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I wasn’t sure if I should tell Skylar that my father had the FBI investigating it. The nature of the photo itself was cause for an investigation.
Me: We’ll find out, angel. For now, please go to sleep. I’ll pick you up in the morning, and we’ll go to school together.
Sky: Okay. I’ll try to sleep. I love you, Wyatt.
Smiling, I felt my chest squeeze.
Me: I love you, too, angel.
***
Skylar tightly gripped my hand as we walked up the stairs and into school. Her breathing was practically at a pant.
“Just breathe, Sky. It’s going to be okay.”
She nodded and looked around. “Right. I’m okay. I’m fine.”
As we walked, hand in hand, I was stunned that so many people were completely ignoring us. It was like, now that the story had broken and there wasn’t anything else to talk about, Skylar was old news. It was that fast. I was sure word had gotten around that Skylar’s parents were coming down on the school for not stopping the bullying in the first place.
Walking up to her locker, she dragged in a deep breath before she opened it.
Nothing. No notes.
She let out the breath she had been holding. Glancing behind me, I couldn’t help but notice Jenny watching us. I knew she was the one who had posted that photo. I just wasn’t sure how I was going to prove it.
“There’s nothing here.”
“Are you okay, angel?”
She smiled and replied, “Yeah, as long as I know I’ll see you at lunch.”
Laughing, I said, “You’ll see me in English. I had Mrs. Richardson change your schedule back. She said it took effect immediately.”
Skylar threw her arms around me and buried her face into my neck. “I love you, Wyatt Smith. I love you so much.”
The rest of the day proved to be not that eventful. Skylar said about four or five people came up and apologized to her. They all still kept to their normal tables at lunchtime, and it was still just Mitch, Michelle, Skylar, and me at our table. It was perfect, and I wouldn’t change a damn thing about it.
After school, I walked up to see Jacob leaning against the locker next to Skylar’s. I had a feeling he wasn’t going to walk away without a fight now.
“I wish you could give me a second chance, Sky. I care about you so very much.”
With everything in me, I kept back. I wasn’t going to be one of those jealous types of boyfriends. I needed to let Skylar handle this how she saw fit.
“I’m sorry, Jacob, but saying you care about me and asking for a second chance doesn’t make what you did any better. Someone who cares about someone else wouldn’t have done the things you did.”
“I never spread the rumors, Skylar!”
“You never tried to stop them either. You’ve never done anything, Jacob. That’s the problem. I know what it feels like now to have someone care so deeply about me that they would move heaven and earth for me. I know what it feels like to be loved.”
“Come on, Skylar. Are you saying you love Wyatt Smith, the new pretty boy in school who all the girls have been falling over for months?”
“All the girls but me. You don’t really know anything about me, Jacob. But you can know this. I’m going to be okay, and one of the main reasons I will be is because of Wyatt. And, yes, he loves me, and I love him. If you can’t respect that, then we really have nothing else to talk about.”
My chest was sticking out with pride. God, how I loved that girl.
Glancing over Jacob’s shoulder, Skylar caught a glimpse of me. Her smile made my knees weak.
Walking up, I hit Jacob on the back and asked, “What’s up, Jacob?”
He looked between Skylar and me and finally said, “Not much.” Turning, he headed down the hall.
“Everything okay?” I asked.
With a nod, Skylar looked into my eyes. For the first time since I’d met her, she had something in her eyes that I’d never seen before—peace.
“I believe today is the day we spend at our spot.”
Grinning from ear to ear, I replied, “Indeed it is. You ready for our date?”
“Never been more ready,” she replied with a giggle.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
* * *
Skylar
IT HAD BEEN a little over a month since Charlie’s confession. Things had slowly been getting back to normal. I hadn’t received any notes since that day Mitch had recorded Charlie. At school, people would say hi to me in the halls at school, and at work, they would come in and joke around with me. A few girls I used to cheer with had invited me to go hang out at the mall, which I’d politely turned down, opting to go to Austin with Michelle to look at prom dresses instead.
The only person who was still treating me like the plague was Jenny.
