Page 3 of Pucking High School

Henry gave me a peck on the check as he turned to leave. “I’ll speak to you later.”

My knees shook as I watched him walk out, because, for some reason, it felt like the end. I knew it in my heart, I was just hoping seeing him might have changed his mind.

Biting my bottom lip to stop myself from crying, I walked out of the bleachers and squinted when the sunlight covered my face. I pulled my phone out of my pocket, only to see a message from Tiff.

Tiff: Where are you? I thought we were having lunch together.

Shaking my head, I swiped out of her message because I told her this morning that I was meeting Henry. She even gave me that sassy tut of hers because she thinks I’m wasting my time with him.

Tiff and I had plans, and unlike my brother who was a star athlete, the only way we were getting into Covey U or Southern Collegiate was through our grades. Boys shouldn’t have been that much of an interest to me. Especially boys who were on my brother’s team, but I couldn’t help myself, I seemed to be drawn to them.

Without really thinking, I sent a quick message to Henry because the way we ended things didn’t feel right.

Madison: Good to see you today. Hopefully, we can catch up a little more next time.

“Shit,” I whispered to myself, because my text reeked of inexperience and desperation. It wasn’t my fault. I just didn’t know how to act around guys and my behavior was proving that. I stuffed my phone in my pocket, refusing to reread it, knowing that it would only work me up into a bundle of anxiety.

So instead of standing around, I decided to find Tiff and headed to the lunch hall, shaking off all my nerves.

When I opened the door and caught eyes with Tiff, her face lit up.

I wanted to go and join her, but the stark reality of seeing Cade and Dash eating their lunch together with the rest of the team confirmed what I didn’t want to admit.

Henry lied.

He wasn’t with them, and that shouldn’t have been a surprise because I didn’t think they even liked each other, but I was still stunned, confused and a little dejected after my conversation with Henry. Seeing his lie was only making it worse.

Tiff figured I was upset without me having to say a word, and I saw her excuse herself from the table. As she headed straight toward me, I didn’t want our friends seeing how upset I was, so I walked outside. By the time I reached my locker, she had caught up and placed her hand on my shoulder.

“There you are!” Tiff said, pulling me into a side hug. The minute I felt my cousin’s arms around me, the strength that was keeping me together started to crumble.

He left me. He didn’t want me. He never did.

It was pathetic to be thinking like this, but something felt off. Something wasn’t right between me and Henry. Tiff squeezed harder, and when she pulled back, she cupped my cheek and wiped away an errant tear with her thumb. “Not here. Not in the hallway.”

She was right. I didn’t want everyone knowing my business, especially because that meant it would get back to Cade.

“Is this about Henry?” She whispered.

I silently nodded, sucking in a harsh breath. “Yeah, I, uh, don’t think he’s really that into me.”

She sighed, but didn’t say anything. I knew it was because she never thought we were dating in the first place, but I was glad she wasn’t gloating or throwing the fact that she was right in my face.

“We were kissing under the bleachers, and I think we were heading into the territory of doing a little more, but then we got interrupted. After that, he was just on his phone and told me he was too busy to stay.”

With her hand on my arm, Tiff rubbed her thumb against my shirt, giving me a look that dripped with so much sympathy, I wanted to tell her to stop, but I felt too broken to even try.

“Who knows? Maybe he was?” I looked at Tiff with disbelief, surprised that she was standing up for him.

“Uh, he told me he was going to practice but I know that was a lie because he said something about Dash wanting to do pre-stretches.”

“Where’s the lie in that?”

“Dash doesn’t like people on a good day, and I know for a fact, he likes to stretch alone.” I looked down at my shoes, not willing to look at her when I said, “There’s also the fact that Dash and Cade were just in the lunch hall, most definitelynotstretching.”

Tiff bit her bottom lip, taking it all in. “Well if he lied, he’s an asshole, and next time I see him in the hall, I’m going to trip him up.”

“No, don’t do that.”