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ened yesterday. There was no going back, not now. “Miss Simmons caught us kissing in his classroom yesterday.”
“What?” Hope leaned forward again. “I thought you said he ended it?”
“He did but…” I couldn’t tell her why he’d kissed me in his classroom. I couldn’t explain to her what I’d done to myself in the school bathroom. That part would stay secret—it would always stay secret. Only a small shuffle had the cut on my thigh stinging, and it was enough to get me to focus on what I had to say. “We kissed after class, and Miss Simmons walked in.”
“Holy. Shit.” Hope fell back a little and stared at me, but her eyes weren’t really looking at me as opposed to looking through me. “Jeez, Aria. You’ve had a shit load happening, and all I wanted to tell you was someone asked me on a date. Now I feel stupid for being pissed that you ignored me.”
“Someone asked you on a date?” I didn’t want to acknowledge what else she’d said, because all it would do was remind us of what happened. I needed to move past the last few months. I needed to pretend none of it happened, both for my head and my heart. If I locked it all away and didn’t entertain any of it for a single minute, then I wouldn’t have to feel the agony at losing Cade. I wouldn’t have to think about the loss I was suffering. I wouldn’t have to remember it was me who drew the final line. It was me who shot the final bullet.
“Oh my god, yes! So, you know the drummer in Lisha’s boyfriend’s band?” I didn’t, but I nodded anyway. “He wants to take me out for pizza!”
“Isn’t he, like, twenty-one?” I asked, concerned for her. I didn’t want her to get hurt, not the way I had.
“Psssh, coming from you who lost her v-card to someone in their mid-twenties.” She had a point, so I kept my mouth closed. “We’re going this Saturday, and gah! I’m so excited.”
I smiled and leaned back on my hands, listening to her talk about what she was going to wear and what the drummer was like. There was a silver lining to having Hope around. She distracted me, and right then, I needed it more than anything.
* * *
CADE
I picked up my bottle of beer and glanced down at my cell for what felt like the thousandth time. I’d never been impatient, but this was different. I was caught in a trap with no way of escaping and had no idea what to do.
Willow had talked my ear off in the teachers’ lounge today at school, and I’d felt obligated to sit there and listen to her. All it would take was a few words from her, and everything would be over. She held my life in the palm of her hands, and it was a feeling I detested with a passion.
There was only one person I could ask for advice, the same person who had been there for me when I’d lost two of my best friends and my girlfriend in one fail swoop. He’d been there when I needed him, but most importantly, he knew about Aria and me.
Aria…
God. She’d taken the blame. She’d put it all on her shoulders, and I’d let her. I’d let her dig me out of a hole she hadn’t created, at least not on her own. I was an asshole.
“Hey,” Ford’s gruff voice greeted. I whipped my head up to face him as he slipped onto one of the barstools. I’d chosen a table toward the back of the sports bar so we could talk properly, but I didn’t want it to look suspicious. I was overthinking everything, I was aware of that, but I couldn’t stop it.
“Hey,” I grunted as Ford lifted his hand to one of the waitresses. We stayed silent while we waited for his drink, both of us looking up at the screens littering the bar and playing various sports. And when the waitress finally placed his bottle of beer in front of him, I blurted out, “We were caught.”
Ford’s gaze slid to mine, but he didn’t say a word. He was watching me in the same way he did to everyone else, assessing and reading my body language. Eventually, after what felt like hours but in reality was minutes, he asked, “What happened?”
“I—” I cut myself off and shook my head. I couldn’t tell him why I’d made promises to Aria in my classroom. I couldn’t tell him why I was so worried about her. It was yet another secret I was keeping, but one I would never tell. “I fucked up. I kissed Aria in my classroom.”
“Jesus,” Ford groaned and took a pull of his beer.
“I know. And…a teacher walked in on us.” Ford’s nostrils flared, but it was the only indication he’d heard what I said. “This teacher, she won’t give the hell up.” I drummed my fingers on the wooden table, trying to keep myself calm. “She’s been coming on to me since I started at the school.”
He tilted his head to the side. “Did she report you?”
“I…” I blew out a breath, hating the words which were about to come out of my mouth. “Aria took the blame. She said it was all her.” I gritted my teeth and gripped my beer bottle tighter. I hated she’d taken the blame. It wasn’t only her, it was me too. She had enough shit going on, and now there was this added to it. I was meant to make it easier for her, not harder.
“Of course she did,” Ford grunted. “She’s trying to look out for you.”
“She doesn’t need to—”
“I told her.” Ford leaned forward. His attention was solely on me. “I told her what would happen to you. I told her you broke the law. I told her—”
“Are you kidding me?” My voice rose and caught the attention of some of the people around us, but I couldn’t bring myself to care. He’d crossed the line. There had been a reason I hadn’t told her. My eyes bore into his as I ground out, “Why the hell would you do that?”
“The question is, why wouldn’t you?” he shot back. “Why were you not honest with her in the first place?”
“Because she’s…fragile.”
