Kiss and Break Up - Ella Fields Page 0,63

to realize I’d left the house.

When Dad had asked me why I’d beat the hell out of Byron Woods, all I’d done was shrug. Mom told him it was about Peggy, and then Dad had given me a look that said he understood. He wasn’t happy, but he knew she’d been dating the asshole.

It didn’t matter that she’d been dating him. That had never mattered when I’d woken up to the idea that she was only ever supposed to be mine.

Nothing much really mattered now. If life wanted to keep throwing shit at me, I was going to move, dodge the spray, and no longer take it lying down.

It was time to throw shit back.

Peggy

I flicked through Facebook, realizing with a jolt that Dash had blocked me.

He hardly used it, and neither did I, but he’d gone and blocked me anyway.

I jumped over to Instagram, and sure enough, I was unable to pull up his profile there too.

“Talk about extreme measures,” I said, heading back over to Facebook.

People were posting about the parties tonight. Selfies had been locked and loaded, locations marked, and I had to wonder if any parents in the cove who cared where their kids were bothered to check their Facebook posts. Unless, of course, they’d blocked them from seeing certain things.

“Smart,” I said, shoving more potato chips into my mouth, uncaring that I was doing a lot of talking to myself.

“Pegs.” Mom stopped at my door with her hair done in a loose updo. Phil must have been taking her out. “I’ll be home around eleven. You’ll be okay?”

I eyed the potato chip bag next to me and the jar of dip beside it, then my pink fluffy socks. “Yeah, I’m all set.”

She smiled, about to leave, then walked into the room to sit by my feet. “Listen, I know you’ve been having a hard time, and I know Dash hasn’t been here in an unusually long time.”

“It’s been a week,” I said, a tad defensively.

“Like I said, a long time.” She had me there. “And it’s killing me to try to give you space, but I need to know. What happened?”

I toyed with the chip between my fingers. I could tell her. I could tell her, and maybe it’d make me feel a little better, or maybe she’d have some advice for me. Or I could not tell her and just hope it all straightened itself out and then I’d never have to.

I set my phone down. “I’ll make you late.”

“I don’t care.” She settled onto the bed some more. “Spill.”

After sighing so hard it emptied my lungs, I did. As I let it out, I realized just how bad it sounded, just how epically I’d messed up, and just how much force the gravity of the situation held. I would’ve been embarrassed to admit what I’d done with Byron, but the way she reacted rid me of any I’d felt while explaining.

Her first point of worry was Byron, and I watched as she stalked around my room, ruining her hair as she cussed up a storm. “I’ll string him up by his filthy balls for opening his—”

“Mom,” I said, a little shocked.

She blew out a breath, then straightened her green sweater. “You need to break up with him. He broke your trust.”

“I know,” I said. “I have, kind of.” At least, I thought I had.

“Don’t you dare give him another inch of attention,” she warned.

“I wasn’t going to.”

“Give those tickets back, too.”

“I’ve already slipped them inside his locker.” I’d done it yesterday, faking a trip to the bathroom during class.

“Okay. Good.” She quit her pacing, then started fixing her hair. “We’ll head to the salon first thing tomorrow and get our nails done.”

I nodded, then picked up my phone when I thought she was leaving.

Dash had blocked me, but that didn’t stop me from seeing useful comments coming in on someone’s post. One of the commenters was Raven, telling someone they’d better show at Rosetta’s eighteenth birthday.

Mom slapped her hands to her sides, alerting me that she was still there. “And as for Dash. That boy has crushed on you for years. It wouldn’t surprise me if he was in love with you and you were just too blinded by your friendship to see it.”

My throat constricted. “I know.” I corrected myself. “I mean, I know that now.”

“He’ll forgive you, I promise.” She bent over, kissing my head then combing her fingers through my hair. “Don’t beat yourself up over this. You’ll make many