Page 126 of The Comeback Summer

“That asshole,” I say, not bothering to temper my rage. My hands are balled into fists. I want to punch that piece of shit in his stupid perfect face.

“He’s not being an asshole,” Hannah says, shaking her head. “That’s why it hurts so much—I can’t blame him for any of it.”

“Of course you can blame him! He’s doing whathewants to do, which is what he’s always done, treating you like an afterthought.”

She flinches, and I know my words have hit home.

“His mom is dying,” she says quietly. “He’s shocked and grieving.”

I shake my head, frustrated. “His personal tragedy isn’t an excuse. You’re not a secondary character in his life, existing to support his journey.”

“That’s not what’s hap—”

“That’sexactlywhat’s happening,” I say, my pace picking up along with my anger. “He makes you believe he’s going to ride off into the sunset with you when he’s just planning to ride off on his own again, leaving you behind. This is why I told you not to get involved with him! It’s why I told him to break up with you the first time.”

“You what?”

Hannah stops in the middle of the path, and it’s only when I notice her expression—eyes wide, jaw dropped—that I realize what I accidentally admitted.

Fuck.

Forty-Two

HANNAH

The ground beneath me seems to tilt, throwing me off-balance.

“What did you say?” I whisper.

Libby folds her arms. “Josh was stringing you along after he left—you were miserable! And I knewyouwould never end things.”

I’m struggling to process her words.It’s why I told him to break up with you the first time.Maybe I should have guessed—Libby has never hidden her dislike for Josh—but she was the one person I thought was on my side back then.

“Youtoldhim to break up with me?” I ask.

“No—I mean, not at first,” Libby says, a defensive set to her chin. “I was worried about you. And pissed at him for being such a shitty boyfriend. I called to talk some sense into him, get him to start calling you regularly, text you, send emails—anything! But then he said that he was going to extend his study abroad for another semester. And at that point, I—well. I told him he needed to end it with you.”

“And he just... agreed?” I say, disbelief lacing my voice. Ican’t imagine Josh going along with it that easily. He may have been a little self-absorbed back then, but he’s never been cruel.

Libby shifts her weight in her sneakers, clearly uncomfortable. “Well, no. He didn’t want to. But god, Hannah, he was treating you so badly. I told him how miserable you were, and that the kindest thing would be to let you move on. I told him to”—she hesitates briefly—“make sure you understood it was over.”

Another wave of disbelief rolls through me. Of course. All those years I spent believing that Josh had fallen for another girl—he denied it on the Ferris wheel but never explained why he’d said it.

“Youtold him to say that he’d met someone else,” I whisper.

Libby looks at me, and for the first time since we started this conversation, I see an apology in her eyes. “I thought that would make it easier for you.”

She reaches for my arm, like she wants to soften the blow, but I yank it away.

“Easier?” I spit out. “Do you have any idea how that felt? It wrecked me. I can’t believe...”

My knees wobble; I stumble to a nearby bench and collapse, my head in my hands. A high-pitched ringing fills my ears. I’m vaguely aware that my sister is nearby, that she’s saying something, but I can’t grasp it.

My mind slowly focuses on her voice, and her words sharpen like glass.

“...if things with Josh were going to end anyway, it’s better to know now, isn’t it? And on the bright side, we should be able to get the rest of your dates taken care of before the end of the challenge.”

I lift my head and lock eyes with her. My shock morphs into something else, something hot and red and angry.

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