Molly and I were in her dorm room with her best friend, Lucy; a huge poster of the Villanova logo hung above the bed. Her retainers sat on top of the case that read Oliver’s Orthodontist, Then, he texted.

Lucy and I know the ringtone. Normally, the minute I heard that ringtone I would go back to my dorm but now, seven months later, I still hear it in my own office. I’m David, an accountant in New York City. Molly is my best friend and I hope to make her my girlfriend someday. We have been inseparable since high school, but I was never her first option— it was always him. I’m talking about Tim Miller, a varsity basketball player whose career in high school and college ended due to his robbery arrest. Molly and he were dating since freshman year and Molly seemed so happy all the time, but I knew they weren’t a good fit. I couldn’t listen to that ringtone again, so I went home.
I woke up to the sound of the radio in my sad shack apartment. The walls are a lighter shade of blue, filled with photos of my friends and I. A sad Christmas tree is tucked away in a little corner next to my night stand.

I grab the keys to my apartment as I’m leaving for work, everyone always tells me, “Hey David, you’re so lucky to live right next to the Rockefeller Center, especially at Christmas time.” I don’t feel lucky though; it’s loud all the time, and all I hear is my neighbors blasting Christmas music and having a “small get together.” I got to work to see Molly in my cluttered office, my mind went blank, all I could do was look at her long dirty blonde hair and her hazel eyes. As I looked at her eyes I saw a glossy tear go down her face, her grin turned into a frown within seconds.
“David, I needed to tell you that Tim and I broke up, because I realized that he was never good for me and you were there since day one of high school, I hope this doesn’t ruin things,” Molly sniffled.I didn’t even ask if this was a dream, I knew I was going to be better than Tim ever was to her.

Suddenly I heard a bing, surprisingly it was not the annoying ringtone Molly gave for Tim. I reached down for my phone to see the notification from – Tim? Tim? Tim Miller? Molly’s ex boyfriend, Tim Miller? I was still hugging Molly, she finally let go and gave a big smile then skipped back to her office, I gave an awkward smile then when Molly was out of sight I opened to the text from Tim, it was Tim asking if he wanted to go out for lunch. Tim never acknowledged me, I didn’t even think he knew I existed. In the back of my mind I knew I wanted to go, so I decided I would. I threw on a half decent outfit and was on my way. When I left my apartment, I took a second to admire the Rockefeller Tree. It was so beautiful, shining bright among the crowd, with the tall city buildings behind it. It reminded me of Molly, how she just stands out from everyone else.
I met Tim at a diner on the corner of my street. He looked like he was offering me a business deal. “There he is, how are you doing man?”

Tim laughed. “Uh hey man, so what’s up? Why’d you want to meet me here?” I awkwardly stuttered. “Well, I wanted to talk about something, you see, I have cancer, and Molly just broke up with me, and I want to spend the last moments on earth with Molly, does that make sense?” Tim had a serious look on his face, he was about to start crying and I couldn’t say no. He had cancer for crying out loud, that’s horrible, so I agreed. Something was strange though, when I asked about his cancer he didn’t give me a clear answer but he said he had stage three skin cancer and a death sentence for 8 months.

The next day Molly came up to me at work again, she told me what Tim told her, I understood that we couldn’t be together due to Tims cancer. Molly started to bawl, “It’s so sad, he said he had stage four colon cancer.” Colon cancer? I didn’t say anything to Molly, I just comforted her, but I knew I had to look more into this.

. “I know it’s so sad, but did he ever mention what hospital or doctor he went to?” I questioned. “It was your dads office, Dr. Williams.” she cried, wiping her tears. Bingo. I knew I had to give my dad a call, I knew for sure that he wasn’t being completely honest about this.
I gave my dad a call, he answered cheerfully and sounded excited to talk to me. I just asked him briefly if he had a patient named Tim Miller. He said – no. That just made a light bulb go over my head. I almost ran to Tim’s apartment. The mistake that Tim made was “saying” he went to my dad’s office. I barged into his apartment, and I went off.
“ You lied – Tim you lied, just to get what you wanted, you were never good to Molly.” I shouted.
“ I wanted to be with her, she would always try to break up with me and make the excuse that I was too rough and she wanted to be with you.” While in the middle of talking a cop knocks on the door, the cop pulls out handcuffs and arrests Tim, for starting a fake GoFundMe for his chemo treatment. I stood there in disbelief. After that day, Molly just leaned back on me, I always came last.