Free - Boyfriend

Her phone buzzed with twelve backlogged messages, twelve ghosts returning at once. She winced, then smiled—actually smiled, for the first time in weeks.

The app refreshed with a new tagline: “Boyfriend free. Heart full. Welcome back.”

The app had a new notification: You are now boyfriend-free. Would you like to upgrade to “feeling-free”? No more longing. No more loneliness. No more love. One-time offer.

"Boyfriend free" was the name of the app, and Chloe had downloaded it at 2 a.m. on a Tuesday, half-laughing, half-crying into a pint of salted caramel ice cream. boyfriend free

Chloe thought it was a joke. Then she tried it.

Then went the man she’d never dated but who’d taken up too much space in her head anyway—the one who’d smiled at her once in a grocery store and become a fantasy for six lonely months. The app asked, “Has he ever actually been your boyfriend?” She clicked “No.” The app replied, “Then he’s already free. But we’ll free you, too.” And just like that, she stopped wondering what if.

She thought about Jake’s laugh. Marcus’s stupid joke about the raccoon in the trash can. The grocery store stranger’s eyes—she couldn’t even picture them anymore. Her phone buzzed with twelve backlogged messages, twelve

Next went Marcus, the charming one who’d borrowed money and never paid it back. Gone from her Venmo history, her memory even starting to blur around the edges of his face.

Slowly, she opened the app settings and found the button she’d missed before: Restore all data. Including the pain.

She typed back: Exactly.

She ignored it.

The premise was simple: you swipe on men, but instead of matching for romance, you matched for the void they left behind. A guy who ghosted you after three perfect dates? Swipe right, and the app would ensure you never saw him at a coffee shop or mutual friend’s party again. An ex who still liked your Instagram posts from two years ago? Erased from your algorithm. A situationship who sent mixed signals? The app would filter his number out of your phone—no block, no drama, just a clean, quiet disappearance.

She deleted it. Then she texted Jake: Hey. I know you’re not ready. I’m not either. But I miss the raccoon story. Heart full

First went Jake, the musician who’d said “I’m not ready for a relationship” after seven months of acting like her boyfriend. Poof. His texts stopped arriving mid-sentence, as if reality itself had edited him out.