Blair O'Connor was the life of every party-popular, fearless, and always the center of attention. But behind the perfect image was an abusive boyfriend who slowly stripped away the girl she used to be.
After finally breaking free, Blair transfers...
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After dropping Blair off at her place, I headed back home, knowing I had a full day of chores ahead. First up was cleaning out the horse barn, which was long overdue. I spent a good hour mucking out stalls, getting hay sorted, and making sure the feed was all set for the night. By the time I finally got back inside, I was exhausted and ready to just crash for a bit.
But as I walked into my room, I stopped dead in my tracks. There, sitting on my bed, was my best friend, Hughie, holding up a small ribbon bow between his fingers, his eyebrow raised as he looked at me.
"Who's this?" he asked, smirking slightly.
I froze, my mind racing. Shit. Blair must've left it behind when she stayed over last night. How had I missed that?
I tried to keep my face neutral, scratching the back of my head as I stalled. "Uh... well..."
Hughie's smirk grew. "You've got a girl leaving bows in your room now?" He chuckled, leaning back like he'd just discovered something juicy. "Didn't know you were so smooth, lad."
I shrugged, playing it off. "It's not... it's just Blair's, alright? It's no big deal."
"Blair?" He looked at me, eyes widening slightly in surprise. "*Blair* Blair? Since when are you two...?"
I shrugged again, feeling my cheeks warm. "It's... new. We're just trying things out."
Hughie raised his eyebrows, still clearly amused. "Trying things out, huh? Well, she must really like you if she's leaving stuff behind already." He tossed the bow onto my bed, grinning.
I rolled my eyes, trying to keep my cool as I grabbed the bow and stuffed it in my drawer, hoping he'd drop the subject. Hughie laughed, clearly enjoying every second of this new bit of gossip he'd just uncovered.
"So..." he drawled, dragging out the word like he was savoring it. "You and Blair, huh? Didn't see that one coming." He tilted his head, giving me a sly smile. "Wasn't that long ago you were all about Lizzie. What happened there?"
I shrugged, keeping my face as casual as possible. "Lizzie was... just a crush, you know? It was nothing serious."
"Nothing serious?" he echoed, eyebrows raised in amusement. "Mate, you spent half of last term going quiet every time she walked in the room. Now, all of a sudden, you're all about Blair?"
I tried to hide my annoyance at his questions, but I knew Hughie wouldn't drop it until I gave him something. He'd watched me make a fool of myself over Lizzie for months. When we were all hanging out, I'd barely been able to make eye contact with her, let alone ask her out. And then, just as I was starting to think about moving on, I started talking to Blair.
"Things just... changed," I said, shrugging again. "Blair and I started talking more over the month, and... I don't know. We get along, that's all."
Hughie's grin grew wider. "Just get along, huh? Sounds like a bit more than that if she's leaving stuff in your room." He raised an eyebrow, clearly enjoying my discomfort. "So what, one minute it's Lizzie, next thing you know you're all about Blair? Since when do you two even hang out outside of class?"
