[BOOK2]
*****
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 lose her.
And losing Isla? That's not an option.
*******
Is...
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The sound of laughter and the steady hum of chatter filled the hallway as students streamed out of their classrooms, excited for the weekend. But my mind was elsewhere. Becca's elbow nudged me for the third time in five minutes, her face practically glowing with excitement.
"We did it!" she whispered, her voice full of energy, barely containing herself as we walked toward our lockers.
I couldn't help but smile, my heart swelling at the reminder. Both of us accepted into Harrington—it still didn't feel real. I looked over at Becca, who was practically bouncing beside me, her joy contagious.
"Can you believe it?" she asked, her eyes wide, her leg still bouncing like she couldn't stand still.
I shook my head, my fingers fumbling with my locker combination. "Honestly, no. I keep waiting for someone to tell me it's a mistake."
Becca laughed, a light, bubbling sound that matched her excitement. "Well, it's not. We're going, Isla. We're actually going to Harrington together!"
Her words sank in, and for a moment, everything else faded. The noise of the hallway, the buzz of voices around us, even the faint squeak of shoes on the linoleum—all of it dulled in comparison to the warmth spreading through my chest. We were really doing this.
"We're going to crush it there," I said, trying to match her energy, though part of me still felt like I was walking in a dream. I could feel my heart racing, my pulse quickening with every thought of what the future held.
Becca leaned against the locker beside mine, crossing her arms with a satisfied smirk. "Obviously. I mean, who's going to stop us?"
The smile tugged at my lips again as I grabbed my books. Becca's confidence was infectious, but there was that familiar weight settling in my chest again. The one that came when I thought about next week's game, about Jake and what he was planning.
Becca caught the shift in my expression, her eyebrows knitting together slightly. "What's wrong?"
I shrugged, trying to shake the feeling off. "Nothing. Just... thinking about next week's game."
Her nose scrunched in that way it always did when she was about to say something blunt. "Ugh, don't remind me. You know I can't stand Jake."
I sighed, closing my locker a little harder than necessary. The dull clang echoed in the hallway, but it wasn't enough to drown out her words. "I know. But he's not that bad, Bec. He's just... confident."
Becca raised an eyebrow, crossing her arms as she tilted her head. "Confident is one thing. Jake acts like he's God's gift to soccer."
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.
