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Chapter Thirty
When You Say Nothing At All.
The holidays were meant to be final study time. We had mock exams when school went back and then the real things. So, it would have been normal for Piper to spend most of her time avoiding people and studying.
But, she didn’t.
I mean, I did study. I’m not a complete idiot. But, I promised myself that I was going to live my life no matter what happened.
I’d given Roman the ultimatum, as unfair as that may have seemed. If that was our goodbye, I knew I’d done everything I could to fight for him, to show him I loved every him he was. I couldn’t say I liked it – damn, it hurt – but I’d done what Dr Freeman said; I’d worked out what made me unhappy and took steps to let go of it. Unfortunately, it was a more literal let go than I’d hoped for.
Still, I had Hadley and Celeste, Mason, Craig and Tucker, and all the others we’d seemed to have surrounded ourselves with. Even if I wasn’t feeling it, I forced myself to go to at least one out of two things they organised and I always enjoyed myself once I was there.
We took to taking over a few ofLacey’soutdoor tables with our books and empty milkshake glasses as we told ourselves we were studying but in actual fact just got distracted.
I laughed as Mason batted me for stealing one of his chips and he stole one of mine back.
“I can’t find my Stats notes!” Celeste cried as she shuffled books and papers around the tables.
Craig helped her look while she made eyes at Simon – yep, she’d moved off Craig and been through Henry and onto Simon – as I went back to my English notes and Mason and I elbowed each other back and forth. Conversation flowed around the table companionably, both study and general chatter.
“Do you think we need to read thewholething?” Mason asked me.
I snorted as I looked at him. “Don’t tell me that Mr Perfect didn’t read it all when we were doing it?” I gasped.
He gave me a wry nod. “Very cute. But, no. I didn’t.” He picked upHeart of Darknessand waved it around aimlessly. “I just couldn’t get into it.”
“How did you get that A then?”
His grin turned mischievous. “SparkNotes is a wonderful invention.”
I smacked his arm as I laughed. “I cannot believe Mason Carter cruised through with SparkNotes!”
He shrugged nonchalantly. “Yeah, well. Call me James Dean, rebel without a cause.”
“Hardly without. Your cause seems to be passing English Lit.”
We both laughed. And that was how easy it was with Mason now. We just worked. And thankfully, Shayla seemed to have finally got the hint that Mason wasn’t into her.
After a few hushed, heated words with Tucker, Hadley huffed, pushed herself up from the table, and walked off. Tucker hurried after her, calling her name, and Mason and I exchanged a look.
They’d been doing that a bit lately. After a couple of weeks of seemingly perfection of their own, Hadley and Tucker had been… Well, fighting was excessive. But, she got short with him and he wasn’t putting up with it. I mean, good on him; even if she was my best friend, she had no right to snap at him for no reason.
Although, I was pretty sure I knew the reason… Which didn’t make it any better.
“Has she said anything?” Mason asked me.
I shook my head as I picked up my glass. “I’ve tried to broach the subject, but she just gets…antsy and short. I know how hard it can be to talk about stuff so I’m the last person who’d push her. But…”
“But, it’s Hadley.”
I nodded. “She’s freaking out.”
“It’s hardly just her. Tuck’s no better at this shit thantheHadley Reynolds. When they told us, I was surprised.”
“He’s had girlfriends.”
Mason shrugged. “He’s dated girls. I wouldn’t call them girlfriends.”
