Pepper never meant to lose her best friend. Lucas never meant to fall in love.
Yet the aftermath of broken hearts leads them to blur the lines of their friendship forever. When Pepper is dumped by her boyfriend and Lucas is led on by his crush, they...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
WATCHING LENA AND MARTSIA dance in such a carefree manner is like a bittersweet kick to my heart. I don't know how Lena does it...pretend that her girlfriend isn't sick. Or maybe she's so used to it she knows how to conceal her worries. We haven't heard much about her condition since our last girl's night, but I'm hoping it means things have gotten better. She has been sharing meals with Lena which is better than her skipping meals. Maybe something has changed. I hope something's changed.
When she glances my way and smiles as bright as ever, there's no way I can fight back one in return. I raise up my camera and snap a picture of her. Lena jerks her head to attention at the flash and glowers at me. I smile even bigger and wave at her. She merely rolls her eyes and goes back to dancing with her girlfriend. I bite back a smirk. She's totally warming up to me.
Lena goes to whisper something in Martsia's ear that makes her burst out into a fit of giggles. It warms my heart the way Lena can make her so happy. They're such a good balance for each other.
I purse my lips and look down at my camera. A sudden wave of loneliness washes over me. I've never really been in a real relationship like them. I've never dated anyone for an extended period of time or really at all. Maybe I'm too afraid of taking risks. That's why I could never go all the way with Lucas. I let my insecurities keep me from him and now we're in such a weird place.
"Are you going to stare at your camera or dance?" Elliot's annoying voice yells in my ear.
I roll my eyes and shove at his chest as he begins dancing all over me. "Not if it looks like I'm having a seizure." I bite back a giggle as he raises his hands in the air and does his scrawny white boy dance. "You're making me uncomfortable."
"Come on! What happened to the Amber who sneaks in alcohol to school dances because they're so lame?" He grabs my wrists and swings them around. "Loosen up a bit."
I roll my eyes and cock my head to the side. "I think you forget, I can't dance to save my life."
He cringes. "You're really giving off this whole I'm quitting without even trying vibe right now. Just dance." He swings my arms and pulls me close.
Laughing, I give in to his ridiculous antics. I begin moving with him, using his tall frame to disguise how equally awkward and silly I look dancing. Though as I try to match his carefree attitude, I just can't get into like I want. My heart just isn't here.
"What's going on, Tucker?" Elliot arches a perfect brow and tilts his head to the side. "You're moving really lazily right now. You're kind of killing my mood."
"Shut up," I mumble with light humor. "I'm just thinking about important things."
"Things like...?" His expression softens upon, catching the seriousness in my voice.
