"You look happy," Finlay noted when I made it to my locker.

"Eh," I said but the smile on my face contradicted that statement.

"Did you finally kiss our friend Josh?" Finlay asked, a mischievous look in her eyes.

"Does dancing with him count?" I asked.

"How long did you dance?"

"For less than a minute."

"No, Grace. No, that doesn't count."

I giggled before saying, "Fine. But my mom interrupted us."

"Ooh, that sucks," Finlay said, digging around in her locker. "Don't you wish things would've gone farther?"

I laughed, hitting Finlay's arm playfully. "No, Fin. I'm not like you."

Finlay looked up, smiling. With a wink, she said, "Just saying."

I smiled too but shook my head. "And he asked me to go to his family reunion during winter break."

The smile dropped off Finlay's face as she stood up. Her fingers were slowly turning white as she gripped her school books. Her eyes bored into mine, and I shrunk back. "What?"

"He asked me to go -"

"I heard you the first time," Finlay said harshly. "What did you tell him?"

I didn't know why Finlay was acting like this. She was the one who supported my feelings for Joshua. "I said yes. Why?"

Finlay let out a little hollow laugh as if she was upset. She shook her head, her blonde hair piling in front of her eyes. "Of course you would."

"Why?"

"I was supposed to go to your house over break! To get away from my father! Remember?"

The hallway was silent after that statement. All I could hear was the breaths Finlay kept letting out, trying to stop her anger from getting the best of her. All I could feel was disappointment. Why did I forget? Why did a boy get my head all messed up?

"You obviously didn't remember," Finlay muttered, slamming the locker shut.

"Fin, I'm sorry!" I said, stopping her from walking away. I gripped her arm, drawing her to me. "I will tell him that I can't go and -"

"And what? Expect me to come over? Or will you forget again and go out with Drew?"

I sighed. "Fin, I haven't spoken to Drew since the other day. I wouldn't do that to you."

"You already did." Finlay took her arm out of my hand and said, "Excuse me. I want to get to class."

I stood stock still as my best friend walked away from me. In her place stood Drew, a confused look on his face. His hair was a little disheveled as he looked between the two of us.

"What's wrong with her?" he asked softly.

I rubbed my head. My backpack seemed too heavy on my shoulders, so I slid down the wall. Drew watched me with something in his beautiful eyes. "It's my fault."

He squatted in front of me and said, "It's not your fault. Whatever it is, she's the one who is letting it affect her this much."

I shook my head. "No. Drew, you don't understand."

"I don't need to, Rebecca." He touched my hand for just a second, but I could still feel the heat radiating from him. I swallowed as he held my gaze with his. "All I know is that I don't like seeing you like this."

I stared into his eyes, and his lips rose slightly. "Why?"

He shrugged. "I don't know."

With his help, I stood up. His hand lingered in mine for a second longer than I expected, and I thought I would explode. For some reason, I craved more of his touch. I tried not to acknowledge his presence next to me as I opened my locker. My backpack dumped all its contents into the locker, and I grabbed my math binder with my shaking hands. When I shut the locker, Drew was still there. His shoulder was pressed into his own locker, and his dark eyes followed my every move.

"What are you doing?"

"Waiting for you," he replied.

"Why?"

"We're walking together to first hour."

"Why?"

He smiled, and I tried not to notice how handsome he looked. "We have first hour together. Remember?"

I flinched with that word. It brought back the argument Fin and I had that he had somehow made me forget.

Our feet went in perfect synchronization. His arm swung up and down, occasionally brushing mine. That was not good because it made me stumble more than once. He just threw me a lazy smile every time it happened.

I was the first one to walk into the classroom and immediately my eyes found Joshua's. He frowned when he saw Drew enter right behind me. He stood up, walking over to me.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

I shook my head. "Nothing. I just - didn't sleep well last night."

Joshua looked like he wanted to say more, but Drew said, "You don't have to pretend to care about her."

I closed my eyes, wishing I just never came to class. "Drew, stop. Joshua, I'll tell you later, okay?"

Joshua sent Drew a glare before touching my shoulder. I sat down in my seat with Drew right behind me.

"Why'd you say that to him?" I hissed.

He shrugged. "He's popular. Why should he waste your time when he doesn't even care about you?"

I shook my head. "You know nothing about him."

Drew gave me a look before saying, "I don't need to know him. I know his type."

"What do you mean?"

Drew opened his mouth to speak, but Mrs. Lilly said, "Quiet down, class. This lesson is important."

I sighed as I turned around. Why was my life throwing me a curveball? Things had gotten out of control when Joshua stepped into my life. It got even worse when Drew came.

---

I was the first one out of the classroom, racing away to a different hallway where the boys couldn't find me. Thankfully, that hallway could get me to the library, where my study hall was located at. I pushed through people and made it to the glass doors of the library. I opened them and walked in, the voices of the people from the hallway growing dimmer.

There were a few people who had study hall with me, but no one talked to each other. They usually did their work and nothing more.

I sat down at my usual table but frowned when I saw Finlay walking toward me. She slipped into the seat in front of me, dropping her things to the table with a thud.

"It's alright if you go with Josh."

I raised my eyebrows, not really sure if I heard her correctly. "What?"

Finlay sighed. "I'm not angry, Grace. I'm a little sad, you know? But it's okay if you go with him."

"Why?"

It seemed like I kept asking questions that day, and I hated it.

"My dad actually texted me during first hour," Finlay said, playing with a piece of paper that was sticking out of one of the books she had. "He said that the three of us are going to my grandmothers over winter break. So I couldn't go to your house anyway."

"But I could come with you," I said, leaning forward. I placed my hand on hers to let her know that I was willing to be there for her. "I don't have to go with him."

"But I want you to," Finlay said, sitting forward in her chair. "You kind of need a love life, and this is your best shot."

I laughed, shaking my head. "I don't care about that."

"I know," Finlay said, smiling. "That's why you're my best friend. But you can go with him, okay? Have fun. A lot of fun."

I laughed, rolling my eyes. "I won't have as much fun without you."

Finlay nodded. "Me either."

I glanced around and realized that Finlay was skipping second hour. "Don't you want to go back to class?"

"I'd rather not," Finlay said, shaking her head. "Can I stay with you?"

"Yes."

Finlay stood up, bringing her chair closer to me. She leaned against me and said, "Can you believe we're seniors?"

I shook my head. "Definitely not. You still act like you're in third grade."

Finlay laughed. "We're going to be getting older and living our lives. Are we going to still be in each other's lives?"

"Of course," I said, glancing at her. What in the world was she talking about? "I can't live without you."

Finlay nodded. "Me either."