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  Beckett sighed while shaking his head. “I promise that I’ll show you a good time,” he said while sealing his declaration with a pleasant smile and it was enough to temporarily satisfy any lingering doubts.

  “Fine, Beckett, I’ll go with you, but I hope you realize that I was planning for Arlington’s winter formal. I had my eye on someone and now you’ve ruined my chances.”

  Beckett rolled his eyes dismissively. “Don’t try to make me feel guilty. Just be ready when I come pick you up, okay? I’ll send you the details later.”

  I nodded, glancing at Alex who remained eerily silent. “You’re awfully quiet, Alex.”

  His eyes were as cold as I remembered. “I don’t have anything to say.”

  “What a shame!” I sneered. “The school is still talking about what you did to Brynn. I guess you don’t regret going after my sister when she was so vulnerable?”

  “She didn’t do anything that she didn’t want to,” Alex growled in my direction. He quietly muttered something indecipherable to Beckett before walking in the opposite direction. Regardless, I continued to glare at his retreating form.

  “Arrogant asshole,” I grumbled, vaguely aware of Beckett’s disappointed sigh.

  “You shouldn’t judge someone when you don’t know the whole story, Nicole.” Beckett reprimanded me. “That’s always been your biggest flaw.”

  “As if you’re some kind of expert!” I frowned. “Forget it, I have to get to class.”

  Subsequently, I walked in the opposite direction without another word.

  ***

  Brynn was quiet at lunch, revealing the solemn version of herself that she had been ever since the drama with Jonathan and Alex. I knew that she didn’t want to talk about it, but I was also desperate to figure out what was hurting my sister. “What are you working on?” I asked, making conversation as Brynn scribbled in her notebook.

  “Just some drawings,” she replied vaguely, and I nodded in reply.

  “I had an interesting morning.” I sighed. “Beckett asked me to go to another school’s winter formal with him.”

  “Oh?” came Brynn’s obviously uninterested response, but I continued on regardless.

  “It’s strange, right?” I pondered aloud. “I mean, he obviously has ulterior motives. I just can’t quite figure him out, especially since we have our own winter formal here.”

  “Did you ask him?” Brynn questioned, briefly glancing up from her work.

  “Of course I did!” I confirmed. “He basically told me that it was nothing to worry about which is completely unfair! Telling someone not to worry about something will only cause them to worry more.”

  “I guess so,” Brynn said, eyes once again scanning over the decorated pages in front of her.

  “You’re no help!” I complained, roaming my eyes across the sea of students in the crowded dining hall, searching for anything interesting. I paused on the image of Alex, Beckett and Chrystian eating lunch together because I did not anticipate meeting each of their respective gazes, especially when they quickly averted their attention. “What do they want?” I asked, looking back at Brynn who was completely oblivious. I wanted to bring it to her attention, but I also feared what might happen if I mentioned Alex’s name. You see, Rose and I couldn’t figure why Brynn was acting this way. Ultimately, Rose backed off instantly, probably because of the situation she herself had gone through back at our former high school. On the other hand, I continued to try and push my luck until Brynn inevitably snapped and the harsh words that she threw at me were enough to shut me up about the whole incident.

  “Did you look over Miranda’s new plays?” Brynn asked. I opened my mouth to respond, but stopped immediately when I noticed Chrystian approaching us out of the corner of my eye. Brynn noticed my lack of response and reacted sharply. “Did you hear me?”

  “Brynn, I need to tell you something,” I said, tensing as Chrystian neared. “But please try not to lose your shit.”

  Those words seemed to flip a switch and my sister responded harshly. “I don’t need you to tell me anything!”

  I was stunned by her aggression, but I could offer nothing in return, especially once Chrystian was within earshot to overhear our conversation. “Brynn, can we talk?”

  Chrystian only amplified the tension, and I held my breath when Brynn returned his greeting. “Hi, Chrystian,” she said before returning to her notebook, effectively ignoring him.

  Chrystian noticed her indifference and addressed me instead. “How are you, Nicole?”

  “I’m fine,” I offered in response. “What are you doing over here?”

  “I wanted to talk to Brynn,” Chrystian said, returning his gaze to my sister.

  “About?” I asked because I knew that my sister wouldn’t never spoke unless she felt that it was warranted. At the very least, I imagined a scenario where Chrystian forced her out of her persistent melancholy.

  “Winter formal,” he said and I watched Brynn’s fingers curl tightly around her pen.

  “Winter formal?” I repeated while looking at my sister. “Did you hear that, Brynn?”

  “Yes,” came her short reply. “What about it?”

  “I wanted to ask if you would go with me as my date.” Chrystian managed to ask his request with a smile, even though his concern was palpable.

  “Is that so?” Brynn’s icy tone was unexpectedly frightening. “What about Isabella?”

  “We’re not together anymore,” Chrystian mentioned quietly as a frown marred his handsome physiognomy. The news broke earlier, after I had overheard Chrystian and Beckett talking together in the Student Council lounge. I immediately confronted Aria who had been talking with Brynn at her locker. Aria confirmed the news, explaining to us both that Chrystian planned to tell everyone before the end of the day.

  “You broke her heart,” Brynn said, interrupting my recollection. “How do I know that you aren’t trying to break mine?”

  Chrystian seemed at a loss for words as he carefully searched for the right thing to say. “That’s not my intention, Brynn. It has never been my intention. Look, I didn’t mean to hurt Isabella.”

  “You and your friends never mean to hurt anyone,” Brynn hissed, a scalding reprimand, “but you can’t seem to help yourselves.”

  “Brynn,” I whispered, surprised by the venom behind the delivery of her statement as if she was talking to her worst enemy instead of a friend.

  Chrystian’s jaw clenched, and I could tell that he was fighting to keep himself composed. “Brynn, what happened between you and Alex has nothing to do with me. I’ve been nothing but honest with you since the moment we met. You know that I like you, and I wouldn’t continue to help someone if I had malicious feelings. Because if there’s anyone in this world who I would never want to hurt, then it would be you.”

  “What a bold promise,” Brynn replied as if she couldn’t recognize the obvious sincerity behind his appeal. “I don’t believe you.”

  “Why?”

  I shifted uncomfortably, suddenly aware that nearly every student in the dining hall was looking in our direction, including Beckett and Alex. “Brynn,” I whispered again to my sister, “people are looking.”

  “Yeah? Well, they already think that I’m a whore.”

  “Brynn!”

  “Listen to me, Brynn,” Chrystian said, hands falling on top of the table so that he could support himself as he lowered his voice. “You should know better than that since you’ve done nothing wrong. I don’t know what happened, but I know it's affecting you and him both.”

  Chrystian sighed as if the weight of the entire world was crushing him. “I’m going to tell you the truth, okay? Alex might be one of my best friends, but he’s unreliable when it comes to relationships. Whatever he did or said to you that night has nothing to do with you being good enough. It’s Alex’s fault because he’s a complete jackass and you shouldn’t worry about him.”

  Brynn was silent, wearing a complete look of concentration. “I’m
sorry, Chrystian. Can you just leave?”

  I felt my own heart break as Chrystian’s face fell at her dismissal. “Brynn,” he said quietly. “I’ve been waiting for the right moment to tell you how I feel. If you send me away, then I can’t help you anymore. Not if you don’t see me the same way that I see you.”

  “Then I guess I’ll find somewhere else to sit in our writing class,” Brynn replied coldly, picking up her pen and returning to her notebook, rejecting Chrystian’s plea without a second thought.

  Chrystian stood back, looking down at Brynn with eyes glazed with sadness. “I’d never make you do something that you didn’t want.”

  Rose

  I decided to wait inside the locker room when I realized that the men’s basketball team was still practising. Usually, I would sit with my other teammates and wait for the boys to finish. However, our last few practice sessions had played out a bit differently because I was desperately trying to avoid Ryder. If he saw me with the other girls, then it would give him the opportunity to talk about the dreaded topic of the winter formal. Of course, I also knew how strange that sounded since I had accepted Ryder’s invitation to the formal after Nicole’s intervention. In fact, the entire school made it a frequent topic of conversation in the hallways, including Heidi Delacruz who often greeted me with awkward silence. It was becoming harder to avoid satiating their curiosity, and Hadley was the first to brilliantly propose the question of why I never talked to Ryder during school. Instead of offering a straightforward response, I always tried to switch the subject because they didn't understand the real reason why I was so afraid.

  After my initial conversation with Ryder, I realized that I acted hastily in my decision to attend the formal together. At the moment, caught up in my feelings for him, I agreed to his request without an ounce of hesitation. I was too fascinated by the idea of reciprocating his affections, which meant that Ryder had started to occupy that complicated space between conviction and indecision because I never really considered the consequences. However, whenever I considered the idea of a potential relationship, I started thinking about him and that’s when I experienced my first inkling of doubt.

  Nevertheless, I had already made plans for the winter formal. In fact, I was really excited, and I felt confident with that aspect of my decision. Unfortunately, it was the risk of what could happen after that forced me to reconsider everything. The prospect of Ryder wanting more from me when I was afraid to give that to anyone. Likewise, I suddenly realized just how hard it was for me to consider that type of intimacy, so I decided to avoid him because I was protecting myself from those kinds of things.

  I was stranded in a difficult place, balancing my affection for Ryder with a complete and tragic apprehension surrounding the idea of relationships. For reference, I experienced a similar situation to Brynn’s current predicament but at an even younger and inexperienced age. Brynn was suffering by harshly rejecting everyone who reminded her of that pain. Similarly, only time and distance had given me the opportunity to once again open my heart to the better parts of this world. I was able to successfully heal myself after those horrible circumstances had been carefully hidden away. Because I knew that I was still hesitant to open myself up to such vulnerability, even to someone as kind as Ryder.

  This is the reason for why I was hiding away in the locker room, waiting for the boys to finish their practice. “Where’s Rose?” I could hear Miranda as she questioned the gathered circle of my teammates.

  I winced when the mention of my name caught Ryder’s attention from where he was shooting free throws with Beckett. His eyes scanned over our gathered group and a frown pulled down the corners of his lips. “She’s coming.” I heard Brynn reply to our coach. Graciously, my sister was always the first to defend me, especially after we had become even closer because of Brynn’s situation with Jonathan.

  Eventually, the men’s team began to filter out of the gym, and I waited for the perfect opportunity before making my way out of the locker room to join the others. “You can shoot with Heidi,” Miranda informed me, eyes glancing up from her clipboard as she caught me walking along the edge of the court.

  I wanted to complain because Heidi probably considered me as one of her least favorite people. However, I obediently joined my glowering teammate at the other end of the court. “Where have you been?” she asked, turning around to face the goal.

  “Locker room,” I muttered before we descended into a tense, awkward silence.

  I hated how quickly news seemed to travel between my classmates at Arlington. I never intended for Heidi to learn about my tentative arrangement with Ryder, especially when she seemed content to regard me as an enemy instead of an ally. These days, Heidi frequently partnered with Sydney Black and Rina Soler.

  “Hey, Rose!”

  Aria’s voice was like a godsend as she approached from the other end of the court. “Aria!” I nearly choked around a sigh of relief.

  Aria was watching Brynn and Hadley, drawing my attention to my younger sister. “I’m worried about Brynn.”

  “She’s still heartbroken after Jonathan,” I told her. “I know how she feels.”

  Aria regarded me warily. “I don’t think that’s entirely why.”

  Imediately, I knew that she was referencing the rumors surrounding my sister and Alex. “Do you know what happened?”

  Aria shook her head. “They won’t talk about anything, and it’s causing a rift between the boys.”

  “How so?”

  “Chrystian thinks Alex...took advantage of Brynn,” Aria replied, and I noticed that the distress was crinkling the corners of her eyes.

  “I don’t think he would do that,” I told her. “I think Brynn would be worse and I’ve seen Brynn when she’s really upset.” I pursed my lips, considering Aria’s concerns. “Why does Chrystian care?”

  “Because Chrystian likes Brynn a lot,” Aria explained. “We’ve talked about Brynn before.”

  Aria sighed, running her fingers along the used hemline of her t-shirt. “Chrystian and Alex won’t even talk to each other anymore, and there’s always a third person in the same room.” Aria shook her head, looking away from my sister. “Did you know that Chrystian asked Brynn to go with him to the winter formal today?”

  My eyes widened. “He did?”

  Aria nodded. “Nicole told me that Brynn said some really harsh things to him. I found Chrystian in the lounge today, and it was obvious that he had been crying.”

  “I don’t want to offend anyone, but Chrystian should’ve known better. Brynn has been in a horrible mood lately and she doesn’t discriminate.”

  “Well, Chrystian thought that it was Jonathan’s fault,” Aria continued. “He knew Brynn went out with Alex, but he didn’t assume anything happened until Brynn’s rejection earlier.”

  Aria hesitated as if she was about to tell me something difficult. “He fought with Alex earlier, and V and Beckett had to break up their argument before it got out of control.”

  “Chrystian fought with Alex?”

  “V isn’t happy,” Aria said with a tone that carried an implicit warning. “I think he might force Brynn to tell him what happened. I mean, V never messes with someone’s personal life until it causes problems within the group.”

  “Brynn is stronger than he thinks.”

  “I agree. That’s why I think you and Nicole need to figure out what happened before things get any worse.”

  “I know!” I sighed. “I’ve been trying so hard, but Brynn will only talk about Jonathan. For some reason, she really seems to hate Alex.”

  “I’m not close enough to her to really understand,” Aria sheepishly admitted. “But I know that you two are close, and if there’s anyone who can help Brynn, then it’s her sister. You can even use V’s warning because it might spark something.”

  “Okay,” I reluctantly agreed because I hated it when people pushed me to talk about something that was obviously personal. For example, when I was literally fucked over
by an old boyfriend, Brynn never forced me out of my comfort zone. Instead, she was there for me in a different kind of way, offering silent support until I was ready to talk. Likewise, I didn’t want to strain my relationship with Brynn, but I also understood that her silence was making things difficult for other people.

  And that was unacceptable.

  ***

  After practice, I decided to walk ahead of Nicole and Brynn to clear my head after my conversation with Aria. I was still formulating a plan for when I confronted my heartbroken sister. The beginnings of a plan were formulating in my head as I greeted the cold and frigid winter air with a sharp exhale. “You’re a difficult person to reach, Rose.”

  I paused on the sidewalk as Ryder emerged from his car. “Why are you still here?”

  “Isn’t it obvious?” he asked. “I’ve been waiting for you.”

  “Wh-why?” I stuttered around the question, and my disbelief forced me to take a step back as I realized that he had been waiting since we started practice.

  Two entire hours ago.

  “I just wanted to talk,” he said. “You know, some people might assume that you’re trying to avoid me.”

  “I-I’m not!” I quickly rushed to defend myself, wincing because of how strangled I sounded.

  “No?” he asked, amused by my timid responses. “Then why don’t you do something for me?”

  Was this something that I should already know?

  “What do you want?”

  “Come eat lunch with me tomorrow,” he suggested. “I promise I won’t bite.”

  It was such an innocent request, but I understood its implications. It could easily lead to the thing that I was still mind-numbingly afraid to confront. “I don’t know...”

  He cut me off with a playful whine. “Please, Rose? I would really like the company.”

  His earnest tone, the mischievous look in his eyes, and his friendly smile slowly melted the carefully constructed guards that I had built around my heart. After all, one little lunch wouldn't really hurt anything, would it? “I guess I can manage that,” I agreed, and his smile grew as he took a cautious step forward.