storyy

I was dating an older guy when I was a freshman in college. A bunch of my stuff ended up at his place, nothing major, but I’d let him borrow my VCR and a few other things. When I came back from Christmas vacation and went to his place, all of my stuff was packed up and neatly piled at the foot of his bed… where he was sleeping. Apparently, it was his way of telling me it was over. Even worse, my mom was waiting in the car at the time. — Robin

I’m the asshole in this story. I'd been living with my boyfriend in Taiwan for about a year, but had gotten into a bunch of grad schools in the U.S. As a token of love, I’d applied to uni in Taiwan — with no real desire to go. But somehow, I couldn’t tell my boyfriend that. Weirdly, because I loved him too much — and had I been going totally by my heart, I would have blown off Harvard to stay with him. I matriculated, bought a plane ticket, and still didn’t tell him. One day while he was at work, I packed my bags, with the intention of seeing him when he got home, then explaining, then leaving. Right when my cab rolled up, he texted to say he was stuck and would be a few hours late. So I just left. — Jenna

January 1, 2008 was probably an important date for a lot of people. I can imagine a lot of people making resolutions to quit smoking, stop eating fast food, or at least hold off drinking for maybe a week or so until the inevitable give-up. For me, that was the day my girlfriend made the resolution to change her life — by not having me in it. So January 1 became an important date for me too, because while I was at home on my Christmas vacation, my parents gave me a New Year’s resolution: “Stop crying so much.” — Ryan

I was cheating on my boyfriend of two years, Tim, with a guy named John. I really was planning on breaking up with Tim, but I hadn’t gotten there yet. One day, we were lying in bed when he made a joke. I squealed: "John!" That wasn't his name. I confessed I had cheated, and he broke up with me on the spot. A real two-minute whirlwind.  — Lina

After I decided to leave grad school and move to New York so that my girlfriend at the time and I could live together, she called and informed me that she wasn't ready to leave Cleveland and was breaking up with me. I convinced her not to. Two years and some serious maintenance later she ended the relationship, one I'd assumed would result in marriage, with a text message. I sincerely hope she has herpes. — Sean

My ex-boyfriend broke up with me thirteen days after I moved in with him, when we'd been dating for three years. It was right before Thanskgiving when he told me he’d already started dating his twenty-one-year-old co-worker. I moved out soon after, and took with me all of my stuff. I guess he'd been hoping to use it for Thanksgiving dinner — he was inviting his family over — because as I left, he shouted, "Thanks for ruining Thanksgiving!"  Three cheers for therapy. — Maggie