Aubrey tilts her head, unimpressed.“You’re never truly fine when you say you are.That’s just your way of sounding calm while everything's falling apart.”
I shoot her a look.“You’re dramatic.”
She grins.“And you’re one bad decision away from a full emotional breakdown.So, again.”She pulls at my arm.“Spill.”
I lean towards her, keeping my voice low.“What do you want me to say, Aub?That I did something monumentally stupid?That I let the school’s resident fuckboy turn me into some wide-eyed, gasping cliché?That I can’t stop thinking about him, even though I’m pretty sure I hate him?”
She stills.Her eyes widen.“You slept with him.”
I don’t answer because I don’t need to.
"Sam..."her voice is quiet now.Careful.
“I don’t need the speech,” I whisper.“I’ve already delivered it to myself five times before breakfast, complete with dramatic pauses.And don’t you dare tell Lola about this, because she’ll have it trending by the end of first period.”
I turn and walk away, with Aubrey falling into step beside me.
The hallway is noisy.Voices overlap.Lockers slam shut.Girls laugh loudly.Somewhere down the hall, a phone drops, and someone swears.It should all feel normal.
But it doesn’t.
Everything sounds distant and muffled beneath the static screaming inside my head.My skin feels tight, and my shoulders stay high as if braced for an impact that hasn’t arrived yet.Every laugh feels like it's aimed at me, and every group of girls makes my pulse race.
I’m waiting for the whispers.The “I-heard-Reece-totally-nailed-her” ones.The smug looks.The knowing glances.Waiting to hear that he had won.That the bet with Jace paid off.I brace for it with every step.
But nothing happens.No one looks twice or snickers when I pass by.No one leans in to whisper anything behind their hands.Conversations continue as if I don’t exist at all.
I swallow hard and keep walking, my heart pounding, knowing it’s not a matter of if it will happen.It’s a matter of when.
I see him at the end of the hallway before he sees me.
He’s with Jace and a few other guys.Shoulders loose.Heads tipped together.Laughing as if nothing in the world has weight.Reece stands a little taller than the rest, hands shoved in his pockets, that smug fucking grin carved into his face.He throws his head back at something Jace says, laughter rough and easy.
I slow down unintentionally.My mouth becomes dry.
I wonder if they’re congratulating him.If Jace is patting him on the shoulder, calling him a legend, demanding details.If Reece is casually feeding them pieces of me, like guys do when they think a girl is just a story.I picture him talking about my mouth, my sounds, the way I lost control.About how easily he made me forget my name.
The thought makes my skin crawl.
He shifts.
Our eyes meet.
Just for a second.Long enough for my chest to hurt.
Then he looks away.
He laughs at something Jace says and nudges his arm, casual and familiar, as if I don’t exist.He turns fully back to his friends and keeps talking, shoulders relaxed, grin back in place.
And somehow, that hurts more than all his teasing ever did.
Aubrey catches it instantly.Of course she does.
“He’s ignoring you,” she mutters.
“I noticed.”
“He’s a fucking asshole,” she says.
