Chapter 3

Stares came at me from every corner of the room like needles.

I almost caved and started to explain.

I was one breath away from apologizing.

Adrian was never one to show weakness. From the time we were small, he was the one calling the shots in every group of kids.

The year he pulled me up out of the woodchips under the elementary school slide, after another kid had shoved me down, he'd said it clearly.

"Anyone pushes you, you push back. Don't be scared. I've got you."

From that day on, he had my back all the way through middle school and high school.

He'd shake his head and sigh.

"Zoe, you're too soft. What are you gonna do when someone messes with you later on?"

"Whatever. Just stick with me. I'll always look out for you."

Watching that bright, cocky boy grow up, I'd been absolutely certain.

He would be the person I trusted most in the world.

And now, that boy I'd spent my whole life looking up to was crumbling in front of me, revealing a side of him I'd never seen before—cold, vulnerable, and utterly unfamiliar.

Suspicion and guilt tangled in my chest, ringing out in a soundless howl.

I took a deep breath and met his eyes.

"I just want to double-check it."

"You know how I am. I've never been good at just…trusting things like this."

But Adrian's face didn't soften.

He slowly let go of my hand, one finger at a time.

"Zoe. You still don't trust me."

Right on cue, Chloe stepped forward with a drink.

"Come on, guys. We're all friends here. This is getting ugly. Drink this and cool off, okay?"

I looked at her coldly. I didn't miss the malice in her eyes.

When I didn't take it, Adrian's brow tightened.

"Chloe put this whole party together. Chloe organized this whole party. Everyone's here because of her, and you're making her look bad."

"She's tried to be nice to you so many times. And you shut her down every single time. Zoe, when did you get so cold?"

My eyes stung. I nearly lost hold of the tears.

He seemed to have forgotten.

I had a severe tree nut allergy.

And what Chloe had just handed me was a Nutella milkshake.

Sophomore year, a girl next to me in the cafeteria opened a jar of Nutella and started eating it with a spoon. A tiny drop landed on the back of my hand. I didn't think anything of it and wiped it away.

Ten minutes later, my entire arm was covered in hives and my throat had started closing up.

Chloe was the one who noticed first.

She stared for two full seconds, then pointed at me and shouted at Adrian.

"Adrian, look! Zoe looks so gross when she breaks out!"

Adrian's eyes had gone red with panic.

He'd snapped, "Zoe is the most beautiful girl in the world to me no matter what she looks like," and then he'd scooped me up and carried me all the way to the nurse's office.

For as long as I'd known him, Adrian had made sure not a single nut ever came near me.

And now, he was blaming me for not taking the Nutella milkshake. Blaming me for making Chloe look bad.

I gritted my teeth.

"If I drink it, will you give me back my phone?"

He hesitated for two seconds. Before he could answer, Chloe giggled.

"It's just a phone. I'll make the call for Adrian."

"You drink it, you get your phone back."

I clenched my jaw and glanced at the clock on the wall.

3:58.

"Fine."

I reached for the glass.

Adrian looked like he wanted to stop me. Then something crossed his face and his hand paused in midair.

Before my fingers could even close around it, the glass slipped from between us. It shattered on the floor, thick chocolate-brown liquid splashing everywhere, shards of glass scattering across the hardwood.

"Ah!"

Chloe shrieked and stumbled backward, slamming hard into the side of a console table.

"Chloe!"

Adrian bolted to her side, lifted her into a chair, and crouched down to inspect her ankle.

"Are you hurt?"

Chloe looked up at me, eyes brimming.

"Zoe, if you don't like me, fine. But smashing the glass on purpose? What if someone had gotten hurt?"

The blame came from every direction and swallowed me whole.

I bit the inside of my cheek and tried to ignore the sting of the glass cut on the top of my foot.

But under Adrian's disappointed stare, the pain in my foot became almost unbearable.

After a long moment, Chloe sniffled and let out a delicate sigh.

"You know what? Maybe she really does need her phone for something important."

"Adrian, just give it back to her."

Adrian looked at her, then clicked his tongue. He fished my phone out of his blazer's inner pocket and tossed it my way, impatient.