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AFTER SENDING THE video of her dancing to the song to Big Red, he posted the final result on the drama club's Instagram. Phoebe smiled as she double-tapped the screen. She plopped back on her bed, staring at the ceiling.
Phoebe grabbed her phone and sat up, opening her messages. She clicked on EJ, who was pinned, and typed out hey. It didn't take long for him to respond.
are you busy?
no i'm just watching a movie with ash ...
While she waited for him to finish typing his second message, she opened Snapchat, ready to finally answer the texts she'd been avoiding. She accidentally swiped over to Snap Map and saw that EJ wasn't with Ashlyn. Instead, his Bitmoji was with Gina's. With furrowed brows, she zoomed in on them. He was at the airport.
Why would he lie to her?
what movie are you watching?
i don't know ash picked the movie
Before Phoebe could start typing, Ricky was calling her. Because he had been MIA, she accepted it. "Hey, Ricky."
"Hey," the boy breathed out. "You wouldn't get mad if I poured my heart out to you, would you?"
"No," Phoebe answered. "Why would I get mad?"
He ignored her question. "I wrote a song and I didn't want to burden Big Red with my. . . problems since he's doing so well with Ashlyn."
"I can be your therapist for a while," she told him. "Spill it."
"Okay," he sucked in a breath. "I'm calling this Let You Go right now. Um, here goes. . . Close the book before it turns to tragedy. Tear the treehouse down, give up the fantasy. Nothing to regret, since the day we met, glad we took a chance making our own world. Perfectly imperfect like it had to be. Who thought that one first kiss would turn into two heartbreaks? 'Cause since we were young I swore, I'd never walk away. I love you so much that I've gotta let you go. It couldn't last forever and I hope you find better."
Oh.
"I can't forget us," Ricky went on. "I can't pretend we ain't broken. It was good together, now I've gotta let you go. I'm picking up pieces left and right now that our hearts are both untied. It'll take time. It'll take time. No one can say we didn't try, I'll think of these days all my life. It'll take time. It'll take time."
