[BOOK2]
Friendship built their world. Love will break it open. ❤️
*****
I want her.
I want her more than I've ever wanted anything.
But I can't have her. Because the moment I admit that out loud, the moment I risk everything we've built, I could lo...
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The sound of laughter and the steady hum of chatter filled the hallway as students streamed out of their classrooms, riding the Friday high. Backpacks thumped, sneakers squeaked, someone's speaker leaked a chorus through a half‑zipped pocket. But my mind was elsewhere.
Becca's elbow found my ribs for the third time in five minutes, her whole face lit like a marquee.
"We did it!" she whisper‑squealed, bouncing as we move toward our lockers.
I couldn't help it—I grinned. My heart did this little drum solo in my chest. Both of us accepted into Harrington. It still didn't feel real.
"Can you believe it?" she asked, one leg jittering like it had a life of its own.
"Honestly? No." I fumbled my combination and then got it on the second try. "I keep waiting for some admissions goblin to email, 'Oops, clerical error.'"
Becca laughed, bright and bubbling. "Well, the clerical goblin can choke. We're going, Isla. We're actually going to Harrington together."
Her words landed and everything else dimmed: the hallway roar, the lockers, the squeaks. Just warmth blooming behind my ribs.
"We're going to crush it there," I said, trying to match her energy even as a knot tugged under my sternum. Next week's match. Jake. The unspoken thing he was gearing up to 'surprise' me with.
Becca clocked my face like she always did. "What?"
"Nothing. Just... thinking about next week's game."
Her nose wrinkled—classic pre‑bluntness Becca. "Ugh, don't remind me. You know I can't stand Jake."
I shut my locker harder than I meant to. The clang snapped down the corridor. "He's not that bad. He's just... confident."
Becca raised an eyebrow, crossing her arms as she tilted her head, "Confident is bringing non vegan cupcakes to class filled with vegans. Jake acts like God outsourced the sun to him."
I didn't argue. Jake's ego was one of the first things I'd noticed about him—impossible to ignore. But I also saw the side of him that Becca didn't. The side that was sweet when it was just the two of us, when he wasn't trying to impress everyone else. It was just hard to explain that to her, and myself sometimes.
"He's been really patient with me, though," I said quietly, hoping to shift the conversation. "He knows I'm not ready for everything, and he's okay with it."
Becca's expression softened slightly, but the hard edge didn't disappear entirely. "That's great. I just... don't trust him with you." She nudged my shoulder with hers. "You're too good for bare minimums."
The words hit me like a punch I wasn't expecting. Becca had always been protective of me but hearing her say that out loud made my stomach twist uncomfortably.
