The next day

The next morning, I wake up with a pounding headache and a knot in my stomach. After staring at my phone for several minutes, I finally call my girlfriend. She answers after a few rings.

“Hey, babe. How are you feeling?” she asks. “I was a little surprised when you told me you went to a party. You’re not really a party person.”

“I’m fine,” I say, trying to sound normal. “I just went with Chase. It wasn’t a big deal.”

She pauses. “Are you sure? You sounded kind of strange in your texts last night. And you said you were going to focus on school this year.”

“I know. I just figured I should go out and have some fun.”

She’s quiet for a moment. “Okay… I trust you. I just worry about you sometimes, especially with me being so far away. I don’t want you getting caught up in something you don’t want to be involved in.”

Her words hit me harder than I expect. “Yeah,” I say quietly. “I know.”

We keep talking for a few minutes, but I can hear the concern in her voice. She doesn’t know what happened, and I don’t tell her. When we finally hang up, I stare at my phone, feeling even worse than I did before. She trusted me enough to let me go—and I can’t stop thinking about what I did with that trust.