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It felt like he was stabbing me in the heart. Where was this coming from? “No, not as a friend. We tried just being friends and...”

“And it was better that way.”

I shook my head. “No, it wasn’t better that way. Even you said that fake dating me had never been fake. It was real the whole time.”

“Scarlett, you’re going to be fine. I promise.” For the first time I saw pain in his eyes. Like he was saying I’d be fine, but he wouldn’t be. And if that was the case, why was he breaking up with me?

“No, I won’t be fine. Jacob, please don’t do this.”

“It’s for the best. For everyone.”

“Not for me. Can’t we just talk about this? Is this about what happened on Friday? What Axel said?”

He nodded. “Yeah, it’s mostly about that.” But the way he said it didn’t make it seem like he cared about Friday.

“Axel just slept in my bed. Before you and I got together. That isn’t a good reason to break up.”

“Sure it is. You lied to me.”

I swallowed hard.

“I gave you plenty of opportunities to be honest, and you weren’t.”

Students had started to stop in the hall to eavesdrop.

“Jacob, if you’d just give me a second alone so we can talk about this...”

“There’s nothing to talk about.” His eyes bore into mine. “You’re a liar, Scarlett.”

The words turned around in my head over and over again. I didn’t even know what to say. Because the truth was...he was right. I’d made a mistake. A terrible one. “I’ll never lie again. I swear it. Jacob, please.” My voice cracked. I knew people were staring at us, listening to every word.

“And why should I believe you?” He held up his hand before I could protest. “That wasn’t even the first time you lied to me. Seriously, Scarlett. It’s done. It was never going anywhere anyway.”

Why did he keep saying that? “That’s not true. I don’t understand what happened. Just a couple days ago we were going to get out of town and...” I let my voice trail off. I didn’t need the whole school to hear this. “Jacob, we can work this out. It’s...us.”

He shook his head. “There is no us.”

“Jacob.” I put my hand on his arm. “I love you and only you.” Is that what he needed to hear? I knew he was worried about being second, but he wasn’t. I loved him. So freaking much.

“Please don’t make me say it,” he whispered. His voice sounded pained. Like he hated every second of this as much as I did.

And I didn’t understand. It was like he was under duress. Why was he doing this if he didn’t want to? “Say what? Just talk to me.”

He shook my hand off his arm. “Scarlett, you’re just not my type, okay?”

“What?”

“I told you that I like confident girls. And that’s clearly not you.”

It felt like he’d slapped me. I took a step back from him as tears started to spill down my cheeks. He’d asked me not to make him say the real reason because he was trying not to embarrass me.

And that sad part was that he was right. A confident girl wouldn’t be begging her boyfriend not to break up with her in a crowded hallway. A confident girl wouldn’t have let her boyfriend ghost her all weekend either. And a confident girl wouldn’t be crying just because a guy had told her that she wasn’t his type.

“Please don’t cry,” Jacob whispered, that same pained expression on his face.

Why did he even care? He clearly didn’t give a shit about me. “Fuck you.”

“We’re still friends,” Jacob said.