The Backup Plan Moves On

The incoming text message on my boyfriend Zane's phone burned into my vision. [ Why haven't you told Seraphina how you feel? ] Zane's reply sat right below it. [ Because she is too perfect.

I don't deserve her yet. ] His friend fired back. [ Then what about Ivy? ] [ Ivy helps me ace my classes and build my resume.

She is just the perfect stepping stone so I can finally have the capital to deserve her. ] I was Ivy. And it was painfully obvious exactly who "she" was.

Chapter 1 Zane's response was dead serious. It was not some passing joke. He had broken it down point by point, evaluating her looks, her personality, her grades.

His final verdict sat there in cold pixels. She's too perfect. I don't deserve her.

His buddy fired back. [ Then what about Ivy? ] Zane sent a life sucks bro meme, then followed up. [ Ivy helps me ace my classes and build my resume.

She is just a perfect stepping stone so I can finally have the capital to deserve her. ] The air in the room suddenly felt too thin to breathe.

Every single thing I had done for him, all the late nights and sacrifices, was just me prepping him for someone else. I put Zane's phone back down with a cold, blank expression.

I grabbed the thick stack of study guides I had painstakingly organized for his midterms and shoved them straight into the trash can next to the couch.

They hit the bottom with a heavy, hollow thud. A few minutes later, Zane strolled out of the bathroom, freshly showered. "Babe, I really don't want to study today.

Let's just take a day off, okay?" He leaned against the doorframe, relaxed, his eyelids drooping lazily. I used to love that look on him. Normally, this was my cue.

I would jump up, rush over to kiss him, and playfully tease him. "Don't you dare slack off on me." And he would reluctantly wrap his arms around me. "Fine.

One more kiss and I'll hit the books with you." I used to feel this pathetic sense of accomplishment during those moments, like I was rescuing some lost cause from ruining his own future.

But the words from his text message flashed in my mind. [ She is a grad student. Academically, I do not deserve her. ] My past behavior suddenly felt ridiculously pathetic.

I looked up at him, meeting his expectant gaze, and grabbed my textbook. "Whatever. It's your screwedup life anyway.

I'm done playing your unpaid babysitter." Zane froze, caught off guard.

Then, he just shrugged, a lazy smirk pulling at his lips as he collapsed onto the couch. "You're the best, babe.

I'll come pick you up later." I gave a curt nod, pulled the front door open, and walked out.

I had not been walking toward the campus library for more than a few minutes when my phone buzzed.

It was Zane. [ You good? ] I aggressively wiped a stray tear from the corner of my eye and typed back. [ I'm fine. ] Finals were right around the corner.

I refused to let his garbage ruin my future.

I cranked my headphones up to the max volume and numbed myself with the mountain of research papers and advanced mock exams piled on my desk.

By the time I finally looked up, I saw a string of missed calls on my screen. That was a first.

My sudden shift in attitude earlier must have finally set off some alarm bells in Zane's head. He knew something was off.

When I walked out of the library, Zane was waiting under the shade of a large oak tree.

The second he saw me, he rushed over. "Babe, I was cutting up some fruit for you and slipped." He held out his hand, showing off a tiny, barely red nick on his finger.

In the past, my heart would have immediately ached for him.

I would have dug straight into my bag for my firstaid kit and carefully treated his little scratch like some overbearing soccer mom.

But standing there now, looking at his face, he felt like a stranger.

It was like I was looking at someone I had never even met. "Then don't cut fruit next time." Zane dropped the wounded act.

He slammed both hands down onto my shoulders, his grip tight. "Ivy, what the hell is your problem now?" The word now hung heavily in the air between us, a stark reminder of the growing resentment we had been ignoring.

In all the time we had been together, I had only ever exploded at him once. It was when he forgot our anniversary. "Ivy, it's just an anniversary.

What makes it any different from literally any other day?

Do you really have to throw a fit over this?" No matter how dense he claimed to be, my blood was boiling at that moment. "It's an important day, Zane.

Every girl wants her boyfriend to remember something like that." "Really?" His tone suddenly shifted, softening into something almost thoughtful. "Every girl expects to celebrate anniversaries?" Chapter 2 Seeing my lack of reaction, Zane immediately switched gears, trying to smooth things over again. "Babe, don't be mad.

I promise I'll remember from now on." Not only did he put on that soft, gentle tone, but he immediately booked firstclass tickets to that Cancun island resort I had always wanted to visit.

And just like that, my anger evaporated. But now I knew the truth. All my anger had just been a free tutorial on how to treat his future girlfriend. "I'm fine.

Don't you always complain about me nagging you? So, I'm done getting in your way." Zane stared hard at me.

After a long, suffocating silence, he finally threw out one word. "Whatever." He decided to channel his frustration into dropping cash at the most expensive club in town.

It was definitely a calculated move.

When one of our mutual friends commented on his social media post, asking if he had blocked me, Zane replied instantly. [ Did you block Ivy from seeing this? ] [ Like I need her permission to breathe? ] I ignored the notification and fell into a deep sleep.

I had no idea what time it was when my phone started ringing. Zane's voice, thick with alcohol and pure rage, blasted through the speaker. "Ivy, are you playing it cool?

If I take some other hot girl home right now, do you even fucking care anymore?" It was 4:00 AM.

I had finally managed to get some decent sleep, only for him to wake me up with this garbage.

My voice was ice cold. "Zane, whatever you decide to do, I'm done caring." I hit the red button and ended the call. My phone didn't ring again for the rest of the night.

The funny thing was, all that crippling anxiety and insomnia I used to get whenever he stayed out late vanished. I slept perfectly.

When I finally woke up, it was to the blaring sound of the heavy metal rock alarm I had set, practically tearing through my eardrums.

The curtains were drawn tight, barely letting a sliver of morning light into the room. A dark silhouette sat on the edge of the bed. I knew it was Zane.

I was honestly a little surprised. "When did you get back?" Normally, even if he came home wasted at 3:00 AM, he would climb into bed, wrap his arms around my waist, and drunkenly whine for a kiss.

But this time, despite reeking of tequila, he just sat there in silence. He made zero effort to pull me close, and I hadn't even heard him walk through the door.

When he saw me open my eyes, he finally spoke.

His voice was incredibly raspy. "I was out drinking until 4:00 AM, and you didn't call me once. "When I finally dragged myself back here, there wasn't a single light left on for me.

You didn't even hear the door close.

Do you have any idea what time I got home?" He glared at me through the dim light, demanding an answer. "Ivy, what the hell is wrong with you?" I sat up and flipped on the bedside lamp.

The sudden, harsh light made us both wince. I noticed how awful he looked.

His usually perfect face looked exhausted, rough stubble covered his jaw, and his eyes were bloodshot. "Zane, I saw that I'm not pinned at the top of your messages." It was Seraphina.

The legendary, untouchable crush. Zane's eyes widened a fraction. His lips parted, but before he could say a word, I kept going. "I read what you told your friends.

That she's incredible, and you don't deserve her, so you settled for me. In your eyes, she's flawless, and I'm not even a decent backup plan.

I'm just a stepping stone for your real love story." I took a sharp breath, the last tiny shred of hope I had evaporating as I watched his reaction. "Zane, do you have anything you want to say to explain yourself?" He stood up abruptly.

He opened his mouth, but then aggressively ran a hand through his hair instead. He couldn't even look me in the eye.

After a heavy, miserable silence, he decided to just double down and flip the script. "Ivy, what right do you have to go through my phone?" Chapter 3 In that moment, the last shred of hope I had faded.

I had not expected him to lash out like a cornered animal. For a second, I actually wanted to laugh.

And then, I really did let out a cold laugh. "We're done." I had spent the entire previous day wondering how I would feel when I finally said those words.

Heartbroken, devastated, resentful. But when they actually left my lips, all I felt was pure, unfiltered relief. An unequal relationship was just a slow poison.

Ripping the bandage off was the only way out. Zane stared at me in disbelief.

He could not process that these words were coming from the same girl who had chased him for a whole year. "Are you serious right now?" After a long, heavy pause, he finally realized I was not joking. "Whatever." His face darkened. "I might not deserve her, but you seriously think I don't deserve you?" He spat the words out, turned on his heel, and slammed the door behind him.

I efficiently shoved everything that belonged to me into my suitcase. Back then, he used his sweet talk to trick me into being his free, fulltime teaching assistant.

I was stupid enough to think it was a sign of his maturity. Looking at it now, I was nothing but an NPC he used to level up and beat the game.

When I dragged my suitcase back into my dorm room, my roommate stopped what she was doing.

Her eyes went wide with shock. "Why are you back here?" I looked at her with a calm expression. "We broke up." She did not even filter her thoughts before speaking. "But you were obsessed with Zane.

How could you agree to break up with him?" The words slipped out of her mouth before she even realized what she was saying. "Ivy, I'm so sorry.

I didn't mean it like that." I did not blame her.

Anyone who had witnessed my desperate phase of chasing Zane probably assumed I would cling to this hardwon relationship until the bitter end. Zane was incredibly goodlooking.

Not only was he the star of the college football team, but he always wore this careless, easygoing smirk on his face. He was famous around campus.

Anonymous campus social apps were constantly flooded with posts from girls wanting to date him. Falling for him was probably the most reckless thing I had ever done in my life.

I had actively approached him at frat parties. Even after being ignored and rejected, I swallowed my pride and threw myself at him again and again.

I even played the guitar and sang a love song dedicated to him in front of everyone at the massive freshman orientation gala.

I never missed a single one of his football games, screaming and cheering for him from the bleachers.

It was only after this endless, repetitive display of affection that he finally gave a careless nod and agreed to date me.

I guess everyone feels insecure in front of the person they like. It was the same way he felt about Seraphina, and the exact same way I felt about him.

So, I just accepted my fate as the one who put in all the effort.

My roommate carefully tested the waters. "Is there any chance you guys will get back together?" The lines from his text history played back in my mind, one by one. [ Personalitywise, she's so gentle. ] [ Lookswise, she's dropdead gorgeous. ] [ Academically, she's a grad student. ] [ I don't deserve her. ] And then his careless reply to his friend's question. [ Oh, you mean Ivy?

She makes me good enough to eventually deserve Seraphina.

That's literally her only redeeming quality. ] It was terrifying how a living, breathing person could type out words that felt like forty degrees below zero.

I took my things out of my suitcase, organizing them in my closet one by one. "There's zero chance." Chapter 4 It hit me then.

Without waking up at dawn to make Zane breakfast, without running across half the campus like a maid to buy him his favorite double cheeseburger and iced Americano for lunch, without trailing after him for his evening walks, and without leaving the library early just because he wanted to play basketball… I had an unbelievable amount of free time.

I could finish so many more research papers, earn so many more extra credits, and secure so many more Aplus recommendations from my professors.

The seat I always reserved for Zane at the library sat empty for days. The people around us who knew him started whispering. "Did they break up?" "Makes sense.

A guy with Zane's attention span was never going to survive grad school prep anyway.

It's a miracle he lasted until November." "Who do you think dumped who?" The library was dead quiet.

Every single syllable echoed. "Obviously, Zane dumped…" A heavy thud shattered the sentence. "This is a library.

Shut up if you're not studying." Zane slammed his backpack onto the table, his jaw clenched tight. The silence that followed was suffocating.

People craned their necks, looking back and forth between me and Zane. I kept my head down and flipped the page of my textbook, ignoring his existence.

For a long, heavy moment, I could feel the sheer weight of his stare burning into the top of my head. Then came the aggressive rustling.

Zane started angrily shoving his books from his locker into his bag one by one. He was making an unnecessary amount of noise.

It was a deliberate, pathetic attempt to get under my skin. I tried to block him out, but a sudden thought hit me. My master study notes were still in his possession. I looked up.

My eyes locked straight onto his. I scribbled on a sticky note and shoved it across the table. [ You still have my notes. ] I realized he had been watching me this whole time.

As he read the words on the yellow paper, the subtle anticipation in his eyes vanished. He looked away. His hands froze for a second.

He randomly dug through his bag before tossing out a dismissive excuse. "Can't find them right now. I'll give them back when I do." I gave a short nod and went back to my reading.

Zane despised putting actual effort into his academics. He always wanted maximum results with zero work.

And his most efficient strategy was simply moving his lips to sweettalk me into doing it for him. I had swallowed his lies, genuinely believing his manipulation was affection.

Looking back at it now, it left a metallic taste of pure irony in my mouth. A few days later, my phone lit up with a text from Zane. [ Found your notes.

Come get them. ] I wanted to ignore him. But those notes were the result of my blood, sweat, and countless hours of meticulous outlining. Leaving them behind was not an option.

I typed back. [ Where are you? ] It was like he knew I would not refuse. He dropped a location pin in the exact same second.

It was a sorority house, specifically the most luxurious one sitting right on the edge of our campus housing zone. I followed the GPS directions.

The closer I got, the louder the noise became. On the other side of the manicured lawn, a massive crowd was cheering and chanting. "Say yes! Say yes!" I stopped in my tracks.

Through the gaps in the hedges, I saw Zane. He wore that signature lazy smirk, looking down and whispering something soft to the girl standing in front of him.

She had flawless porcelain skin, delicate features, and perfect lips. She was undeniably beautiful. Her cheeks flushed bright red as she playfully told the crowd to quiet down.

As if making sure I could hear him, Zane raised his voice. "Be my girlfriend. Please?" Every single word was sharp, heavy, and deliberately loud.

So all it took was dumping me for him to suddenly feel worthy of her. My role as his stepping stone had been executed perfectly.

Chapter 5 Through the crowd, Zane abruptly turned his head and locked eyes with me. My chest felt hollow. I pulled my lips into a slow, mocking smirk. A muscle ticked in Zane's jaw