Page 6 of Sweet Ruin

“What do you mean?”

“He hasn’t said anything to me, but I just wonder if he struggles a bit. You guys were close friends when you were going out with Noah, so he knows how much he meant to you. It must be hard not to be jealous.”

“You think Wes is jealous?”

“I’m not saying he’s jealous of Noah exactly. But maybe of the connection you two had.” She shook her head. “We all saw how strong it was. And you and Wes are just starting out. It must be hard for him not to make comparisons. Like, how would you feel if Sarah went to school with us?” Cress was starting to rush over her words, like she was desperate to make herself clearer so I didn’t misunderstand. “Do you know what I mean? I’m not sure if this is coming out right.”

“No, that makes sense.” I fell silent as I considered her words. My relationship with Wes was so different from the one I’d had with Noah. That didn’t mean it wasn’t as good. It was better in so many ways.

“Do you think I need to talk to him about it?” I asked. “Try to reassure him?”

“I don’t know, maybe just give it time,” Cress replied. “Wes knew you were slowly getting over Noah when you started dating. I think this is all to be expected. I’m sure he’ll relax once he sees you’re not going anywhere.”

I smiled and nodded, but everything Cress said stuck with me during class. Was Wes really jealous of what I’d had with Noah? And what did I have to do to prove he had nothing to worry about?

* * *

I was still worryingabout Wes as I went to my next class. I entered the math classroom and made my way to the back of the room to find my usual seat next to Luther and Kaden. I’d given up trying to sit somewhere else in the room because the two of them always found a way to drag me back there.

When I reached my seat, I went to pull it out, but Luther’s hand clamped down on my arm, stopping me.

“This seat is taken,” he said.

I stilled as I glanced at him. Luther was looking up at me, his face stone-cold as he returned my gaze. He had to be joking, right?

“Very funny, Luther.” I went to grab the seat again, but his hand on my arm didn’t move.

“Like I said, this seat is taken. Find somewhere else to sit, Isobel.”

Hearing him say my name made me realize he wasn’t kidding around. Luther always called me newbie. I didn’t think he’d ever used my actual name.

“What’s wrong, Luther?” I lowered my voice as I spoke.

“Nothing’s wrong. You just can’t sit with us anymore. Isn’t that right, Kaden?”

Kaden nodded but his gaze remained fixed on the front of the classroom. He refused to look my way.

“I thought we were friends,” I replied. Luther had definitely talked and joked with me like we were friends ever since I’d started at this school. Even when Noah and I broke up, Luther had still been his usual cheeky self to me.

I wasn’t sure why I was surprised though. Luther’s friendship had always felt unusual. He was one of the most popular guys at school and the best friend of my ex-boyfriend. He had no reason to want to hang out with me. Still, I couldn’t seem to wrap my head around his sudden change of heart.

“Why are you doing this?” I asked.

Luther grew tense, his lips forming a hard line as he stared back at me. “We had to pick a side. And, well…”

“You didn’t choose me,” I finished for him. Now it all made sense. This was coming from Noah. His vindictive streak against me was continuing. This time, he was isolating me from his friends. My friends. A part of me had worried this might happen eventually now we weren’t together. Luther and Kaden were Noah’s closest friends, so of course, they would choose him. But this way just felt spiteful.

I could sense hurt flashing across my eyes. I didn’t want Luther to know how much this was affecting me, so I quickly turned and made my way to a seat at the front of the room.

I should have been happy. Finally, I’d be able to get some actual work done in my math class. It was hard not to feel upset though. My friendship with Luther might not have made much sense to me, but I liked it. And Kaden had always been so kind to me. It almost hurt more to know that even he was following Noah’s orders.

If there was a silver lining to this situation, it was that Veronica had not arrived in time to see my confrontation with Luther. It would have been so much worse if she’d been here to witness the embarrassment of my rejection.

Still, when she entered the room and found me sitting in a different seat than usual, there was a satisfied glint in her eyes. She was obviously well aware I’d fallen out of favor with Kaden and Luther.

My day only grew worse from there. When I entered my business management class, I found Noah seated at the far back corner of the room. He usually sat right behind me, but today he’d moved himself as far away as possible. His nearness in this class had been driving me crazy for weeks, but it was like a slap across the face to see he’d moved. It was further confirmation he’d finally put our relationship firmly behind us. But it felt like even more than that. He seemed to be doing everything he could to entirely erase what we had.

He’d attacked my father because of his insulting comments, but I wasn’t sure what I’d done to turn him against me quite so completely. He was the one who deserved to be punished. Maybe seeing me go to my father’s aid on the weekend had settled it for him. Maybe that night had settled things for me too.

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