenly had a lot of free time she didn't know she lost by dating him. And that realization almost made her break down in class.

What on earth did she used to do before Ephemer came along? It wasn't that long ago. Maybe she could… go to the library? And do what? Study? Read children's books and pretend someone else was reading them to her? She could just stay in her dorm. It's not like anyone would really miss her if she disappeared on the weekends. Maybe she could use the time to plot how she'd return to Kieran and Aunt Dawn before the month was over. Heck, why stop there? She'd be such a disappointment for dropping out that she might as well start a new life somewhere else.

The rest of the school day went by so slow that Anora was ready to give up on her way to history class. When she got back to her dorm, she dropped her backpack by the door and immediately flopped herself back onto her bed. After some time, she turned herself over to stare at the ceiling. Her eyebrows furrowed despite still feeling numb inside.

"Stop feeling sorry for yourself, Anora Guinevere Ravishta." she said to herself in an admonishing tone. It took some effort to ignore the urge to slap herself. "If you really want to be done with him, clean your room up."

What happened next felt like a light had flickered on in her brain. Anora immediately got off her bed and headed into her closet. Stashed in the back was a decent sized cardboard box- folded up, but still useable. Anora pulled it out, unfolded it, then placed it on her bed to start going through any obvious remnants of Ephemer. The DVDs and CDs were the first to go. She tossed them all in without a second guess.

It took a lot more consideration when it came to the shirts he had left behind. There weren't that many- but it still hurt. Some of them still contained the nice warm Ephemer smell that she had grown to adore these past few months. If the idea that they had officially broken up didn't completely hit her before, it certainly was now. Anora kept out a few shirts, just one or two, that she couldn't physically force herself to put away, and stashed the rest without a second guess. It felt like she was ripping off a band-aid. It hurt, but it had to be done.

From her desk, Anora's phone gave her a little ping, indicating that she had received an email. Anora found herself incredibly grateful for the distraction. She started to read over her cousin's email with her eyes glued to the screen. It was a short one, but his message was clear.

'Find someone who doesn't take sides. Someone that will listen. I can make a visit if you want me to. It might be another week, though.'

Wonderful idea, Kieran, why didn't she think of that. Find someone who will listen. As if she really knew anyone on campus enough to know that they would listen to her and -even more importantly- keep it between them. She needed someone like Kieran to talk to. Maybe she could find a way to clone her cousin and keep him in her pocket all the time. He'd sit with her Chirithy and tell her the blunt truth every time she needed it. She would even go to the store and buy him little doll clothes to wear. Maybe she'd even find him a little hat so when she felt down, he'd tip it at her and say...

And then the idea hit her.

"Brain!"

Anora started to head out her door, but paused as her hand reached for the handle. What was she doing? It was too late to go find Brain now. Besides, she was still in the middle of purging her room of Ephemer. If she didn't finish what she started, she wasn't sure if she'd have the willpower to finish it later. Anora looked back at the box on her bed and let out a hard sigh. Tonight she would put all of Ephemer's things away, and then tomorrow she'd find Brain to talk to him. Assuming she could find him. Brain was still enough of a stranger that she didn't really know where he hung out when school wasn't in session. But she'd make the effort to do it anyway. She really needed someone to talk to.