Miles shrugs. “Well, I dare you to work in a high school and not know about the world’s most famous pop star. So did you guys talk?”
There’s no point in lying or trying to keep it from him. Hazel will tell Penelope, his girlfriend, and she’ll tell him. “A little. She said hi. I said hi. Hazel went absolutely nuts and hugged her like she was her long-lost sister.”
“She kind of is.” He echoes my thoughts from earlier.
“Yeah, yeah, but then I stood there, pissed and hurt and shit that I shouldn’t feel. It’s been like fifteen years since we spoke. I don’t know why I care. Did you look online to see what has her living back here?” I ask, jumping from topic to topic, andMiles shakes his head. “I’d like to beat her asshole soon-to-be ex-husband with his own arms.”
He laughs at that. “I’m going to assume it’s bad.”
I stand, no longer able to keep my frustration in check. “Dude, they made the internet for a reason.”
“Dude, I don’t look up my employees’ personal lives. She promised she’d give me one full school year. She’s incredibly qualified, and we’ve known her since we were kids. Giving her the job was a no-brainer, and giving her her privacy was also one. If she wants to tell me, she will.”
Well, isn’t that nice for him? I would’ve liked to have gotten a fucking heads-up. I would’ve liked my best friend to do right by me too. “You should’ve told me she was back. Her grandmother’s house is fucking next door. I can’t avoid her.”
“Well, I’m sorry you think that. It’s been, as you said, many years. I didn’t realize it would set you off.” He gets to his feet. “Now I need to do principal things, and that doesn’t include standing here, listening to you.” He walks beside me, placing his hand on my shoulder. “I’m truly sorry, Everett. I didn’t know it would upset you this much. Come on, I’ll walk you out.”
I really didn’t either. He’s right. It has been years. I shouldn’t care, but the last six years of my life has changed so many things. I work, I come home, I take care of my mother, and I do it again the next day. There’s no time for dating, which would help me forget about her. Besides, who would I date in Ember Falls? Hazel is the only woman in the town who’s single and I could find attractive, but she’s Hazel.
She’s smart, beautiful, wonderful, and yet I’ve never felt an ounce of desire around her, and I’m one hundred percent sure she’s never thought of me that way. We’re like siblings and ... just no.
The pool is shallow here, and dating honestly hasn’t even been on my mind.
“I forgive you—well, I will after I kick your ass at practice,” I say.
“You can try.”
I’ll do more than that. Shit-talking is great and all, but I’d rather prove it.
“Look, all kidding aside, I wish you’d told me. It would’ve been nice to have been prepared.”
Miles lets out a long breath. “I should’ve and I’m sorry.”
“See you at practice?” I ask.
He nods. “See you then.”
I should feel better, but I don’t, because the reality is, Violet returning to Ember Falls is going to change everything. Seeing her always does.
three
Violet
“Are you all settled in Chamber Falls?” Analeigh asks on the video call as I move around, putting the remainder of my clothes in the drawers. I’ve been here three days, and I’ve just finally gotten around to unpacking another suitcase.
“EmberFalls,” I clarify with a laugh. “And I’m settling. The house has been closed off for so long that I’ve had a hard time getting things turned back on.”
“Like what?”
“Well, today I tried to figure out where to turn the pump on to get hot water. That was super fun.”
It really wasn’t fun, because I really don’t know how to do any of this stuff, but I’m learning in my newfound independence. Life is an adventure and all that.
Only it didn’t work, so I’m not sure what to do.
“You know you can come back here and stay with me.”
I appreciate her offer, I really do, but I can’t. Hollywood is suffocating, and as much as people may think it’s this big city, it’s incredibly small. In the five days I was back there to collect my things, I was hounded. The press, people who claimed to be friends, old coworkers of Dylan’s who don’t like him and wanted to let me know more truths they saw.
