Before you guys start reading, I want to apologize real quickly for being inactive for over a year. I have no excuse for my lack of updating except for the fact that I was lazy. For a little while, I was stuck on ideas as to how to continue this story, and as time progressed, I eventually lost motivation to write. I'm incredibly sorry for leaving without notice. I left many of you dedicated readers hanging. I'll try my very hardest not to take such a long break again, because I know how frustrating it can be to the readers. I've already prewritten a few chapters just so I don't end up slacking, again. Thank you for understanding, for those who don't, sorry once again!

If you've forgotten what this story is even about, please, please feel free to go back and reread before continuing on this chapter. If you don't want to reread it, I'll give you guys a recap as to what happened in the previous few chapters.

RECAP:

Everly finds out through Christiana's speech at her family's New Year's party that she and Jace are still dating, even though Jace told Everly that they were broken up a long time ago. Everly gets her heartbroken once she witnesses the two kissing during the countdown for the New Year. Since Everly has strong feelings for Jace, she storms out of the party, enraged that Jace lied to her this entire time. As the two are arguing, Everly accidentally confesses to Jace that she loves him, but tells him that she no longer wants to be friends with him anymore because she is so hurt.

Jace goes over to Everly's house one night to try to explain himself, and kisses Everly for the first time, but she kicks him out of her room.

Christiana then comes over to Everly's house, explaining the situation: Jace and Christiana are only pretending to date so that their families can do business with one another. The speech Christiana made at the New Year's party was intended to convince both their parents that they were in a relationship. However, despite Christiana admitting to it being fake, she asks Everly to stay away from Jace, for the sake of their families' business. Everly agrees upon doing so.

Chapter 24

Jace and I, with the world against us being together, grew apart eventually.

The first few weeks were complete madness. Jace constantly called and texted me, hoping that I would pick up and allow for him to explain himself. Although my fingers itched every time to respond back to him, Christiana's words to stay far away from Jace replayed in my head like a bad nightmare, every single time. But eventually, the calls and texts stopped. I woke up to find my phone empty of any messages and went to sleep without Jace's name flashing across my screen. Although I was slightly shattered mentally that Jace had finally given up on me, I was also relieved that I could finally fulfill my promise to Christiana. To numb the pain, I liked to remind myself that I was saving both the Collins' and the Wasson's businesses by not interfering with the relationship between Jace and Christiana.

Months passed by without a single exchange between me and Jace, and things gradually became easier. Although the thought of Jace didn't have much of an effect on me as it once did, there were always little reminders of him that sent sharp pangs to my heart- whether it be a simple sighting of him in the hallways, or the sound of his voice spitting out a witty comeback against Mr. Richter in class. It was the smallest things that made me reminisce about all of the things we did together, and the feelings that I felt for him at one point

It was almost as if Jace had never entered my life and caused a whirlwind.

"Are you really still studying for your AP test?" Julianne asked with disbelief as she slid into the empty seat across from me at Patisserie Café.

I highlighted yet another section from my Calculus textbook before lifting my head up to give Julianne a nod. "Yes, Mr. Richter is giving us a final next week and I don't plan on failing it just because AP week is over."

Julianne gave me a snide look before shaking her head with amusement. "Sure, because you don't already have a perfect average in that class." She remarked sarcastically as I shot her a glare. "Anyways, are you planning on going to prom?"

I scoffed, raising an eyebrow. Did Julianne really expect me out of all people to go to prom? The whole idea of finding the perfect dress with matching shoes is enough to scare me away from prom, let alone making sure your corsage matches your dress or if your date shows up on time. It was just too stressful to think about, especially with finals coming up.

"Me? Prom? Definitely not." Julianne pouted, reaching over when I least expected it and snatching my textbook away. "Hey! What was that for?"

"You've been studying nonstop for the past few weeks." Julianne explained, stuffing my textbook in her own backpack. "I think you deserve a break."

"Breaks are for the weak." I argued.

Julianne rolled her eyes as Ryan approached out booth with two steaming mugs of coffee in his hands. Placing one down in front of me and my best friend, Ryan slid into the empty space next to Julianne. "Ryan, please tell Everly that she needs a break from studying and that she should at least consider going to prom."

Ryan smirked, turning to me as he obeyed his girlfriend's commands. "Everly, you need to take a break from studying and consider going to prom."

Julianne narrowed her eyes at Ryan. "That's not what I meant, babe." She muttered under her breath as Ryan chuckled and leaned over to peck her cheek.

"Gross," my face scrunched up in disgust, "could you guys try not to make out while I'm still here?"

Julianne blushed, immediately putting a space in between her and Ryan. "Sorry, Everly." She said, flustered. "But, I'm going shopping for a prom dress tonight. Call me before six if you want to come."

Ryan's phone suddenly buzzed, vibrating against the table as he glanced over it. A look of disapproval shot across Ryan's face, capturing the attention of Julianne as she peered over her boyfriend's phone to see what had caused him so much distress.

Before Julianne had the chance to process her words, she asked with a tone of confusion, "Why is Christiana Collins texting you?"

My heart immediately gutted to the bottom of my stomach as I bit my lower lip anxiously. Neither Ryan nor Julianne knew about what happened months ago, when Christiana came over to my house and told me to stay away from Jace.

"I-I don't know." Ryan muttered before picking his phone up to check what Christiana had texted him. Julianne waited for Ryan's response as his eyes scanned over the text, and although as much as I hated to admit it, I was slightly curious about it myself. "She wants to know if you and I want to share a limo with Jace and her for prom."

I could immediately feel the looks of pity and sorrow from my best friend and her boyfriend. Lifting my head up from my mug of lukewarm coffee, I gave my two friends a light chuckle. "Why are you guys looking at me like that?"

Julianne knew how much I hated sympathy. Immediately covering her previous expression, she gave me a soft smile. "We just didn't want you to-,"

"I know." I cut her off, smiling. "Listen, you guys have to stop walking on eggshells around me every time Jace is mentioned."

Ryan's was unsettled as he tried to speak. "We just thought that you'd be uncomfortable with-,"

"Whatever happened between Jace and I happened months ago." I pointed out. "I've gotten over it by now."

I didn't know if I was being completely honest to not only Ryan and Julianne, but to myself.

But, if I was lying to myself, it hurt a lot less than facing the fact that whatever relationship I had with Jace was forever broken, never to be mended again.

*

After leaving Patisserie Café, I was walking midway home when I'd realized that Julianne was still holding my Calculus textbook hostage. There were still so many topics that I've yet to cover and my final was only two days away. I decided to stop by the library to borrow the textbook instead of walking back of Patisserie to retrieve it from Julianne.

Making my way to the section of math textbooks in the library, I scanned the shelves for the exact copy of the one Julianne took from me. After searching the entire selection of math textbooks, I groaned in irritation when I couldn't find it.

"Everly?"

My heart lurched at the sudden voice of someone calling my name as I spun around quickly to find Cooper Anderson. "Holy shit Cooper, you scared the crap out of me!" I placed my hand against my chest, making sure that my heart was still racing after that sudden surprise.

Cooper chuckled, rubbing his hand behind his neck sheepishly. "Sorry Everly." He apologized before holding out the textbook that I'd been looking for this entire time. "Is this what you're looking for?"

I relieved smile appeared on my face as I nodded eagerly. "Oh my God, yes! Finally." I grinned. "Thank you so much Cooper, you are really a lifesaver."

Cooper grinned. "I'm assuming that you're studying for finals, too?"

I sighed, nodding sadly. "I sure am."

Cooper gestured to the empty table in the textbook section of the library and gave me a crooked smile. "Do you mind if I join you?"

"Nope," I paused, heading over to the table as I sat the textbook down in front of a vacant seat, "in fact, I think I need some help with integrals."

After hours of reviewing old notes and jotting down new ones derived from the textbook, Cooper and I grew tired. A yawn escaped my lips as I officially called off studying for the day, closing my notebook. "I will cry if I spend another second studying." I complained, burying my head in my arms.

Cooper gave me a weary smile. "Well, the final is on Friday. Do you maybe want to have another cram session with me sometime this week?"

I smiled in relief, nodding eagerly. "That would be great."

Cooper remained quiet momentarily before he cleared his throat. "Hey Everly, I know this is kind of spontaneous, but there's something I want to ask you."

I blinked, obviously confused as I nodded for him to continue. "Yes?"

Cooper smiled shyly, running a hand through his hair, almost as if he was nervous. "I don't know if you have a date for prom yet, but I was wondering if you'd like to go with me?" My eyes widened and Cooper noticed my expression of surprise immediately. His cheeks turned bright red, his eyes flashing with the fear or rejection as he began to sputter out words. "Y-You don't have to say yes. I know it's really random and last minute, but I don't have a date yet and-,"

"Cooper," I stopped him mid-sentence, "I'd love to go with you."

*

"What caused the change of heart?" Julianne asked.

I did end up meeting up with Julianne later that night to shop for a prom dress. I tore my eyes away from the rack of sparkly dresses, none of which captured my attention, as I turned my head towards my best friend. Shrugging, I gently rubbed the fabric of a chiffon dress with my fingers. "I got asked to prom today." I said casually.

Julianne immediately froze as she turned to me with a look of bewilderment. "Wait," she gasped, "what did you just say?"

I chuckled lightly at my best friend's reaction, picking out a royal blue dress from the rack before deciding that I didn't like it, and putting it back. "I got asked to prom today." I repeated.

"Oh my God, shut up!" Julianne's jaw dropped as she grabbed my hands with excitement. "Who asked you? When was this? Where was this?"

I blushed, biting the inside of my cheek. "Cooper from my AP Calc class asked me. I saw him at the library today and we studied a little bit together before he asked me."

Julianne couldn't help but giggle. "He prom-posed in the library?" she gushed. "That's such a cute way of asking you since you're such a little nerd!"

"No!" I snapped. "Cooper didn't prom-pose to me, he just asked me on the spot. Seriously Julianne, it's not a big deal."

Julianne rolled her eyes before eyeing the rack of prom dresses to my left. "No big deal my ass," she smirked before fetching out a floor length, lavender purple dress. "Now come on, try this dress on. We're going to spend as much time as we need to in here until you find the perfect dress."

"But I still have to study!" I argued as Julianne grabbed another set of dresses in her hands before dragging me towards the fitting room.

"Studying can wait!" Julianne insisted. "You've been studying for the past-,"

Before Julianne got to finish her sentence, she bumped into a figure just at the entrance of the fitting room. Leaning down to help Julianne collect the dresses that she dropped, it wasn't until we both stood up that we recognized who we had collided with.

My throat dried and my breathing stopped when I came face to face with Christiana Collins. I hadn't seen her since the day she told me to stay away from Jace, and I hadn't been anticipating it, either.

"Julianne, are you okay?" Christiana asked.

Julianne cleared her throat uncomfortably, nodding. Although Julianne never had much interaction with Christiana, she knew her well enough through me and Ryan to not like her. "I'm fine, thanks." She mumbled, her eyes shifting to the floor.

Christiana's eyes locked into mine, her icy blue glare staring me down. "Everly, hey." She paused, eyeing the dresses in our hands. "It's been a while. Prom shopping?"

"Yep," I nodded, gesturing towards the gold, crystallized evening gown that Christiana held, "you too?"

She smiled, her glossy pink lips stretching from ear to ear. "Yes I am. Jace and I are matching."

My heart dropped, and from the corner of my eye, I noticed Julianne shooting daggers with her eyes at Christiana.

Compose yourself, I said mentally.

"Great," I forced a smile, "I can't wait to see you two there."

Christiana puckered her lips before nodding. "I'll get going now. It was nice seeing you two." She turned from us, pacing away before stopping in her tracks. Turning back around to face us, she stared Julianne down. "By the way, Julianne, can you get Ryan to text me back? He never replied about the limo situation."

Julianne bit her lower lip, obviously irritated by Christiana's presence before nodding slowly. "I'll be sure to inform him." She paused, raising an eyebrow. "And, I hope you won't mind, but Everly and her date will be tagging along with us."

Christiana seemed momentarily startled before crossing her arms, her eyes twitching. "Everly, I didn't know you had a date for prom."

"She does." Julianne spoke for me, in a deathly icy tone. "His name is Cooper. Ask Jace about him. They're all in the same class together."

Fear ran past Christiana's eyes.

"I should get going now." She muttered, quickly walking away without a word.

Julianne rolled her eyes before turning back towards me, cocking her head towards the dressing rooms. "Now that the bitch is gone, let's find our dresses."