The Last Vote

Before the birthday party even began, Jeannie Collins cast her phone screen onto the large display in the private room. Then she started an anonymous poll in the group chat she shared with all our mutual friends. The question was simple: [Should I stay with my boyfriend to cut the birthday cake tonight, or go with my childhood friend to his movie premiere?] Thirty seconds. The countdown began. The numbers kept climbing. [Childhood friend: 17 votes.] [Boyfriend: 1 vote.] Everyone assumed that one vote was mine. Jeannie leaned back against the couch, glanced at the results, and smiled. "Majority rules." Marvin Snyder immediately slipped the movie tickets into her hand. "Looks like everyone thinks I need you more." I stood in front of the birthday cake, which was still untouched, while wearing my favorite white shirt. Someone in the room whistled. "Don't be a sore loser." Fair enough. This kind of voting had been going on for three years. After every argument, a poll would decide who should apologize first. Whenever a party ended, another poll would decide who she drove home first. Even when I asked her if she loved me, she would toss the question into the group chat. "Let's see what everyone thinks." I used to believe that if I could just win once, she would finally choose me without hesitation. However, I had never won. Not once. Tonight was no different. Jeannie stood and reached for her coat. As she passed me, she casually pinched my ear. "Be good. I'll make it up to you when I get back." I stared at the poll results glowing on the screen, then turned off my phone. Without a word, I pushed the cake knife toward her. "There's no need." I looked at her. "I'm abstaining." Chapter 1 The private room fell silent for a few seconds. Jeannie Collins' hand was still hanging beside my face. Marvin Snyder was the first to laugh, like he had just heard some harmless joke. "Yale, come on. It's your birthday." Jeannie pulled her hand back, her brows drawing together. "Yale Smith, everyone is here. Don't be such a sore loser." Normally, whenever she called me by my full name, I would lower my head in an instant. I would be afraid of upsetting her and our friends making a scene. Then, everyone would say I was making a big deal out of nothing. However, this time, I simply reached over and pulled the candles out of the cake one by one. "I'm not the one making a fool of myself." Marvin immediately caught Jeannie's sleeve. "Jeannie, maybe just let it go? I won't go for the movie." That was what he said, but his fingers were still gripping the movie tickets tightly. Our mutual friends immediately started chiming in. "The vote's already in. We can't make an exception." "Come on, Yale. Be a good sport. She'll make it up to you tomorrow." Jeannie glanced at her watch. There were only 20 minutes left before the movie started. She was silent for a moment, then picked up her jacket. "I'll take him there. If you still want to celebrate your birthday, wait here. I'm tired of having to keep making peace between you two." I looked up at her. "I already said there's nothing to make up for." She acted like she did not hear me and walked straight past. Marvin followed behind her. As he passed me, he let out a quiet sigh. "Yale, you know she hates being forced to choose." The moment the door closed behind them, the music in the private room started playing again. The poll on the big screen was still open. [Childhood friend: 17 votes.] [Boyfriend: 1 vote.] That single, lonely vote sat at the bottom, like the last scrap of dignity they were willing to leave me. My phone buzzed. Another poll had appeared in our mutual friends' group chat. This time, it was not anonymous. [Guess how many minutes before Yale runs after her to apologize?] [Ten minutes.] [Half an hour.] [Tomorrow morning.] Marvin voted for ten minutes. Someone else immediately followed his vote. [Don't overestimate him. Five minutes, tops.] [He can't stand being without Jeannie.] Jeannie did not vote. However, she did not stop them either. Then someone suddenly asked: [Wait, that one vote for 'boyfriend' just now... Yale voted for himself, right?] Marvin replied with a face-covering-laughter emoji: [Who else would've voted for him?] I stared at those words until my fingertips slowly went cold. They did not even believe that the one vote had come from anyone else. I left the group chat. My birthday party hat was still sitting on the table. The gold paper had been soaked by spilled drinks, leaving it limp and crumpled where it lay. I picked up my jacket and walked out. Someone called after me. "Yale, you're really leaving?" I did not look back. The hallway seemed endless as I walked on, my reflection following me along the glass walls. I caught glimpses of myself as I passed—my white shirt, my red-rimmed eyes, and my empty hands. I looked like a clown who had finally run out of energy to keep performing. Chapter 2 Jeannie came back at 1:00 am. I was packing up the things she had left at my place. After three years together, traces of her were practically everywhere—her high heels by the front door, her skincare products in the bathroom, and her hair ties buried between the couch cushions. Even the throw pillows I had bought had been replaced with the beige ones she liked. The lock clicked just as I put the last book into a cardboard box. Jeannie stood in the entryway, carrying the chill of the night with her and a faint woody scent. It was the same cologne Marvin always wore. The moment she saw the box, her expression darkened. "You're doing this again?" I pulled the tape loose. "I'll have someone come pick this up tomorrow." She walked over and pressed down on the box lid. "Yale, I already gave you an out over what happened on your birthday. How much longer are you going to keep this up?" I looked up at her. "I'm not making a scene. I'm cleaning out my stuff." Jeannie let out a bitter laugh. "So, I go see a movie with Marvin, and suddenly you want to break up? You saw the results yourself. That was what everyone voted for." My fingers stopped moving. "So, you think you've done nothing wrong?" She frowned. "I was just following the rules." The rules again. Three years ago, when we first voted on our relationship, she had said the exact same thing. She had agreed to make our relationship public, but then Marvin posted a poll in the group chat. [Would Jeannie going public with her relationship affect our friendship?] [Yes: 15 votes.] [No: 2 votes.] After Jeannie saw the results, she kissed me on the cheek. "We can make it public later. Everyone thinks now isn't the right time." I waited for her for three whole months. Then, on Marvin's birthday, she finally updated her social media. One picture after another appeared on the screen. The first was a photo of her and Marvin together. Then came pictures of them celebrating New Year's side by side, Marvin sitting beside her in the passenger seat, the two of them marking their anniversary together, and Jeannie cutting the first slice of his birthday cake herself. With every new picture, I found myself thinking the same thing. Maybe, finally, I had a chance. Again and again, I realized I was never her real choice. I picked up my old phone and opened a folder. It was my backup phone. Inside were 276 screenshots I had saved over the past three years. Jeannie froze for a second. "Why did you save all this?" I turned the screen toward her. "Because I'm afraid that someday, I'll soften and change my mind. And because I'm afraid I'd forget why I had to leave." Her expression stiffened. "Yale, you're getting nastier every time you talk." "Nasty?" I gave a quiet laugh. "Compared to making me sit there and watch those numbers change over and over, I'd say I've been pretty polite." She looked away. After a moment, she said quietly, "You never used to be this petty." "I used to think that one day, you'd choose me." She fell silent. I pushed the box over to her feet. "That one vote tonight wasn't mine." Jeannie looked up as if I had just said something ridiculous. "If it wasn't you, then who was it?" I did not answer because I did not know either. All I knew was that when the countdown started, my hands had stayed at my sides. I had not even touched the screen. Maybe some last shred of pride would not let me beg for a single vote in front of a room full of people. Jeannie stared at me for a long moment. Then, she suddenly kicked the box away. "Fine. If you want to clear everything out, then clear it all out." Her phone lit up at that exact moment. A message from Marvin appeared: [Jeannie, is Yale over it yet?] Want me to take him out for dinner tomorrow and apologize to his face?] Jeannie did not hide the screen from me. She replied almost immediately: [He's still making a big deal out of it. We'll talk about it tomorrow.] I stared at those words and suddenly found the whole thing almost funny. That was what I was to her… I was not someone she had hurt or disappointed, just someone making a big deal out of nothing. I bent down, stood the box back up, and sealed it shut again. "Jeannie, we're breaking up." She had her back to me. After a long pause, she gave an icy laugh. "You've said that plenty of times. When have you ever actually left?" Chapter 3 The next day at noon, my friend Ronald Lloyd called me. There was hesitation in his voice. "Yale, Jeannie just called me. She said you left some of your stuff at the club last night. She said you aren't answering her calls, so she asked me to let you know." I was silent for a few seconds. Ronald quickly added, "I'll go with you. We'll grab your stuff and leave." However, when I got there, I found the private room packed with people. Ronald's expression changed too. He lowered his voice and muttered a curse. "She told me there were just some gifts in here. She didn't say there'd be this many people." Jeannie was sitting at the head of the table. Marvin was beside her, his eyes red like he had spent the whole night awake. A small cake sat on the table, the candles already lit. The moment he saw me, Marvin stood up. "Yale, I'm sorry." He picked up his glass and walked toward me. "I was wrong last night. I shouldn't have joked about the movie tickets. Please don't break up with Jeannie because of me, okay?" Jeannie looked up at me. "Marvin's already apologized. You don't have to keep acting like this. Everyone just wants to clear the air." The moment she finished speaking, the big screen lit up. Someone laughed and raised their phone. "Why don't we do it the old-fashioned way?" A poll appeared on the screen. [Should Yale buy Marvin a drink to officially make up?] The countdown had not even finished, but the votes were already completely one-sided. [Yes: 18 votes.] [No: 0 votes.] It was like the result had been decided before the poll even started. Marvin looked around at everyone. "Don't do this. Yale's going to be uncomfortable." Jeannie pushed a glass toward me. "Just have one drink and let it go." I looked down at the glass as the liquid swayed gently, reflecting my face. Over the past three years, I had drunk too many glasses just like this. It was so that the mood in the room would not be ruined, so that someone could have an easy way out, or so that I could prove I was not bothered. More than anything, though, I had done it to keep Jeannie from frowning. I picked up the glass. Jeannie's expression softened. Marvin seemed to relax too. Then, without warning, I poured the drink into the ice bucket beside me. The sharp clatter of ice echoed through the room. Everyone froze. I set the empty glass back on the table. "I'm not drinking to make peace. And you don't need to tell me when you're supposed to let things go." Jeannie's expression darkened instantly. "Yale, do you really have to be like this?" "Like what?" I looked straight at her. "You did a poll, you pressure me to buy him a drink, you pressure me to be the bigger person, and you pressure me to pretend I'm not hurt. And then you ask me why I can't handle it with some dignity?" Marvin's eyes turned red. "I really just want us to get along." With that, he turned to leave. "Jeannie, I should probably go. I don't want Yale to hate me even more." Jeannie instinctively stood and grabbed his arm. The movement was so quick that she did not even seem to realize she had done it. However, I saw it perfectly. We did not need another vote. She had already chosen him countless times. Ronald grabbed my arm and asked quietly, "Ready to go?" I nodded. We had barely reached the door when Jeannie chased after me and grabbed my wrist. "You're going to explain yourself today." I pulled my hand free. "There's nothing left to explain. I've broken up with you. He's apologized to me. You two can keep going." Anger burned beneath her eyes. "I never agreed to break up." I laughed. "So now we need a vote to break up too?" My phone buzzed. Another poll had appeared in the group chat. [Guess whether Yale will come crawling back tonight.] [Yes.] [Definitely.] Two options. No third option. I held my phone out to Jeannie. "Look. They've already decided that I'll come back for me." Her expression changed. Marvin stood behind her and called softly, "Jeannie, don't fight with Yale because of me." She did not chase after me. At least not at that moment. I walked out of the club. The sky outside was dark and overcast. My phone buzzed again with a confirmation from the moving company. [Mr. Smith, we'll be there tomorrow at 3:00 p.m. sharp.] I replied with a single word: [Okay.] Chapter 4 The sky stayed gray all day when we moved. I stood in the empty living room, watching the packed boxes pile up along the wall, one after another. Faint marks remained on the walls where the picture frames had been taken down, like old scars left behind after a relationship had been ripped apart. My landlord called. He sounded uncomfortable. "Mr. Smith, Ms. Collins just contacted me. She said you're only throwing a tantrum and asked me not to process your move-out yet." I slipped the last spare key into an envelope. "Follow the lease." The landlord hesitated. "She said you'll regret this." I smiled. "That's what she says." I hung up. The doorbell rang. On the security screen, Jeannie stood outside. She was still wearing the black dress from last night, her expression tense and her brows drawn low. She did not ring again. Instead, she simply lowered her head and texted me. [Open the door.] [Don't try to scare me with this moving stunt.] [Yale, I'm running out of patience.] I did not reply. Ten minutes later, another message appeared: [What exactly do you want me to do?] I stared at the words. Suddenly, I remembered the first time I had given in to her three years ago. Back then, I had asked her the same thing. "Jeannie, what exactly do you want me to do?" Her answer had been simple. "Just stop being so sensitive." Funny how some words always found their way back around. This time, the only thing that changed was the person getting hurt. By the time the movers arrived, Jeannie was still standing in the hallway. When the door opened, she did not look at me first. She looked past me into the empty apartment. The shoe cabinet by the entrance was bare, and the coffee table was gone. Even the little pothos plant she had once called tacky was then tucked in my arms. Her expression finally changed. "You're really doing this?" I nodded. "Yeah." She reached for my suitcase. "Where are you going?" I took half a step back. "That's none of your business." She clenched her jaw. "Yale, don't push me. I took Marvin home last night. I didn't start another vote with them. What else do you want me to do?" I looked at her. Apparently, in her world, simply refusing to hurt her anymore was supposed to count as making amends. I pulled out the old phone from my bag. There was only one screen left open, showing a poll I had just created: [Is Jeannie worth Yale coming back for?] [Option 1: She's not worth it.] [Option 2: Yale's not coming back.] [Votes: 1.] I chose the second option. The moment Jeannie read the screen, her face went pale. "Are you seriously this immature?" "I learned it from you." I held the phone out toward her. "For three years, you let them make 276 choices for you. Jeannie, now it's my turn to choose." Her voice turned icy. "You wouldn't dare." I slipped the envelope into her coat pocket. Inside were the keys, the watch she had given me, and the old movie ticket I had torn in half. "I choose to leave you behind." Jeannie suddenly grabbed my wrist. "Yale!" The movers stopped by the elevator and looked over awkwardly. I lowered my eyes to the fingers wrapped around my wrist. In the past, whenever she held on to me like that, I would always give in. Even when the hurt was still stuck in my throat, even when we were still in the middle of a fight. I would think first about whether maybe, finally, she was willing to keep me. However, this time, all I felt was how late it was. I slowly pried her fingers off my wrist. "Don't touch me." Jeannie froze. Her fingers hung stiffly in the air, as if she were realizing for the first time that I could refuse her too. The phone lit up with a message from Marvin. He had sent a screenshot of another poll: [Bet on how many days before Yale comes crawling back this time.] [Three days.] [One week.] [Two weeks, tops.] Marvin's profile picture was sitting beneath 'Three days'. Jeannie's fingers froze. She instinctively turned off the screen, but it was already too late. At that moment, the last dull ache in my chest finally settled. I placed the old phone in her palm. "This time, you two can take your time betting. I'm not sticking around to see who wins."