"Their Just Friends."

Page 1

Chapter 1

"Oh my god, you like him!" Charlotte shrieked. Yeah, rewind. Because that's where my brain always goes back to these days. That stupid, glorious moment. People always say to start at the beginning, but this is my story and I'll start where I fucking want. Sixth day of senior year. Sixth day of pretending I didn't see the way Devon's smile could stop time.

Sixth day of hell.

Don't get me wrong, senior year – it was supposed to be the promised land, right? Freedom on the horizon, a one-way ticket out of this town. But for me, it was a minefield of awkward tension and repressed feelings I was trying desperately to bury. And Charlotte, my ever-observant, pain-in-my-ass best friend, wasn't making it easy.

"We're this close to graduating!" she squealed, bouncing in her seat like she was mainlining caffeine. I swear, sometimes I thought she had the emotional range of a golden retriever on espresso.

"Calm down, It's still the beginning of the year. We still have 174 days left," I deadpanned, because someone had to be the voice of reason.

"Are you really counting down the days till we leave?" Charlotte scoffed, her face a mix of amusement and annoyance. Damn, she knew me too well.

"Yes, actually, just to annoy you," I shot back with a smirk. It was way too easy to get a rise out of her.

"Anyway, you really need to come to the party. It could boost our popularity," she insisted, already back on her favorite subject: social climbing. As if.

"Ugh, you're still talking about that?" I groaned, resisting the urge to slam my head on the table.

And then she dropped the bomb. "Oh my god, you like him!"

My stomach plummeted. Okay, maybe I wasn't as smooth as I thought. My neck was definitely burning.

"What? Like who?" I choked out, trying to play it cool.

"Devon, duh!" she practically squealed, leaning closer. "The way you looked at him by the lockers, you were totally checking him out."