He holds up his hands. “Don’t worry, she’s all yours.”
Shutting my eyes, I release a deep sigh and bang my back into the locker. “Why am I stuck with you guys?”
“Ouch, dude,” Beck says.
“Let’s get food. I’m starving,” Leo says, nodding his dark blond head toward the dining hall. “I heard they have good food here.”
We head for the dining hall along with a huge crowd of other students. Everyone has lunch at the same time, so it’s pretty chaotic.
I search through the crowd for Raven, but don’t see her anywhere. Maybe she’s already inside.
The second we walk through the doors to the dining hall, I spot her sitting at a table with her friends and three other guys. Hmm. Is one her boyfriend? I don’t know why I didn’t consider she’d have a boyfriend…
What does it matter? What happened between us is ancient history.
“So which one is your girl?” Jasper asks, his blue eyes scanning the tables.
“She’s not my—”
“The blonde,” Beck says.
She’s the only one not sitting next to a guy, or looking at him with hearts in her eyes. So maybe none of them is her boyfriend?
Man. Why do I care so much? I’m sure she’s had many boyfriends. I’ve had some girlfriends. Sure, none of them made me feel the way Raven did, but…
“Dude, she’s hot,” Jasper says. “How did you let her go?”
“Shebrokehisheart,” Beck says, which makes me glare at him.
Leo and Jasper give me understanding looks. They know some details about Raven and me, but I’ve mostly kept it to myself. Beck knows because he was at camp with me.
“Happens to the best of us, man,” Leo says with sympathetic gray eyes. “The pretty ones are always looking for someone better.”
“Raven isnotlike that,” I stress.
“Yet, she broke your heart,” Beck says with a raised brow.
“Will you stop saying that? I’m over it.”
Beck holds up his hands while the others nod like they’re agreeing to drop the subject. “Okay, okay. But you should still say hi to her.”
“And rekindle a lost flame,” Leo teases as he presses his hand over his heart.
I whack him in the chest. He just chuckles.
They go to get food while I stride toward Raven’s table. It seems to be taking forever, like the path magically stretches for miles. My heart is doing this weird thumping thing in my chest, my palms are a little clammy, and my lungs feel like they’re inhaling lead instead of oxygen.
She’s laughing and talking with her friends, and that’s when I notice her smile hasn’t changed at all. All these different emotions hit me at once. Joy at the memories we made together, sadness that it was gone like the blink of an eye, hopelessness because I doubt I’ll ever have that again.
Just as I’m only a few feet away, Raven turns her head and her beautiful hazel eyes connect with mine.
Chapter Three
Raven
My body turns into a statue as I gape at the guy standing a short distance away from me.
Kylen wears an unsure smile as his eyes take me in, starting at my hair that’s pulled into a ponytail and down my uniform, which I admit is a little wrinkly because I sometimes pass out on my bed while writing lyrics. But his focus mostly remains on my face, like he can’t believe I’m in the same vicinity as him.
