There was way too much attention on me as I made my way into the dining hall for breakfast. I’d caught a few people glancing in my direction and whispering about me in the quad on the way here. But that was nothing compared to the obvious curiosity I received as I walked by people’s tables and they turned in their seats to watch me pass.
I kept my head down and tried to ignore the strange looks. Word must have finally got out about my breakup with Noah. The kids at Weybridge Academy were all obsessed with him and loved nothing more than to gossip, so I guessed I was the day’s big news.
I should have thought about that before coming to breakfast on my own. Cress was running late today, but I really wished I’d waited for her. I did my best to ignore the attention as I headed for the buffet and began to load my plate with whatever I could find. I was hoping that the sooner I got my food and sat down the sooner people would find someone else to gossip about. At least I could be grateful Noah wasn’t in the dining hall too.
“Hey, you’re Isobel, right?”
I glanced up from my plate to look at the girl standing next to me in the line for the buffet. I recognized her from my chemistry class, but she’d never bothered to speak with me before. She was always too busy flirting with her lab mate or complaining loudly about whatever homework was set. I didn’t think she even knew I existed.
“Uh, yeah…”
“I’m Mandy, and this is Trish.” She nodded to the girl beside her who gave me a smile. “It’s so crazy we haven’t run into each other yet. How are you liking Weybridge?”
It seemed like a strange thing for her to say considering we’d been in the same class for weeks already.
“We should hang out some time,” she continued.
“Definitely,” Trish agreed.
“Uh…”
I was saved from having to answer as Anna appeared at my side.
“Everything okay here, Isobel?” she asked, linking her arm through mine.
“Oh, hey, Anna.” Mandy didn’t wait for me to reply. “We were just introducing ourselves to Isobel and welcoming her to Weybridge.”
“How nice.” Anna’s voice was thick with sarcasm. “But you know she’s been here for over a month now, right? What could possibly have sparked such a random act of kindness from you girls?”
The girls shared a look, and Trish scoffed. “What are you talking about?”
Anna didn’t answer. She just raised her eyebrows and cocked her head at the pair as though she was waiting for Trish to answer her own question.
“Whatever, Anna.” Mandy shrugged before focusing back on me. “Seriously, Isobel, if you ever want to hang out with me and my friends, you’re always welcome. We have a lot of fun, and it would be nice to have someone like you in our group.”
“Someone like me?”
She tittered a laugh and waved a hand at me. “Oh, you know what I mean.”
I was about to tell her I actually didn’t, but she kept talking before I had a chance. “It was nice to finally meet you, Isobel” she said, before turning and walking away with Trish close behind.
I glanced at Anna. “What was that all about?”
“Ugh.” Anna rolled her eyes as she reached past me to grab an apple. “I think word about your dad finally got out. I heard some girls talking about it on the way here.”
“They were only talking to me because of my dad?”
Anna nodded. “I’d say there’s probably a ninety percent chance that’s the reason. Sorry.”
“Don’t be sorry. I thought it was weird they were talking to me.”
“They probably won’t be the only ones,” Anna said. “I’m sure you’ll have plenty of ‘networking opportunities’ today.”
“Sounds fun,” I groaned.
“Oh yeah.” Anna matched my lack of enthusiasm. “There’s nothing better than people only talking to you because they want to use you.”
“And I thought my biggest problem today was going to be people gossiping about me and Noah,” I said as we made our way to our usual table.
“Actually, I haven’t heard anyone talking about it.” Anna shrugged.
“But I thought that was why I’ve been getting so much attention this morning.”
“No, I’d say that’s all thanks to Daddy Dearest,” she explained. “A secret LaFleur heir in our midst is quite the scandal.”
“Great,” I muttered. I wasn’t sure if that was better or worse than people gossiping about Noah and me. It was probably worse since apparently it also meant people like Trish and Mandy thought they needed to try to befriend me because of it. Was this what it was like for Noah? He was used to people talking to him with the sole objective of getting more closely connected to his family. I could see why he was so shut off because of it. I didn’t want any fake offers of friendship either.
Cress arrived just as Anna and I sat down at our table. She looked a little winded and was still scooping her hair back in a ponytail. She’d clearly rushed to get here this morning.
“Sorry I’m running so late,” she said.
“You’re always running late.” I smiled at her.
“Yeah, but I wanted to be here in case you saw Noah again for the first time. To support you.” She landed in the seat beside me and stole a hashbrown off my plate.
My cheeks flushed because I knew it wouldn’t be the first time I’d seen Noah since the ball. It wouldn’t even be the second. I hadn’t told Anna or Cress about either of those encounters though.
“Actually, you already missed the first time,” I said.
“What?” Cress sat up a little straighter. “Did you see him already this morning?”
“And yesterday…”
“Wait you’ve seen him twice?”
I nodded.
“And…” Anna prompted.
“And it was a disaster. I ran into him at the garden party yesterday and then again on my run this morning. He refused to give me a proper explanation and said we needed to stay away from each other. But then he kept looking at me like he wanted to kiss me and suggested we stay together but keep it a secret.”
“Seriously?” Cress asked.
“What did you do?” Anna added, her eyes wide.
“I walked away. I still have feelings for him, but I’m not going to kiss someone who broke my heart, and I’m definitely not agreeing to a secret relationship.” Although, a part of me still wondered if that was the right choice. Maybe I’d acted too hastily. Surely getting some of Noah was better than nothing?
“That’s good,” Cress said. “I know how hard it must have been, but I think you made the right choice.”
“Yeah, well, I hope he’s going to keep his distance now. I’m not sure I can handle another one of these encounters.”
“He needs to leave you alone,” Anna huffed. “Why does he think he can try and kiss you? And I can’t believe he asked you to be with him in secret. That’s so unfair. He should be shouting his love for you from the roof of the school.” She was getting so agitated I was worried she was about to jump up on the table and do some shouting of her own.
“Agreed,” Cress nodded. “What was he thinking?”
“I’m not really sure he is thinking clearly right now,” I murmured. “And, I mean, he didn’t actually try to kiss me, but I felt like that was what he wanted.” I shook my head. “You’re right, though. He’s not being fair, and it makes me so mad. I guess the small blessing is that when he makes me angry, I feel like I might one day be able to get over him.”
“Yes, you should definitely focus on moving on,” Cress agreed.
“What you need is a rebound,” Anna said.
“Anna…” Cress hissed.
“What? Isobel needs to get over Noah, and rebounding is the quickest way. Not to mention it’s fun too.” She wiggled her eyebrows suggestively.
“I’m not sure that’s such a great idea.” I was completely with Cress on this one. I couldn’t even picture kissing another guy, and the last thing I wanted at school this year was any more emotional entanglements.
“It’s a great idea,” Anna said. “I can start brainstorming candidates in class this morning.”
“Please don’t make a list for me,” I groaned.
Anna waved my complaint away “You’ll thank me later. Trust me.”
I lowered my head onto the table and groaned again. Not only did I have to handle a broken heart, but now I had to deal with Anna throwing boys at me.
The sound of scraping chairs made me sit up again. The twins were taking a seat at our table and throwing curious looks in my direction.
“Don’t tell me you’ve already given up on the day, Grace,” Sawyer said.
“The day, the week, and maybe the year,” I replied.
He looked sympathetic as he shook his head at me. “Don’t let Noah get you down.”
I shared a smile with him and nodded though following his advice was easier said than done.
“She won’t be down for too long,” Anna piped in. “I’m going to find her a rebound.”
Sawyer started to grin and sat up a little straighter in his chair. “I know this is a very important assignment, so I volunteer as tribute.”
Wes slapped a hand across the back of his brother’s head. “Dude!”
“What?” Sawyer looked baffled. “I’m just being a good friend, and if making out with Isobel will make her feel better, I’m all in.”
Wes cuffed him across the back of the head again and gave me an apologetic smile on behalf of his brother
“Thanks for the offer, Sawyer, but I’m not looking for a rebound—no matter what Anna thinks.”
Sawyer let out a long dramatic sigh and shrugged. “Okay, well, the offer is always there if you need it.”
“Uh, thanks.” I thought he was joking, but he seemed completely serious. It was totally weird to offer to be my rebound, but I actually believed him when he said he was doing it because he wanted to be a good friend. Also, he seemed to have no problem kissing girls and it meaning nothing. He was probably a good rebound option if I wanted one—and I didn’t.
“So, can we talk about something other than my miserable love life?” I said, hoping to change the topic before anyone else could make unhelpful suggestions for boys I should kiss.
“Uh, how about the new car you got?” Cress squealed. With everything that had happened this morning, I’d almost forgotten about the car.
“You got a new car?”
“What’d you get?”
“Can I drive it?”
Wes, Anna, and Sawyer all seemed to be talking at once. They were far more excited than I was about the car, and I worried I was going to sound ungrateful if I didn’t match their enthusiasm.
“Yes, I got a new car. No idea what kind it is. And no, Sawyer, you can’t drive it,” I answered everyone in turn.
“You’re no fun,” Sawyer grumbled.
“How do you not know what it is?” Anna asked.
“My dad just got it for me, and I haven’t seen it yet.” I wasn’t in a rush to go looking for it out in the parking lot. It wasn’t like I planned to drive it.
They all started guessing what type of car it might be, but I stopped listening because Noah entered the cafeteria.
My heart leaped to my throat and lodged itself there, making it impossible to breathe. He usually looked so impossibly handsome, but this morning, he looked like hell—worse even than when I’d seen him on our run. The circles ringing his eyes seemed to have grown darker, and it made me wonder if he was suffering as much as I was with our breakup—not that I should be concerned by that. He’d made this decision for us. This was what he wanted. He shouldn’t get an ounce of sympathy from me.
He didn’t look my way as he walked over to his usual table. He didn’t even try to sneak a glance. He seemed resolute to pretend I didn’t exist, and as much as I didn’t want that to hurt, it did. I’d gotten used to him sending me subtle smiles, to seeing his face light up whenever we were in the same room, and it was painful to know those stolen moments were gone forever.
As if it wasn’t hard enough to see him again, I had to watch as Veronica went bounding over to him. Her whole face brightened as she started chatting to Noah, but he’d turned away so I couldn’t see his response. He’d told me plenty of times he wasn’t interested in Veronica, but it was hard to see him with her after they’d attended the ball together on Saturday night.
I felt a hand at my shoulder. Wes was waiting at my side. “Hey, I was wondering if you could help me with one of our econ problems before classes started for the day?”
“Oh, ah, sure.” I shot him a grateful smile before turning to the others. “I’ll catch you guys later.”
I happily hurried from the dining hall and followed Wes outside. Although it hadn’t rained on my run, there were still dark clouds overheard and the air was heavy with moisture. Wes sat down at one of the benches, and I took in a deep breath of the fresh morning air as I went to join him.
“Just so you know, I don’t actually want you to help with the homework,” he said. “It just looked like you really wanted to get out of there.”
“Thanks,” I murmured. “Seeing Noah was harder than I was expecting. I wasn’t prepared for what it would feel like to be ignored by him.”
“Noah’s an idiot,” he murmured.
“I know. It doesn’t make it any easier though.” I let out a long sigh. “I’m going to have to get used to seeing him every day, aren’t I?”
“Probably,” Wes agreed. “It will get easier though.”
“Yeah, maybe.” I hoped he was right. At least when Levi and I had broken up, I’d had the summer without him, and I didn’t have to see him every day at school. I’d been devastated when we’d broken up, and yet, despite the fact Noah and I had barely dated, this felt so much worse. People always said time healed all wounds—but that didn’t mean you weren’t left with a deep scar.
