Page 106 of The Forever After Bet

“She told me I better break things off with you, or I’d be sorry. I said sorry for what. And she said being alive.”

“Did you think that was Missy?”

Hannah laughs. “No. I did to piss her off.”

“It worked.” I rub a hand down Hannah’s back. “Are you okay?”

She smiles at me. “I’m fantastic. I’m not sure I’ll survive Mr. Thompson’s monotone voice, but I’ll try.”

“No worries. You have me to keep you awake.”

“You can do calculus in your sleep.”

I tug at the collar of my shirt and smirk. “True.”

Hannah rolls her eyes. “You’re so bumptious.”

I stand up straight. “Bumptious?”

“Yeah, look it up, genius.” The five-minute bell rings. “You can Google it on the way to class.” Hannah turns to me and takes my hand.

“Proud to an irritating degree. Huh. That’s worth at least ten points, especially since I had to look it up.

“Hooray for me.” Hannah bounces on her tiptoes, kissing my chin.

Calculus is super boring. Especially since lunch was so exciting and stimulating. I’m also hungry. My stomach grumbles toward the end of class, turning several heads, and making Hannah laugh.

I drop Hannah off at her Art Design class, run to the vending machines, and get a bag of Sour Patch Kids. When I turn down C hall toward French, the bag is already half gone.

Bree is waiting next to the door of Mr. Bouchard’s classroom. She probably realized I blocked her number again. I’m not surprised she knows my schedule and knows this is the only class I don’t have with Hannah. She pushes off the wall when she sees me. She looks ragged. Her eyes are bloodshot, and her face is puffy and red. It looks like she’s been crying.

“Can we talk?” she asks, coming up to me.

I point to the door. “I have class.”

“I talked to Mrs. Bouchard. She said it’s okay if you’re tardy. You can go ask her if you don’t believe me.” Bree glances back at the classroom.

I walk past her and down the hall next to the double doors that lead outside and stop. “I’m done with this shit, Bree. What do you need to talk to me about?”

She takes a couple of what I’m guessing are calming breaths. “I love you, Ford. I want you to give our relationship the chance it never got.”

I bite the inside of my cheek so my mouth doesn’t drop open. That’s not where I saw this conversation going.

I open my mouth, but Bree cuts me off. “I know you don’t love me. At the beginning of summer, we were on our way to a relationship; but because of Hannah, I never got a chance to show you what a relationship with me could be like. If you give me a chance, you’ll see. You can fall in love with me, the way I have with you.”

“I love Hannah.”

Bree shakes her head like she didn’t hear me. “I know something about Hannah Clark that could ruin her. If it gets out, she’ll lose her valedictorian spot. She’ll lose scholarship opportunities.”

I ball my hands into fists. I’m so sick of Bree Chandler and her lies. “What is it?”

She shakes her head again. “No. You give me a chance, a real chance, and I’ll give you what I have. Hannah can go on living her perfect lie of a life.”

“If I say no?”

“Then I’ll post what I have to my website, and the world will know the Hannah Clark that I do, and she can kiss, valedictorian, Ivy League College, and any scholarships goodbye.”

“This is blackmail!” I hiss.

---