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“Awesome.” He beamed, his dark brown eyes lighting up. “The game’s at 7:30, so I’ll come by your dorm to pick you up at like seven?”
“Okay,” I said absently. My attention was already shifting toward navigating the hallway to my next class.
“Great. It’s a date.”
Oh.
A date.
That hadn’t been exactly where my mind had gone when he’d asked me, but of course he thought it was a date. And maybe that was okay. I hadn’t been on an actual date in over a year—none of the time I’d spent with the Princes could qualify—and as messed up as everything in my life was, I still craved a normal high school experience.
I limped to the end of the week, exhausted and ragged but still alive.
Still here.
My attempt to meet and match every shitty thing done to me was exhausting, and honestly, I was falling behind. But it seemed to be working. Some kids had switched from bullying me to ignoring me, and Sable gave me a wide berth in the halls, almost like she was a little afraid of me.
Saturday was a home game, so Oliver and I were able to walk right over to the stadium from my dorm. As we made our way inside the large structure, he put an arm around me, gripping my shoulder lightly. It was an intimate gesture, and even though it felt a little strange, I didn’t pull away. I’d been nervous about going to the game when so much of the school was out to get me, but having Oliver by my side helped.
I tried to keep my focus on the brown-haired boy beside me instead of players on the field, but I found my gaze settling too often on the jersey that read 23—and above that, Whittaker. Finn moved like something superhuman as he played, and it reminded me painfully of our talks about dance and football. Everything I loved about ballet, I could see in the game he was playing, and I wished I could enjoy watching him tear across the field or spike the ball after a touchdown.
When he tugged his helmet off during a break in play, his blond hair looked slightly darker from sweat, and his gaze darted up, finding me in the stands as if I had summoned it somehow.
“I’ll—be right back. I’ve gotta go to the restroom,” I blurted to Oliver before leaping to my feet and scrambling over the row of bodies to the aisle.
I sat in the stall for a good five minutes before I returned to the stands. Finn had his helmet back on and was running the ball down the field, and he didn’t look up toward me again for the rest of the game.
We won, but I hardly even noticed.
Oliver talked me into going to the after-party too, but as soon as we walked through the door, I regretted it. The Princes were holding court in the large living room, and just like Finn’s had during the game, all of their gazes immediately found me.
Jesus. How the fuck do they do that?
A gaggle of girls surrounded them, and I found myself glancing around, looking for Adena. I hadn’t noticed her with Mason in the halls o
f the school at all, which made me wonder if she’d been lying about them being back together.
Ruby Bratton was making a serious play for Elijah, but he absently pushed her away as his hazel eyes watched me. I hadn’t spoken to him since Tuesday, when I’d told him there was no way I’d leave Oak Park, and every time he’d seen me since then, he’d shot me a look that was equal parts anger, frustration, and worry.
“Hey, you want a drink?” Oliver leaned down to speak loudly into my ear over the music.
“No.” I shook my head, raising my voice too. “Thanks.”
His brows pulled together. “You sure? Nothing?”
“Yeah.”
I hadn’t had a drink all summer, and I didn’t plan to start now. My dad had died of alcoholism, and my grandpa was a heavy drinker. Last year, I’d been stupid, but the whole point of coming back here was to not repeat my damn mistakes.
Oliver grimaced, looking like he was pretty sure I was making a mistake right now. “Okay… If you say so. I’m gonna go get one for myself though.”
“Sure.”
I nodded tightly, already tempted to cave and get a drink too. Not because I needed it so bad, but because I needed something to do. I could still feel the Princes’ gazes burning into me, and I felt like a sitting duck just standing there.
“Be right back.” Oliver pecked me on the cheek and started off through the crowd.
As soon as he disappeared, I felt it—a shift of energy across the room. Moving as a single unit, Mason, Cole, Elijah, and Finn stepped toward me, and my heart jumped into my throat.
