here’s what happens when you get cheated on (or feel like you got cheated on, at least): the first time you read the message, your stomach drops. you kinda wanna puke. you haven’t even eaten yet. you ask what happened. why it happened. you convince yourself you don’t need to know. the details don’t matter. the details don’t matter.you ask anyway. for the next two days, you look at the photos. she’s pretty, i guess. smaller nose. sharper jaw. clearer skin. you pick apart her face and turn it over and over in your head. is it because you think she’s prettier than me? you try to make sense of it. what did they have that you didn’t have? why them? why you? what did you need to change? you feel like shit because you feel you weren’t enough. you feel even worse because you know it wasn’t your fault but here you are wallowing in self-doubt anyway. you’re better than this. yes, yes, you know that. your friends say he didn’t deserve you anyway. he says you’re better than those girls. it was his fault. he was greedy. you still ask him what you should change. you stay up rereading what he said. you still don’t understand. if i’m better than them, why did you still need them? it’s been three days of the same conversation. lather, rinse, repeat.