Page 117 of The Forever After Bet

“We’ll talk to Mason tomorrow after basketball practice,” Jack says. “This might not be his plan, but my guess is he knows what’s going on.”

“I think you should talk to Ryker, Jack,” Leah says, taking his hand and squeezing it. “Tell him to stay away from your sister. See what he says.”

Jack nods. “It’s worth trying, but he’s so cocky. I think he’ll just blow me off.”

“Are you supposed to break up with me tomorrow?” I ask, fidgeting with my promise ring, not looking at anyone.

Ford stands up, pacing back and forth across the room. “I don’t think I can do it.”

“I don’t want you to. I’m so tired of school gossip. It never ends.” I release my hair from the ponytail holder, rubbing the back of my head.

“We’ll figure something out,” Jack says. “Bree just wants to hurt Hannah because Hannah has something she wants.”

Ford walks over to me, pulls me off the bed, and wraps his arms around me. “I’m sorry this is happening.”

“Me too,” I whisper. “We’ll get through it, like everything else we already have.

“Together.” Ford kisses my temple.

“Yes, together.”

During lunch on Tuesday, we notice Bree hanging out in the cafeteria, waiting for a show that’s not coming. She texts Ford during calculus, wanting to know why he hasn’t broken up with me yet. He tells her he’s planning on doing it tomorrow.

The thought of even pretending to break up in front of all the kids at school has my stomach in knots. I’m almost at my breaking point with this whole thing.

Leah lets me skip out on cheer practice early so I can talk to Alison, but I’m afraid she won’t speak to me, so I take reinforcements with me.

‘I can do this’ is my new mantra as I knock on Chanels door.

“Clark, hey, what’s up?” Chanel asks, answering the door.

“I came to return the Princess Bride dress,” I say, handing her the dress bag.

“Oh, thanks. My sister asked me about it the other day.”

“I also need some help with something.” I take a breath and tell Chanel an abbreviated version of Bree’s scheme. I leave out as much as I can. Chanel agrees to help and follows me over to Alison’s house.

Alison’s dad answers the door. He says hi to us and then yells up the stairs at her. Alison sees Chanel first. “Hey girl, Spence and I are upstairs. You didn’t have to wait.” As she walks into the room, she sees me.

“Hi.” I smile, giving her a small wave.

Her face falls, and she frowns.

“What’s going on?” Alison asks, looking between me and Chanel.

“Clark needs some help from you,” Chanel says.

“No.” Alison spits, turning around, but Chanel grabs her arm.

“Don’t you think it’s time to put all of this behind you?” Chanel asks.

“I’m sorry,” I blurt. “I’m sorry for my part in what happened over the summer. For pouring punch on you and for not being accepting of your feelings for Jack.“ I hold out two Urban Decay lip glosses. “These are for you. The one I took, and a brand new tube in the same color.”

Alison takes the lip gloss and crosses her arms. “What do you need?”

“It’s about Bree.”

“Ugh, I hate that chick,” Alison mutters.

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