Skye stood in her apartment and surveyed the three piles in front of her. She had never realized how good she was at orchestrating an organized cross-country move. One pile was stuff she was keeping, the next was stuff she would sell or give away, the final pile was trash.
In the keep pile, Skye didn't have much. She had her clothes – jeans and t-shirts and athletic shorts. She had her running sneakers. She had her favorite textbooks, and a bunch of her papers. She had her sleek state-of-the-art laptop and some basic kitchenware.
Everything else, she could do without. The apartment didn't have much furniture to begin with – just the desk and a futon. She had never even got around to buying a bedframe for her mattress. Her bedroom was always neat as a pin, the mattress looked fine on the floor.
The potted cacti plants had been gifts from Dusek, she didn't need to bring them back. He had said even she could keep a cactus alive. He had been right, but that didn't mean Skye needed to lug prickly cacti across the country.
All in all, it looked like Skye was going to have plenty of room in her car.
Her father was worried about the long drive. He had suggested Jane fly out to California and accompany Skye on the way back. He even offered to pay for Jane's plane ticket.
"Hello? I do have a job, even if it's not traditionally respectable," Jane had said. "I can't just take a whole week off."
Skye was looking forward to the drive. She liked being alone in a car on a highway. It gave her plenty of time to think.
When she announced her decision to move back to the whole family earlier that month, there had been much rejoicing. Followed by questions about Dusek, all of which Skye had brushed off. She had blabbered on and on about MIT's faculty.
No one had asked about Dusek after that. Jane and Rosalind must have warned them off. Jane still tried to get info during their phone calls, but she knew better than to press. And Rosalind had been wonderful. She had acted like it was the most natural thing in the world that Skye and Dusek would end.
Rosalind had been so excited about Skye's relationship, especially when Tommy proposed, and Rosalind started talking about how fun a double wedding would be. Skye had fake vomited every time Rosalind mentioned the idea.
Skye thought Rosalind would be at least a tad disappointed about the end of her pipedream, but Rosalind had always been the last to judge.
Then Jane said Rosalind thought Dusek was boring.
"Rosie said that?" Skye had asked.
"Was he?" Jane asked.
Skye didn't answer. Whatever Rosalind thought, Skye appreciated her acceptance.
When Skye had emailed Dusek that she was moving back to the East coast, he had asked to meet. He wanted closure.
Skye had arranged one last coffee at Peet's over email. She thought texting might be too familiar.
"I am sorry," Dusek said. His accent was almost musical. Jeffrey might be able to explain why, but Skye couldn't. She had always just felt like she was listening to a flute play a lullaby when Dusek spoke. It had once relaxed her, after long days of studying.
"I know," Skye said. "I've accepted your apology."
"No you haven't," Dusek said. "We would be together if you had."
Skye had noticed how drops of sweat accumulated on Dusek's forehead when he was upset, but she had told herself it was shallow to get annoyed over such things. But that had been when they were dating. Now she could get annoyed over whatever she wanted.
"You kissed someone else," Skye said. "That means that you didn't want us to be together."
"I was drunk," Dusek said.
"You had been drinking, but you weren't drunk," Skye said. At first, she had wanted to hear every detail of the night. Now she was bored of it all. "Besides, we act on our truest desires when we are drunk. Or at least some people think that."
"Please, Skye," Dusek said. "We are good together."
"Seriously, I'm not mad," Skye said. "She was pretty and totally smart. You had a crush on her for a while, and you might miss me a little, but deep down you want other people."
Dusek had kissed an undergrad at a party. She had been in the Bio 101 class that he was a TA for. She was psychology major, and she wouldn't have been able to do a basic physics problem if her life depended on it.
"Don't throw what we had away," Dusek said. "I don't understand how you could do this."
Skye drained her coffee and stood up.
"I'm very good at throwing things away," Skye said. "Some might say I'm exceptional."