Page 31 of Unpredictable

She shrugs. “I guess so. He was nice. Didn’t push. Didn’t really do anything to be honest.”

“You okay?” I ask after hearing the catch in her voice.

“I’m peachy too,” she teases before sighing. “I don’t know what I expected honestly. I think I assumed that we would be like everyone else, but he didn’t do anything. He held me and put on a show. I wanted him to touch me, but he didn’t.” She blushes. “Not like I wanted at least.”

“It’s probably for the best. The opposite sex are all idiots; we’re better off without them,” I tell her with a hint of bitterness.

“You and Sterling though....” She treads lightly.

“He’s the biggest idiot of them all,” I mutter. “I don’t want to talk about it, T.”

“Okay, I won’t ask anything else if you answer my next question,” she bargains.

“Fine.”

“Did he hurt you? Force you to do something you didn’t want to do?”

“No,” I sigh. “I wanted it, but I stupidly assumed that it meant something more.”

“I’m sorry,” she says softly.

“Don’t worry about it. Promise me one thing though, Tins. Don’t settle for less than your worth. Finley can’t see what he has right in front of him. Trust me when I say, you need to move on. We both do.” I lay my head back against the headrest and close my eyes.

???

Sage charges into my room, the door hitting the wall with force.

“What’s your problem?” she demands.

“I wasn’t aware I had one,” I tell her while shutting the book on my lap and the laptop in front of me.

“Ever since Samhain, you’ve been off. You didn’t tell me what happened. You’ve shut down. You don’t go out with us and rarely join us when we’re hanging out. What the fuck did Brooks do?”

“I don’t know if you remember, Sage, but I’m graduating early. My college classes are more demanding than I thought they would be. I haven’t had the time or the energy to be social.” I sigh.

“No, there’s something wrong, and you're hiding it from me.”

“I’m not hiding anything,” I tell her without making eye contact.

I watch Sage pull her hair from the corner of my eye before she sits on the edge of my bed. She grabs my hand and holds it for a few minutes. “Whatever’s going on, you know you can tell me. I won’t say anything. I won’t judge you. I just can’t stand the fact that you’re hiding something from me. You say you’re not, but I know you are, and I hate it.”

“I’m fine. I promise. I just have two more tests tomorrow, and I’m done. Then it’s you, me, Mom, and Dad and the cabin for a few days before the Yates siblings join us.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes, I’m positive. Stop worrying over nothing.”

“If you say so.” She pushes off my bed and heads for the door. “Have fun hitting the books.”

“Thanks,” I say after she shuts the door. I lean back on my bed and silently cry.

God, how did this happen?

How did I let this happen?

I let the tears fall for a few minutes before I wipe them away.

You can do this. You will do this and will be amazing. This is only a small speed bump.

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