pretty proud of our secret keeping abilities.
“And I’m assuming you two are already done.”
I look away from her, not wanting to believe it. “Maybe. Maybe not.”
“He’s bad news, Ava. But sometimes, we like bad news. We think we can turn it into good. Most of the time, it’s already a lost cause.” Brandy pats my shoulder before she rises to her feet. “You should give Wyatt a chance. He’s a sweet guy—he’s good. I bet he’d make the perfect boyfriend.”
He doesn’t make my heart race like Eli. He doesn’t make me feel like I could burst into flames from just a look. Like Eli. Wyatt is nice. He’s cute. He’s smart. Brandy isn’t wrong. He’d make a great boyfriend.
Not for me though.
Never for me.
Seven
Eli
Shit goes wrong for me all the time, swear to God. Sometimes, I can blame myself. I know I get myself into sketchy situations, and it’s usually because of my big mouth. Other times, it’s the idiots in my life who fuck things over for me.
Like my parents.
I spent the majority of my Sunday afternoon cleaning up the house and backyard after the party. Mom followed me everywhere I went to ensure I ‘tidied it up to her satisfaction’, direct quote, nagging my ass the entire time. Once that torture was over, I was expected to go to dinner with my father. He wouldn’t stop telling me what a disappointment I was, until I got so pissed off, I told him to go to hell. He asked me very calmly to hand over my phone. So reluctantly, I did.
And now I have no way to communicate with anyone. Specifically, my blonde heartless beauty, who I never responded to in the first place. Which is fine, you know? I keep making Ava sweat, when that girl has made me sweat on a regular basis throughout our relationship.
Now, our relationship is probably a pile of ashes after a raging fire. We were an inferno, we burned hot and bright, and now we’re out. No smoldering. No coals. It’s just…
Gone.
I tend to get a little poetic when I think about that girl and our crazy relationship. It’s just the romantic in me, I guess.
It’s Monday, and my school is a cesspool of gossip. My party is all the talk. So is the homecoming dance at the other high school. The dance I should’ve been at. And there’s another topic of conversation too.
“I tried to keep it down, but word on campus is you were banging Ava Callahan,” Jackson tells me at lunch.
I send him an annoyed look before I tear into a bag of Dorito’s. “Don’t even bring up her name.”
“Oh. Let me rephrase that then.” Jackson leans across the picnic table we’re sitting at and stares deep into my eyes. “People are saying you fucked she-who-shall-not-be-named just to get revenge on her brother.”
“Let them talk. They’d still say that, even if they knew the truth.” I stare into the open bag of Dorito’s, remembering Ava and I sharing some in my room that one night when I told her I loved her.
Shit.
“And what’s the truth?” Jackson asks, his voice full of mocking innocence.
That I love her? That having sex with her was unlike any other experience I’ve ever had? Can’t admit that. I’ll look like a complete pussy. He already knows I’ve still got a boner for her. Look at how he said all that shit about her Saturday and I almost beat his face in.
Besides, do I still love her? Was what happened between us love to begin with?
“The truth is, I had a relationship with Ava, and right now, we’re taking a break,” I explain, before I stuff a couple of chips in my mouth and start eating.
“You’re taking a break? Get outta here. That’s the kiss of death for a relationship dude, and you know it.” Jackson shakes his head, a little smile curling his lips. He’s enjoying this shit. My life has turned into nonstop drama, and Jackson is totally here for it. “I could give you a list of couples we both know who went on a break and eventually broke up. Every single one of them.”
We’re not on an official break, so I guess I wouldn’t put us on that list. “Who cares what we’re doing? Besides, I thought no one noticed us hugging on the sidelines except you.”
“You thought wrong.”
Unease washes over me, but I act like his words don’t bother me. “Provide some evidence then.”
“Haven’t you been on your phone this