Page 203 of Built to Fall
Recently a lot of topics have become off-limits in the house.
After my birthday party, I didn’t talk to Kara for a week, but she broke down in my bedroom one day, crying like I’ve never seen before. It was impossible to continue ignoring her.
It was hard for me to explain to her that I wasn’t mad. I just didn’t know where to stand. On one hand, I have my best friend, whose life I’d rather not dictate, even though I’m worried for her well-being. But on the other hand, I have Grant, who thinks it’s his responsibility to not let what happened to his mom repeat itself.
The tension hasn’t fully gone away since then. There’s still this quiet unease, like we’re all pretending not to notice thefracture in the center of the group. Like if we don’t speak it out loud, maybe it’ll heal on its own.
But I know better. Cracks don’t fix themselves. We just like to pretend they will.
For now, though, I draw the attention elsewhere. “What’s going on with you and Braxton?” I ask Meredith.
“Nothing,” she’s quick to reply. Almosttooquick, but her casual demeanor covers it up well.
“So, why haven’t you seen him?”
It’s been a month since the fashion show, but I’m not sure how long it’s been since she’s stopped talking to him. A couple weeks, maybe.
“I’m sick,” she says flatly, looking down at her feet while she kicks up patches of mulch. “He doesn’t deserve that. I can’t have him constantly worrying about me. Whether I’m losing weight. Whether I’m eating.”
I don’t want to lecture her, so all I say is, “I think you know him better than that.”
She doesn’t respond because her phone begins buzzing. She ignores it at first. Until it buzzes again. And again.
“Someone’s popular,” Kara teases.
Meredith grabs it, barely glancing at the screen before her expression turns stiff.
“What?” I ask.
Not answering, she squints down at the screen like she’s not sure if what she’s seeing is real.
“What’s wrong?” Eden asks, sitting up straighter now.
Meredith looks at me. I know that look. It’s been passed around enough the past few weeks for me to recognize it. It’s the look she gives when there’s something on the tip of her tongue that she really doesn’t want to say out loud.
She hands me the phone without saying a word.
It’s a screenshot. FromNotes of New Haven.A post that already has hundreds of likes and comments. It was postedminutesago.
APPARENTLY GRANT VANDENBERG ISN’T AS PERFECT AS EVERYONE THINKS.
SOURCES SAY HE’S BACK TO HOOKING UP WITH SAVANNAH SINCLAIR, BUT IN SECRET THIS TIME.
I WONDER IF ANYONE HAS TOLD EVANGELINA…
My heart drops.
Kara leans over to read it, then recoils like she’s touched fire. “What the hell is this?”
Eden grabs the phone from my hands before I can even process the caption, scanning it with a sharp glare. “That’s fake. Right? Ithasto be.”
Meredith is still quiet. Watching me. Waiting for my reaction.
My throat feels like it’s closing in.
Does she know something? Does Braxton?
For once in my life, I don’t know what the logical response to this situation is. Not when it feels as though my chest is caving in on itself.
