Several hours later I was ready to go. I was soaked to the bone from snow and I could barely feel my toes. I moved to huddle in a gazebo to sit and try and stay warm while watching the rest of the group have a snowball fight.
Cassie had just jumped on top of James back to tackle him to the ground. They were really cute together.
I definitely approved after watching them all afternoon. Tyler saw me sitting alone and came over.

He wrapped an arm around me. "How are you holding up, Little H?"

"Frozen."

"You're a trooper for coming out."

"I needed to let off some steam anyways."

"You heard the piping hot tea from last night then, huh?"

I shuddered. "I'm surprised you already heard."

He laughed, "Brenna of all people told me. She put a picture of it in the band group chat, asking us if we knew who the girl was. I had no clue what her name was."

There were pictures of it? That made my skin crawl even more. The fact Tyler had met Darcy last night, not even for the first time, and couldn't remember her name did comfort me though.

"Darcy. Her name is Darcy."

"She was that little niner hanging around y'all last night right?"

I nodded wanting to punch something or cry. I wasn't sure which one.

"I think she and Miri are friends."

"He's a fucking idiot. That girl is way too thirsty for someone that age."

"True. But I have cross country with her so I'll have to see her tomorrow. And I don't even know what to say to Ari, if anything."

Tyler nuzzled his nose into my hair for a moment before saying, "I wouldn't worry about it too much Lex. He's obviously going through some shit right now but that's not your fault or your problem. You told me you aren't ready to date and I respect that. Give yourself some time to heal up a bit. I think it'll do you good."

So that's why he didn't make a move last night? I was surprised and yet pleased about that. Tyler was right though, I was in no place to rush into a new relationship. The fact he was looking out for me in that way just showed how much he valued me and our friendship over anything else he might be wanting at the moment.

He smiled, squeezed me, then got up and pulled me along with him. He called out to James, "Come on man, she's freezing. Let's get her home."

James stuck his tongue out but took Cassie's hand and led us all back to his truck. I snuggled as close as I could to Tyler to keep warm. The heater in the truck could not work fast enough for my taste.

Tyler just smiled and held me to him. James dropped me off at my house and I was surprised to see my dad's car in the driveway. When he wasn't working, he was still always gone. It felt more like I was living alone in this giant ass house most days.

I walked in and heard my name being called. I wondered what was wrong. He was sitting at the kitchen table with his laptop open and reading glasses on meaning he was still working even on a Sunday.

I rolled my eyes when he wasn't looking and said, "What's up Dad?"

"Hey stranger. I have to talk to you for a few minutes."

My heart started to panic, "Dad the last time you said that we switched countries."

He laughed, "No Lex, we are planted here. But I do have a business meeting in Dallas that I was able to plan out for when you are on Spring Break next month. I was wondering if you wanted to go with me and visit your sister? It would only be for a few days but I thought you might like that."

I tried not to sound too excited, "How many days?"

"You get out on Friday. We'll leave that night, the meeting is Monday and I figured we would leave Wednesday morning so that you have a couple of days to spend with Elyse."

He failed to acknowledge the fact that Jordan would obviously be there too. "Deal."

This bit of news made me dread school tomorrow a little less. At least I had something to look forward to now.

I headed upstairs to finish some homework and try not think about Ari. I went for a run to try and not think about Ari. I cleaned the house, took a shower, did more homework, and just about anything else I could think of to not think about how royally pissed I was at Ari.

I finally crawled in bed and started scrolling social media. Ari didn't use it so I knew I was safe there. Or so I thought. I saw that I had been tagged in some images from a post Darcy made on Saturday. I didn't realize we even followed each other. But there we were, smiling for the camera at the dance. I flipped through and she had photos with Jensen and Cassie too. I flipped a through a few more and knew I should have just untagged myself and blocked her.

But I didn't.

Instead I was staring at a selfie that she had taken with Ari. She was kissing him on the cheek. To his credit, he wasn't smiling. He just looked like he was there, existing. The next photo was of them dancing. His hand was wrapped around her waist.

Fucking skank. She knew I would see this when she tagged me. I wanted to throw my phone through a wall. Instead, I just set my alarm and went to bed.

...

A part of me expected Ari and Darcy to be standing in the parking lot making out. Just waiting to make sure I saw. Another part of me hoped that he had more respect for me than that but after this weekend I wasn't too sure.

Jensen was waiting with Declan though by the front of the school. I had gotten a ride from James and walked over to them once he parked. She looked concerned.

"What's up?"

"I wanted to make sure you knew about what happened this weekend before you went in today."

"Your skanky friend made out with my ex boyfriend in front of a ton of my friends in a club I go to often. That it?"

"Yep. Girl I am so sorry. If it makes you feel any better I told her she was a bitch and that we were friends any more."

"Well are you ready to go run morning laps with the bitch?"

She rolled her eyes, "If we must."

We ran into Cassie when we were coming out of the locker room.

"She's not here yet. Maybe if we're lucky, she quit the team."

I smiled, "Yeah, I'm not that lucky. Let's just warm up and ignore her if she tries to gloat or start shit."

And we did just that. Darcy did show up five minutes late to practice and the coaches made her run extra laps while we all went to the changing rooms. That let me get a head start on getting changed and getting out of there before she came anywhere near me. Cassie looked ahead for me and gave me the all clear. I started walking out of locker room and straight for first period.

Miri was waiting for me outside the door.

"What's up?"

"I'm not friends with her. We just did a class assignment together at my house. I saw her post and that you were tagged and I just wanted to let you know I am Team Alex all the way."

Team Alex? Great, more sides and teams and drama. It felt like it was never ending lately. I got the same treatment when I headed to 2nd period. Elle had been silent most of the weekend but she was waiting for me outside the class when I got there.

"My brother is an idiot and I made sure to tell him so."

I finally had a moment to ask a question I had been wanting to know the answer to since I first heard about the whole situation, "So was it just a make out session or what's going on?"

Elle bit her lip and avoided eye contact for a minute.

Fuck.

"He hung out with her at our house yesterday."

I suddenly felt light headed. I went into class to sit down and completely spaced out. The bell rang and I didn't even realize it until Elle caught my attention.

I did not want to go to athletics. I had to see Darcy three times a day with our practice schedule and it made me sick.

I felt tears start to well up when I thought about rounding the corner and seeing her. Pictures of them kissing were running rampant in my mind and it was making my palms sweat, my knees want to buckle, and my chest felt like it was on fire while I tried to keep my breath steady. I felt a hand on my shoulder and jumped at the touch.

"Hey, Little H. You okay? You look pale."

It was Tyler. I grabbed onto him and just started to bawl. He hugged me instantly back and walked with me to a nearby bench. He sat me down as I started hyperventilating. I was having a full blown panic attack and I knew it.

Tyler grabbed a water bottle out of his backpack and handed it to me. I took it gratefully and tried to get some water down. I hoped I wasn't causing too much of a scene. I looked around a luckily it seemed that no one was noticing my mini meltdown other than Ty.

"Thanks for the water."

"Harrison, what's up? What's going on?"

I shrugged, "It's just stupid, girl drama."

He wiped a tear off my cheek and lifted my chin so that I could look him in the eyes, "Let me walk you to class."

I nodded thankfully and wiped my eyes. He wrapped an arm around me and we started back towards the gym.

My guy had been right. They were there. Darcy was twirling her hair leaning against the wall like a cliché bimbo and Ari had his had above her on the wall leaning in, whispering in her ear. She was laughing like he was the funniest person in the world. I looked up at Tyler who was grimacing at the sight too.

Seeming to understand the situation, a plan had already formed in his mind. I looked quizzically at him but he just smiled. Then he took off his backpack and pulled out a hoodie. It had RWS written across it. I'd seen him in it multiple times. He handed it to me.

"It's my favorite hoodie. Wear it for good luck today."

I took it hesitantly and put it on. He smiled and then took my hands and held them in his. He looked me dead in the eyes and said, "Fuck that emo twat waffle and his niner minor."

I let out a snort I laughed so hard. He smiled and added, "Do not turn yet, but he's looking. And she's looking annoyed at him for looking. I'm going to lean down and kiss your cheek now so don't freak out.

He did and it felt more comforting than I expected.
"Ty, you don't have to do this."

He smiled, "Baby Harrison, it would bring me no greater joy than to fuck with that cocksucker."

I laughed again. "Okay, Mr. Potty Mouth."

He smirked, "Wait for me when you get done with practice. I'll drive you, Jensen and Cassie over to Chew Chews. Hang in there, Baby."

He hadn't added on the Harrison that time. He'd just called me Baby. I liked the sound of that. I nodded and headed into the gym.

Darcy pranced into the locker room a few minutes later. I did my best not to look in her direction. Cassie and Jensen silently flanked me. Brenna had given me plenty of catty looks before and they were way better than the snarl Darcy was trying to pull off.

I rolled my eyes in her direction and headed out onto the track above the gym. Every once and a while I would steal a glance down to the all familiar corner that I knew Ari sat in. I could have sworn that he was watching me run. I tried to block out that thought and focus on running. We had a meet coming up this weekend and I wanted to make sure I kicked Darcy's ass.

Tyler and Ari were waiting outside the gym when all of the cross country girls came out. I made eye contact with Ari first and he gave me a small smirk before looking past me and who I assumed would be Darcy.

I looked over to Tyler who rolled his eyes in their direction and wrapped a protective arm around me. We all headed out to the parking lot.

I felt like I could finally breathe when I was in the safety of Tyler's truck. Declan and James were there waiting on us. I got sandwiched between Tyler and James and I felt thankful to have them there.

"I cannot wait until Spring Break", I blurted out.

"Same, Little Harrison, same. Any big plans yet."

"My dad is taking me to Dallas for the first half."

I felt James sit up straight, "Whoa when did that happen?"

"This weekend. And I found out over Winter Break that I get to spend half the summer there with Elyse."

Tyler gave me a side eye, "So we have to miss you for a whole month and a half this summer?"

"I'll miss you too."

I breathed in a sigh of relief. My news was out there. I tried to relax into this new normal that was forming and not focus on the pain that was slowly leaving my chest from the last few months.