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“Wait,” he interrupts, holding up his hand to stop me. “That is not why I did this. Don’t get me wrong, if I ever had a chance with you, I would take it in a heartbeat, but that’s not the reason why. It’s to say thank you.”
My brows furrow. “What for?”
“I don’t have many friends, Ava. I only have three—” He pauses, thinking for a moment. “Actually, only two now that Lily has lost her mind. One of them is Mason, and the other is you. Perhaps it’s a one-sided friendship, but you’re still my friend anyway. You accepted me for who I am and always showed kindness regardless of what others thought of me. High school has been a tough ride, and you made that ride just a little less bumpy.”
“It’s not one sided, Grant. You are my friend too.” I smile at him as the tears continue to fall.
He smiles back, reaching up to wipe away another tear. “You deserve to have a star named after you, Ava Richards. Your inner beauty shines brightly on the outside, just like your star, and I want the whole world to see it.”
I wrap my arms around him, and he stiffens for a moment. I think part shocked and part not sure what to do with himself. “Hug me back, Grant.”
He chuckles and wraps his arms around me. “Thank you,” I whisper.
“You’re welcome,” he whispers back.
I break away, reaching up and straightening his tie that I crushed with my hug. “You know, you are going to make someone a very lucky lady one day.”
“Perhaps.” He shrugs with a shy smile, then glances over in Emily’s direction.
“Go talk to her.” I give him a nudge of encouragement.
“You think? What will I say? I don’t know how to talk to girls.”
“Start with a hello and then take it from there. You just spent the last twenty minutes talking to me, no problem. You got this.”
He looks back and forth between us, then nods his head. “Okay.”
I give him a pat on the back, and he starts to walk off but not before stopping and glancing back at me fondly. “Bye,” he mouths, and I mouth it back. And with a parting smile, he turns and walks straight over to Emily Myers.
ChapterThirty-Three
AVA
Istep out into the crisp night air, taking a deep breath and feeling slightly rejuvenated by the fresh oxygen filling my lungs. With the drama between Cadence and Summer, along with the loved-up couples on the dance floor, I really needed to take a break.
Holding the certificate in my hand, I scan the night sky above. The twinkling stars peek through the gaps of the clouds moving across the sky in clusters, and I feel a pang of disappointment at the poor visibility.Damn it. I was hoping to spot my star. A small smile tugs on my lips, just thinking that it’s up there somewhere. My own star. My own form of immortality.
I hear a sniffle behind me and spin around, not realizing I wasn’t alone. Hadley is sitting on a bench, with her face buried in her hands, muffling the sounds of her sobs, and my brows draw in. I didn’t actually know she came to prom.
Running her hands down her face, she lifts her head and spots me standing there. Not sparing her another glance, I spin on my heel and march off.
“Ava.” I hear the clicking of her high heels as she follows after me. “Ava. Please wait.”
“I have nothing to say to you, Hadley.”
“I didn’t sleep with him,” she blurts out, and I freeze, turning to face her. “I didn’t sleep with Mason.”
I cross my arms over my chest. “Then why did I find you in bed with him?”
“It was all a setup,” she utters, wiping a tear from her face
“What do you mean? A setup?” I snap, the mere sight of her making my blood boil.
“It was made to look like I slept with him, so you would catch us and break up with him,” she continues, then bows her head. “I-I don’t—”
I put my hand up. “Hold up! I don’t know what bullshit you are trying to spin—”
“It’s not bullshit! I swear!”
