I Can’t Keep You, so I’ll Let Go Chapter 07
Ollie’s POV
When I arrived in Glenridge, it was drizzling. The station exit was packed with people.
As I wheeled my suitcase out, the wheels rolled over the wet pavement, making a faint, clicking sound
No one was there to pick me up. No one stood in the crowd calling out my name. But the strange thing was, I didn’t feel sad at all.
For the past year, I had spent all my time waiting.
Waiting for Mom and Dad to look back at me, for a single compliment from Paige, and for Julia to remember that she once promised that she’d wait for me.
But in the end, I finally realized that once I stopped waiting, I would actually feel a whole lot lighter.
The moment I powered on my phone, the screen flooded with over a dozen missed calls from Mom, Dad, Paige, and Julia.
I stared at them, my thumb hovering over the screen.
If this were the past, I would have called them back immediately, despite knowing that what awaited me on the other end was almost certainly a lecture.
But this time, I just swiped all the notifications away and put my phone back on silent.
An upperclassman sent by the university stood at the exit, holding a sign for new student pickup.
Seeing me, he immediately smiled and walked over.
“Ollie Hunt, right? The counselor specifically told us you were traveling alone and asked us to look out for you.”
I froze for a second.
It had been a very long time since anyone had said that they would look out for me.
I looked down at my suitcase and said softly, “Thank you.”
During the enrollment process, the administrative officer’s eyes lit up the moment she saw my name You’re Ollie Hunt? Your academic record is impressive.
“The university has already approved you for a freshman scholarship. If you have any financial difficulties later on, you can also apply for on-campus work-study positions.”
My hand holding the pen paused. “A scholarship?”
The officer nodded, smiling. “Yes. You don’t need to worry too much about expenses. Just focus on your
studies.”
Hearing those words made me feel a sudden wave of detachment.
Back in the rented apartment, I had spent every single day counting pennies.
I had to pay for rent, food, and bus fare. When the AC broke, I didn’t dare get it fixed. When I fell sick, I didn’t dare go to the hospital. Even treating myself to a decent meal required hours of hesitation
But now, someone was telling me that I could just focus on my studies.
I bent my head and finished filling in the form.
When I reached my dorm, two of my roommates were already there.
One was making his bed, and the other was squatting on the floor unpacking.
They both looked up when I walked in.
“Hey there.”
“Are you in this dorm too?”
I nodded. “Yeah, I’m Ollie Hunt.”
They smiled and introduced themselves.
No one asked me why my family hadn’t come to drop me off or why I had only brought a single suitcase
They just helped me lift my luggage onto my bed and handed me a pack of tissues.
“It just rained out there. You should dry off.”
I took the tissues, my fingers tightening around the plastic wrapper.
The AC in the dorm was crisp and cool. It was nothing like the rattling piece of junk in my old apartment that only blew hot air.
It was a perfectly normal breeze.
Brushing against my skin, it was quietly refreshing.
Sitting on the edge of the bed, I remembered the hottest months of exam prep.
I used to hunch over my desk, grinding through practice questions.
Sweat would drip onto my scratch paper. Whenever the ink smudged, I would just copy the whole page
over again.
Back then, I kept telling myself to just endure it a little longer and that everything would get better once the SAT was over.
But standing under the cool air now, I finally understood that enduring everything wouldn’t make things better. Finishing the SAT didn’t change anything either. Things only began to improve when I finally
made up my mind to leave.
That evening, the rain had stopped by the time I walked back to the dorm after dinner.
The night breeze in Glenridge carried a damp, salty edge.
In the distance, streetlights flickered on one by one, reflecting off the wet pavement.
My phone vibrated again.
It was a follow request from Julia on Instagram along with a message. “Ollie, where on earth are you?”
I stared at it for a long time, then tapped the button to decline.
The moment the screen went dark, I looked up at the path ahead.
This city was completely unfamiliar, but I knew that starting that day, I would build a brand new life here.
