I had no choice but to spill the whole thing when Gyeong-Ja and Audra found me in our dorm room. There was no hiding the huge sobs that wracked my entire body, just like there was no hiding the fact that Theo had deleted every last iota of our relationship from his Instagram. The swiftness of it cut deeper than the actual deletions—as if it had all meant so little to him that he hadn't even hesitated to sweep me under the rug. Where I belonged, apparently, if William and his mother was to be believed.

Gyeong-Ja had taken my phone away when a text from Jake—Hope it went well. Love you, El—set me off again right before dinner. I wanted to turn back time. I wanted to go back to those few, precious, magical days at home. Away from Kingsbridge. Away from William. Away from everything that had torn us apart.

But there was no going back from this. Not when Theo never came to dinner, and then completely ignored my attempts to talk to him at breakfast. He didn't even look at me, and then left me on read when I poured what little was left of my heart out the next night.

William caught me by surprise. I never wanted that.

I wanted you.

What we had was real.

All of it was real to me.

I meant to tell you at Thanksgiving, but I didn't have the courage.

I'm sorry.

I spent the next night sobbing on the phone to Jake, who insisted that I keep trying to talk to Theo. But it was of no use. Not after I'd tried again that day at lunch, only for Connor to burst into laughter at my brimming tears and tell me to get lost.

"He's not interested, Red. Leave him alone. It's getting pathetic," he'd said as he lounged at their lunch table, while Giselle and Emma looked on with glee. Theo simply stared down at his food, once again ignoring me.

It came as no surprise that I failed my history pop quiz. And after I'd bailed on my Tuesday tutoring with William, I was expecting Mr. Harris' warning email about how my paper outline was woefully insufficient. But I'd been avoiding William as thoroughly as Theo had been avoiding me because it was all I could do not to march over and slap him whenever I saw him. He sauntered around campus, arm slung across Madeleine's shoulders, clearly aware of all the pain he'd caused and not seeming to care one bit.

It was only thanks to Audra that I didn't actually throw fists when he sidled up to me between classes on Friday. She shoved herself between us when William had the nerve to tell me that he was feeling generous and wouldn't tell Mr. Harris that I'd skipped another tutoring session.

"Like I'd ever be caught dead in the same room as you again," I snarled.

"You won't pass history without me," he said, a hint of that cruel smile lifting his lips. "And I'm pretty sure you need to if you want to keep that scholarship."

The choice words that burst from my lips made the entire hallway turn and stare until Audra wrestled me into the bathroom.

"Is that true?" she demanded, once I'd calmed down enough to unclench my fists and splash some water on my face. Gyeong-Ja had hurried in from the physics lab the moment she'd caught wind of my outburst.

"Kind of," I mumbled miserably. "I have to pass the paper to have any hopes of passing the class."

"When's it due?" Gyeong-Ja asked, worrying her blazer cuff.

I blew out my cheeks. "Next week."

Audra swore. "That's before the finals. If Harris grades it and puts you on academic probation before the game, you're benched."

I pressed my eyes closed. "I know."

"Then we just have to figure something out," Gyeong-Ja said decisively. "JJ took honours history last year, didn't he? Maybe he can read—"

"No," I said decisively. I didn't want anything to do with any of William's friends, whether or not they were related to Audra.

"Ellie, love, not to rub it in or anything, but you're kind of hopeless at history," Audra said.

I stared at the sink. "Maybe I used to be. But I can do it." Jaw set, I met my reflection again.

I could. If I set my mind to it, I knew I could. It wasn't like I'd been doing all that terribly in my tutoring before Thanksgiving, and it's not like William had been teaching me anything new. Everything I needed was in my textbook. It would suck, epically, but I could do it. If it meant saving my scholarship and my chances of playing in the finals, I could shove all of this away and focus on my schoolwork.

But there was one thing I had to do first. One thing to put all of this behind me and stop the bad guys from winning. To make sure that it hadn't been for nothing, even if it broke my shattered heart all over again.

Just before dinner, I lied to Audra and Gyeong-Ja and told them that I'd forgotten my laptop charger in our room. I doubled back towards the performance hall and lingered outside, pacing until the drama club wrapped up their rehearsal.

When Madeleine emerged, I pounced.

"Ellie, hi," she said, interrupting her conversation with another senior girl. Madeleine's blue eyes were guarded, and her friend folded her arms, giving me a once-over.

"I know you have no reason to believe me, but I figured it was your right to know," I said, holding her gaze and ignoring the feeling that something was caving in around my middle.

Madeleine exchanged a look with her friend.

"Theo broke up with me because William kissed me." I held up a hand when her friend laughed and Madeleine opened her mouth, brows crashing together. "I know you won't want to believe me, but Theo has the proof. Ask him, and spare yourself what I just went through."

Before either of them could laugh or scoff or tell me that I was a desperate mess like Connor had, I turned and bolted back to the dining hall.

I spent the entirety of dinner poking at my tortellini and half-heartedly listening to Gyeong-Ja enthuse about a new K-drama. I'd long since stopped looking towards Theo's table, but when the dining hall door opened and Madeleine entered, I couldn't tear my eyes away.

My fork paused halfway to my mouth when she rushed to Theo's table and leaned down to whisper to him. Something horrible and heartbreaking clenched inside my stomach when his eyes flicked in my direction for the first time in a week. All too soon, though, he looked away. They exchanged a few words before Theo pulled out his phone, showed it to Madeleine, and she stiffened.

When William sauntered in, laughing about something with JJ, Madeleine turned. Her jaw had set, and her brows were drawn in an expression I'd never, ever seen on her face. I set my fork down and held my breath at her swift trajectory across the dining hall.

"How dare you." Her voice cut across all the chatter, loud enough to silence it so thoroughly that the entire dining hall heard the smack of her hand connecting with William's cheek. His head snapped to the side, and my lips curved into the first smile I'd managed all week.

"What in the bloody hell..." Audra began, but it was over as soon as it had started. Madeleine fled, and William merely blinked a few times before his head swivelled towards his brother.

I didn't want to look. I really didn't. But I couldn't help myself from following William's gaze.

Theo was looking right at me. He inclined his head once, briefly. I returned the nod, eyes flooding with tears, then looked away before William could round on me, too.

"What did you just do?" Gyeong-Ja leaned over to whisper.

I swallowed and shook my head, staring down at my half-finished dinner. "Finishing what we'd started, the way we'd always planned."

What I didn't say, though, was that I wanted to make sure at least one of us didn't have to be miserable. If there was one thing Theo deserved after everything his brother had done, it was that last kindness.

**A/N: Sooo...did Ellie do the right thing? Because oof did I debate how this part of the story would go. But our girl is nothing if not determined, and she did have a deal to keep up.

As always, if you enjoyed it, please take a moment to vote and comment!!**