Hunter and Graham were identical twins, their thick, brown hair brushing the collars of their T-shirts. Brown eyes, similar to those of my golden retriever, Buster, at home, flicked to me and Millie before focusing back on Griffin.
“Oh my god! You totally aren’t listening to me, Tate,” she whined, yanking my arm back, making me jerk backward, my neck whipping painfully to look at her. “Tatum! What the hell is more important right now?” Anger sparked in her green eyes as they flickered to mine and then back to our lockers.
Tugging my arm from her grasp, I fixed my backpack, smoothed a hand down my now rumpled T-shirt, and glared at her. “They’re on our lockers again,” I whispered, and she rolled her eyes.
“Just like every morning, Tate. Don’t let him get to you. He’s just a stupid boy.” If only it were that easy.
Griffin Silver was, in fact, not just a stupid boy. In my head he was, but my heart felt differently. He was River High’s star athlete and notorious bad boy. The girls loved him. The boys wanted to be him. And I wanted to avoid him like my life depended on it, and sadly enough, my social life did depend on it.
But before he was Griffin Silver, the school’s star ace, he was Griffin Silver, the boy next door. The boy I used to walk home from school with. The one who used to save me from spiders, the one who used to race me on our bicycles and hold me when I cried about my daddy leaving me. He was the boy who knew all my secrets and the one I gave my heart to before I even knew what love truly was.
But then, his popularity grew, and mine became near nonexistent as I avoided any social interaction like the plague. Mom and I had to move to a smaller house, one we could afford now that Dad wasn’t here to pay the bills, and we no longer walked home from school together, or did anything together.
One day, Griffin stopped asking about my dad. He stopped sitting next to me at lunchtime, the text messages stopped, and the remaining pieces of my already fragile heart shattered, leaving me broken until Millie found me.
We had been best friends for five years, all because of an ice cream pact.
It had been the middle of a brutally hot summer, and the annual town festival was in full swing. It had been one of my favorite things to do with Griffin, and that year, he had gone with Hunter and Graham. So I went with my mom.
I had just gotten my ice cream—two scoops of vanilla on a sugar cone—when disaster struck. One second, it was in my hand, cold and perfect. The next, it was splattered on the pavement, melting into a sad white puddle. My mom was talking to one of her coworkers just a few feet away, but I knew she didn’t have the money to buy me another one.
Laughter bubbled up behind me, some of the kids from school mocking me. My face burned, and I fought the urge to run. But before I could, a girl stepped forward, holding out her own cone. “Mine’s chocolate chip, not vanilla. But it’s still pretty good.”
I blinked at her. She had wild brown curls, bright green eyes hidden behind huge black glasses that took up most of her face, and a smudge of chocolate already on her cheek. “But…that’s yours.”
She shrugged. “We can share.” Without waiting for an answer, she broke the cone in half, ice cream and all, and handed me a piece.
We sat on the curb, eating our slightly smushed halves as people bustled around us. “I’m Millie,” she said between bites.
“Tate.”
She grinned. “I’m new here, and I need a friend. Wanna be best friends?”
I laughed, something warm settling in my chest. “Yeah.”
And just like that, we were.
“Don’t let him get to you, Tate. You are stronger than this. He doesn’t always have to win.” Millie linked our arms together at the elbows and tugged me along, straight into the lion’s den.
Sucking in a strangled breath, I held my head up high despite the shake in my hands and reached for my lock, praying I’d get it open on the first try all while his gray eyes were locked on me.
Twisting the mechanism, I tugged it after a minute, and lo and behold, nothing happened. “Still can’t get it right, huh? It’s only been four years, Grace.” Hetsked, my last name falling so easily from his lips. “Let me guess, same combo?” I cringed when he brushed my trembling hands away and fiddled with the lock for a moment before he easily popped it open.
I reached for it, my thanks just on the tip of my tongue as he snapped it right back shut. I gritted my teeth, willing myself to keep it together. “Better luck next time, right?” He laughed, Hunter and Graham joining him as I blinked back the tears already pooling in my eyes, praying they wouldn’t spill over.
Did he know what today was? Did he remember? Did he care?
“Seriously, Griffin? It’s not funny!” Millie slapped his shoulder and shoved him out of the way when he erupted into another fit of laughter. She always tried to protect me.My little warrior.
Glaring at the lock through blurry eyes, I tried again, willing the shake in my fingers to leave, and eventually, the lock fell open.
“Wasn’t so hard, huh?” he taunted, and the first tear rolled down my cheek. I hated myself so much right then. For falling apart. For even sheddingonetear with him nearby. But I wasbarely holding myself together. So many memories were running rampant through my mind. Mom insisted I go to school even though she took the day off of work and hadn’t moved from the couch since last night.
“Leave me alone, Griffin.” I clenched my teeth, nearly biting my damn tongue on his name.
“Why? Can’t handle a little morning teasing? Lighten up, Grace.”
After grabbing my chemistry book from my locker, I clutched the heavy text to my chest like it was a bulletproof vest against his taunting and careless words. Slamming the metal door shut, I closed the lock and turned to Millie, waiting for her to grab her things so we could get out of there.
