Page 68 of Even Exchange

“Okay,” I find myself saying, when in reality my body is an anxious ball of yarn with no chance of being untangled. “I’ll call him after lunch.”

We return to the cafeteria and grab food, sitting down with Theo, Elijah, Julian, and some of the other guys. I push the salad around my plate as anxiety threatens to explode me like that poor tiny bird inShrek. I’ll be nothing but a fluff of pathetic feathers falling to the ground.

Here lies Charlotte Benson.

A dumb, pathetic little idiot.

RIP me.

NOAH

Me

Fun Fact: when faced with the possibility of seeing my ex, I will one hundred percent do something absolutely stupid

Noah

I do not like that fun fact.

that is a FUNLESS fact.

Me

But it is a fact

Noah

Did you break our promise?

My chest aches, mind swirling.

Me

I didn’t

But I’m not sure you’ll like the alternative

Noah

Call me

Me

I’m eating, can I call you in twenty?

Noah

Make it fifteen.

Ten minutes and an abandoned Caesar salad later, I excuse myself from the table. Andi mouths “good luck,” and my heart pounds against my rib cage. My eyes catch on Jonathan, who’s eating with an arm hooked around Kendra, and his fiery gaze burns straight through me.If he’s moved on, why the hell does he care so much?I shiver at the unwelcome attention and exit the building.

I yank out my phone and find Noah’s contact. The cafeteria door slams open behind me, and a breath catches in my throat until a group of guys walks past me, babbling about their first practice.

This definitely isn’t the place to talk. If one of Jonathan’s teammates overhears this is fake, it’ll blow the whole thing before it even starts. Not to mention I’ll look pathetic as fuck. I head towards my cabin to have privacy for this conversation.

When I’m less than a minute away, I tap call.

Noah answers immediately. “Charlotte.”

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