I’m so fucking angry that I can’t stop looking at my window every five seconds. Because the first thing that I see when I look out of it, is the carriage house.
I wonder if the window that I see when I do look out belongs to her.
I wonder what she must be doing right now. I wonder if she’s writing in her diary.
I wonder what is it about her.
She’s just a girl, Jesus. There are a million girls out there. A million.
Which means girls are expendable. They’re inconsequential. They don’t matter.
And they especially don’t matter when your best friend wants them too.
So here’s what I’m gonna do next: nothing.
Absolutely fucking nothing.
I’m not letting a girl ruin our friendship.
It doesn’t matter how pure and pink and goddamn sweet she appears to be. It doesn’t matter how weirdly fascinated I am with her; my fascination will wear off.
She’s not worth it.
She’s not fucking worth my friendship with my best friend.
CHAPTERFOUR
Who: The Bubblegum
Where: The second-floor bedroom in the carriage house on the Davidson estate
When: 11:04 PM; four years ago, a week after Echo’s fourteenth birthday
Dear Holly,
He asked me out.
Today. At school.
He came up to me in the library for our regular tutoring session and just came out with it.
I’m going to be honest, I did have a feeling that he’s wanted to do this for some time now. Quite possibly ever since he asked me to tutor him to help him with his grades. The whole fact that he came to the library on our side of the school and asked me to tutor him even though I’m still in the eighth grade tipped me off a little bit.
But I was still shocked.
It’s not as if he has any shortage of interested girls at school. Being a soccer superstar and the team captain comes with many advantages, especially in Bardstown, the so-called soccer nation.
But ever since I started to tutor him, he always invites me to his games. And if I do end up going, he makes sure to look at me whenever he scores a goal.
So yeah, I knew.
But as I said, I’m shocked.
Or more like, I don’t know what to do.
Well, there are reasons to say no.
First and foremost, I’m only fourteen. I’m not even allowed to date yet. Second, even if my parents lift that restriction, they’re going to totally freak out when they find out who they’re lifting the restriction for.