Embreigh places the crown on his head right as confetti rains from the ceiling. The music starts playing,Safe and Sound by Capital Cities, and everyone starts dancing.
Even Ry and I shimmy a little bit. We watch as Ashley attempts to move closer to Zach on the stage, likely for a photo, but he puts distance between them and Ryen and I laugh.
I look up at the stage, smiling at Zach, waiting for him to come back to me, but something happens. His demeanor changes, his smile drops, and something darkens in his eyes. I pinch my brows together in worry as I watch him, everyone else oblivious to what’s happening.
The next moment, as confetti still falls from the ceiling and the music still brings everyone to dance, Zach tears the crown off his head and tosses it onto the stage, storming off in an instant.
A few people witness it and start to whisper.
“What the hell?” I say to Ryen as we watch him leave the stage in a hurry. “Zach!” I shout his name as I push past the crowd.
I spot Brayden who seemingly noticed it too, making his way toward where Zach ran off to, and I grab him before he gets toofar. “What just happened?” I ask frantically as my brother turns to me.
“This song,” he says plainly before turning back around.
“This song?” I question, and Bray stops to face me once more.
“Cade, do you not know?” he asks me, staring into my eyes as I try to wrack my brain for what the heck he’s talking about.
“No? What?” I ask, desperate to understand what’s happening.
Brayden sighs, the lights swirl around him as the music still echoes. He dips his head before looking back up at me.
“Sophie…” he trails off and in a split second, it hits me.
“The CD,” I whisper, a somber feeling sinking into my gut. “This was the song?” I ask, pulling my eyes up to his. I feel tears sting in the corners of them and my heart aches when I realize what was just done.
WhatI’djust done.
Iput this song on the playlist.
“I think I should go check on him,” Brayden says before turning back around but I stop him again.
“No, you stay here. I’ll go.”
I can see his apprehension, and something akin to confusion as well. But before he can decide to argue, someone from behind us calls his name, or close to it.
“Hey,asswipe, I mean . . . Brayden. I need to talk to you.”
We both turn our heads and I see Ryen standing off by the edge of the stage. Bray looks at me and I shrug, knowing damn well what she’s doing.
“Go. Now,” Bray tells me before walking toward Ryen who winks at me and I don’t waste a second more, dashing off after Zach.
I push past the crowd and make it into a clearing where I see his shadow moving down the hall. I chase after him and even call his name but it’s no use.
I try to keep up my pace and I hear something that sounds like a roar, and when I turn the corner, I find him; seconds away from throwing his fist into a locker.
“Zach, stop!” I call out, and immediately he turns his head.
He drops his fist and I can see anguish in his eyes.
I rush over to him, seeing tears stain his face. My heart breaks as I run into him, wrapping my arms around him and he returns the gesture, holding me tight to his chest.
I can feel how heavy he’d been breathing and I ache knowing the pain he’s experiencing.
“I’m so sorry,” I whisper against his neck. “I didn’t know, Zach. I’m so sorry.” I can feel his tension relax a bit but I can still feel his heart beating in his chest.
“This is my fault,” I tell him. “I didn’t know thatthatwas the song.” I don’t know how I never knew that detail. Sophie listened to one song on repeat in the car, I knew that. It was the only song loaded onto a CD her parents kept in the car, I knew that too. But how the hell did I never know what the song was?
