hadn't died; they'd multiplied. Every corner of the school buzzes with my name and L

ession says he's been hearing things I haven't.

s in my bag. "W

f of it telling anyone who'd listen that you're

r than I mean to. "Why

on't want to hear. "Because he tried to hit on her first. Remember the first

that on her o

. Mason's ego d

ng the urge to go find him. "Let

tates. "W

at suppose

ou're distracted, edgy. You keep saying she doesn

I pull my bag over my shoulder. "Maybe I

You're playin

like th

ut his silence follow

falling over one shoulder. She doesn't look at me when I come in, but I noti

ppen - Mason's friend smirking as he tosses it from across the aisle. She

tension in h

t fast. I catch up before she hit

worth r

en

d it's

e if they're

nk this is new, Aiden? People talk. They always talk. The

but her eyes aren

lk to Mas

just make

me help

shakes her head. "You can't fix

with the same useless frustration I

wander back through the empty halls. I hear laughter echoing from t

or, pages scattered, some wet from the leak dripping through the ceiling. Mason's holding one page up -

," he says, voice mocking. "Gue

. Her calm is cracking; I can see it in the w

hink. I j

down,

y forming. "Cole. You

it

ell me she had such a thing for you. Look-" He flips it toward me. On the p

chest tightens. M

h," I say, st

ach. "You really think she's into you? You're just h

myself, my fist co

on stumbles back, clutching his face, eyes wild. His

rough the noise, qui

hard. She's shaking, not from

was that, Aid

wa

ght my ow

humiliat

humiliate

on the last word, and that

laughing bitterly. "Perfect. T

up," I

e it lasts. You just made

's hand lands on my arm - not gen

s quietly. "Before

hough every muscle in my

lkway, rain coming down in cold sheets

s, "You shouldn'

t just sta

ed away. You could h

n't wa

not an

stantly, but she doesn't move back. "You keep trying to fix

t's the kind of calm that come

y," I say

like tears she'll never let me see. "But sorry doesn't

nto the rain. I want to call

ss from running. "Coach heard about the fig

urse h

That you're just covering f

hrough my hair.

He's telling the D

l take th

s. "You're

t need more

r a moment. "You

know what that

re making enemi

ad the wro

esn't

t is already all over social media - grainy photos, exa

r, staring out the window. The rain has stopped, b

I open it, she's standing there - hair damp

't be here

ably

ded to say

in, her movements careful,

," she says. "I'm mad th

wly. "You

for me, Aiden. I don't need saving. I need peop

kno

ghtly. "But... thank you. For carin

four words spoken softly in a r

tep closer

catching the light.

if I n

're sure it's not ab

ble slightly. I want to reach for her,

e door. "For what it's worth, you hit

ly. "You wer

ay

ng behind the faint scent of rai

ning to the quiet, the weight of her

e

hink it. But now, it's a promise too - one I don'