Page 17 of Connor

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I hadn’t been expecting to see North and Quinn on the first day. North should’ve been working, and Quinn was two years ahead of me in college. The juniors only returned to school a week later.

I thought I’d have time to adjust to my schedule. Time to breathe, to build the walls I needed to keep myself from unraveling. But the universe never really cared about my plans. I was halfway through the day and exhausted from trying to keep track of everything I needed to do, think, and say around all these new people.

I didn’t know anyone, and my stomach was rumbling when I stepped into the campus cafeteria. The campus café was buzzing with life. Students shuffled between tables, trays clattered, conversations overlapped. The scent of coffee and freshly baked bread filled the air. It should have been comforting.

Instead, my stomach twisted with unease. I was waiting in line, trying to convince myself that I felt fine. That I didn’t want to go home and cry my heart out over something ridiculous—then the girl in front of me twisted around with her iced coffee in hand, and took one look at me before scowling.

"Summer."

Quinn. Her smile was tight, her eyes unreadable. North stood beside her, I realized dumbly as he turned around. He had his hands in his pockets, and the frown on his face melted as he found me there behind him.

“You’re really here,” Quinn murmured, shaking her head.

“Yeah,” I said, keeping my voice even. “Guess I am.”

She scoffed, looking away. “Never thought you’d actually leave town.”

“Yeah, well...” I had.

Silence took that statement. Neither Quinn nor I knew how to break it. That’s when North nodded at me. The same greetinghe’d given me since we were kids. Then he tilted his head. “Vic says you haven’t been talking much.”

I stiffened. “I’ve been busy.”

North didn’t look away. He never did.

I hated this. There was a time when Quinn would have hugged me, when North would have thrown an arm around my shoulders, teased me about being late to everything, and turned the moment into something lighter.

But that time was gone.

Quinn let out a sharp breath. “Why this school, Summer? You could’ve gone anywhere.”

“I wanted to come here,” I said, voice firm, but we all knew that wasn’t the full truth.

North’s eyes narrowed slightly. “And that has nothing to do with Connor?”

My stomach flipped, but I kept my expression neutral, hoping neither of them recognized the hoodie I was wearing. “This has nothing to do with him.”

Just because it was the closest school to home didn’t mean I was here because of Connor. Right?

I wish I could answer that question. Quinn laughed like she knew what I was thinking, and there wasn’t a trace of humor in her tone as she nodded her head. “Right.”

Silence hung between us. Heavy. Awkward.

I shifted on my feet, clearing my throat, desperate to fill the space. "How have you been?" The moment the words left my mouth, I regretted them. It was the safest question. The worst one.

Quinn let out a quiet laugh, low and humorless. Her lips pressed together. “Like you care.”

North sighed. “No use pretending things aren’t different.”

“I’m not pretending,” I said quietly. I’d fucked up last year, and it ended up hurting Quinn. I couldn’t make up for that, butcould she really judge me when North fucked up worse? He was the one who took the video and showed everyone at the party. That wasn’t me. No, all I’d done was stay quiet.

Just like Connor asked me to.

“Could’ve fooled me.” Quinn grabbed her coffee from the counter, not even glancing back as she muttered, “See you around.”

She didn’t want to do this. Not here.

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