“I’m leaving Laguna Hills.”
The words hit like a punch.
I jerk back.
“You’re…what?”
His eyes meet mine, full of sadness. Regret. And something else, something raw and fragile that looks an awful lot like dread.
“Turns out my dad’s business is worse than my parents let on. There’s a hostile takeover, legal fallout… it’s bad.” He swallows hard. “They don’t think they’ll be able to come back. Not for a long time. And they need me. When the semester ends… I’m moving to Athens.”
“No.” I shake my head furiously. “You can’t.”
“Al—”
“NO!” I repeat, louder, sharper. Like if I say it with enough force, I can undo what he’s telling me. “This is college. You can’t just… leave in the middle of it.”
Cold spreads through me, fast and numbing, ice pouring straight into my veins.
This can’t be happening.
My best friend—my only friend—isleaving?
The thought lands heavy and terrifying. How am I going to survive without him?
“I can finish school over there,” he explains. “I’ll get my degree in Greece.”
“And football?”
He shrugs, but there’s defeat in it. “It sucks. But Dad says it’s just a game. Family comes first.”
“And Argy?” My voice splinters. “Where will he live if you’re gone?”
There’s no way my mom will let me keep a hundred-pound dog in the apartment. I can alreadyhear her reaction. I could try hiding him in my closet, but he’d bust out in five seconds flat.
“I’ll take him with me. He’ll be okay.”
“Well, I won’t!” The last word breaks in my mouth like glass. “What about me? I’m just supposed to lose you both?”
Argyros lifts his head and rests his chin on my knee. His warm eyes blink up at me, steady and achingly aware, like he understands exactly what’s happening and is grieving it too.
I cradle his face between my palms, trying to keep control of myself, but it’s no use. I lose it. The tears come, sharp and hot and blinding. Sadness hits me, so powerful it almost knocks me over.
“Please understand,” Hayes says, his voice hoarse now. “I don’twantto go, Al.”
“Then don’t.”
“I don’t have a choice.” He looks down, blinking like it’s taking all his strength to hold himself together. “If there were any other option, believe me, I’d take it. The thought of leaving everything I know… of leaving you—” His voice falters, the words getting stuck in his throat. “I guess that’s why I’ve been distant. Why I’ve been pushing you away. I don’t know how to say goodbye.”
“Please,” I beg. “Isn’t there anything you can do?”
He shakes his head, looking broken.
“What about my mom?” Panic rises fast, choking and relentless. “She’s slipping, Hayes. She’s not okay. I don’t know what I’m doing.” I stand, grabbing on to his arm like a lifeline. “I can’t do this without you.”
Cold, gnawing fear slithers through me, sinking its teeth into the deepest parts of my brain. And then a thought slips in, so dark, so terrifying, I barely let myself think it?—
What if I’m just like her?
