I shot Justin a quick text to tell him where I was, then got busy rolling up my leggings and kicking off my sneakers. I just stared at the pool, totally blank. Man, it was crushing me that the guy I was finally starting to trust had actually raped his own girlfriend. A small part of me still thought, Nah, he's not like that. I pictured the three of us as little kids: hide-and-seek, catch, and our epic princess games. Bryce would always bawl when he was the villain dragon, and Justin would be the prince, saving me. I even remembered Bryce pitching a fit because Justin kissed my lips when I was Snow White—a tiny peck! Bryce ran off crying and snitched to his mom. I felt awful, so I kissed Bryce too, but he screamed and said he never wanted me to kiss him again and Justin could have me. Ouch.
"Hey."
I looked up. Justin was right there, hands jammed in his pockets.
"Hey." I tapped the floor, giving him the look: Sit down. "Get over here." I smiled a little, feeling the chilly water hit my legs.
Justin copied me, rolling up his jeans a bit, kicking off his shoes, and sliding his legs into the pool. I kept looking at our feet, dipping and playing with them under the surface.
"Remember that time? We were, like, what? Twelve?" I asked. "Anyway, we were chilling at Bryce's pool, and I was just sitting by myself, listening to you and him go on and on about Jasmine Oliver?"
"Dude, that was ages ago." He cracked a smile.
"I was so jealous because I was already super into you," I admitted, he started laughing. "Don't laugh! I totally cried all night thinking about you and Jasmine dating."
"Aww, my poor baby Winter." He pulled me into a big hug and kissed the side of my head.
"The next day, I swore I'd make you pay for making me feel so shitty," I said, checking out his face. My heart kinda melted seeing how chill he was right now. "I started hitting on Bryce." I cringed a little. "I'd always make sure he gave me more attention than you. I couldn't tell if you were mad at me or him, so I just kept up the flirty thing until you finally snapped."
"That's why we had that huge fight?" he asked.
I nodded, grabbing his hand and smiling. "We didn't talk for days, until one weird night, you climbed through my window—"
"And I kissed you." Our eyes locked, and I felt my eyes tearing up. "I never even liked Jasmine Oliver..." he whispered.
"What do you mean?" I grinned, completely shocked.
"I was just trying to get your attention. Guess it worked." He chuckled, tucking a piece of loose hair behind my ear. "I was so freaked out when I finally realized I had feelings for you, so I thought, 'Why not be a jerk? Girls like jerks.'"
I shoved him away, laughing hard. "Seriously?!" I scoffed.
"Well, Bryce told me that once," he explained. I rolled my eyes. "I thought my plan was genius, but when I saw you acting all weird with Bryce, it totally pissed me off." He nervously scratched the back of his neck. "Then we fought, and it killed me when I saw you crying—it still does, honestly." He sighed. "When I kissed you, I knew I was done for. I've loved you since you gave me your lunch that one day."
I looked away, not wanting him to see me cry. I missed those days when Bryce was just a sweet, kind, adorable little kid.
"What happened?" I asked, looking around. "Why'd we stop talking last year? Why did Bryce screw up his life, and hurt my friends?" I lowered my head.
"I don't know," he whispered back.
It was silent for a long time. Finally, I stood up and walked to the pool steps. I paused, looking back at him.
