50. A Message From Heaven
My first long-term girlfriend and I were going to go to the same college. I got accepted but had to start the semester after she did, meaning we would be slightly long-distance for a few months.
It wasn’t too bad because we were only about 2 hours apart, so it was pretty easy to visit, but our relationship did struggle a bit. I remember one night, I got a phone call from her, and when I picked up, it was obvious it was a butt dial. I could hear her talking to some guy but couldn’t make out what they were saying.
I called her, and she picked up. I asked what was up. She said she was in bed and about to go to sleep. I told her about the butt dial, and she said it was her friend Jack, who I met asking to borrow something. I thought it was odd but brushed it off.
A couple of weeks later, I was up there visiting her, and I met a bunch of cool people, including this guy Luke. After I got back from visiting, I got a Facebook message from him saying, “Look, man, I hate to be the one to say this, but I think you’re an awesome guy, and you don’t deserve this to be happening to you. She’s been cheating on you with this guy pretty soon after she started here.”
I was devastated, but I had to hear it from her, so I called her.
Me: Are you cheating on me?
Her: [heavy sigh] Well, at least I don’t have to lie anymore.
That guy’s voice I had heard wasn’t Jack, and it was the guy she was cheating on me with. I just trusted her so much that I took her word for it.
Even though it was painful, I was grateful for Luke sending me that message. What’s funny is that most of the people I met up there who were her friends sided with me after the breakup, so when I started going there that next semester, I had a group of friends to support me, and most of them were still very close friends of mine to this day.