FAZER LOGINJAXSON’S POV"Good luck out there today," she added quietly."Thanks," I said, still holding her gaze. "I’ll see you after."She nodded and walked to the kitchen. I stood there and watched her go. It took me a while before my feet would move.I walked out the front door. I didn’t look back, because if I did, I wouldn’t leave.…Our bus pulled up behind the State Hockey arena at noon. We waited in the tunnel until it was time for warmups, so I stood at the edge where the dark ended and the lights began, and I peeked out.It was packed. Every single seat. Fans from all over the state, with banners and face paint and signs with players’ names on them. The noise shook the floor under my skates. Scouts and representatives sat in the front rows with their notebooks out, watching the players closely, and everybody in the building was charged up.Everest College was already on the ice. The defending champions. They had won this thing two years in a row, and they skated around in their black a
CLARA’S POVI stood there staring at the navy satin sleeve lying on the floor. I hated him so much. I didn't want to speak to him, and I didn't want him anywhere near me. But I needed to finish this fit. The internal runway show was next Friday, and I had to put my work first, no matter what. I couldn't let my feelings ruin the collection I had worked so hard for.I turned back around. "Wait," I called out.Jaxson stopped right in the doorway. He turned around slowly, looking at me like he couldn't believe I had actually spoken to him."You can stay," I said, keeping my voice flat and cold. "I need to put this fit on a real person so I can pin the shoulders properly.”"Come in," I said. "Close the door."He turned around slowly. "Are you sure?""Don’t make me say it twice."He came in and shut the door so softly I barely heard it. He stepped up onto the small wooden platform near the mannequin. As he stood under the bright library lights, I actually looked at him for the first time s
CLARA’S POVI fixed the strap of my bag and walked out the gates. Nobody stopped me. The crowd on the steps just split open to let me through.My eyes were burning, but I wasn’t crying. I think I've just run out of tears. I cried over Derek, I cried over the binder, and I cried on my bedroom floor with my face in a pillow. There just wasn’t any left.I made it all the way to the bus stop before my hands started shaking."Did I really just do that?" I said out loud, to nobody. An old man on the bench looked up from his newspaper."Sorry," I said.He shrugged and went back to reading.I had pushed Sloane onto the ground. In front of the whole school. I was going to be in so much trouble tomorrow, and the weirdest part was that I didn’t feel bad about it. I felt a little sick and a little proud and mostly just really, really tired.My phone buzzed.Maya: Where are you? Are you okay?I stared at it for a long time. Maya. Out of everybody. Maya, who couldn’t stand Jaxson at the start. May
JAXSON’S POVShe kept her eyes on the road. Her face was blank.I followed her all the way to the bus stop at the end of the street and kept begging the whole time. "Clara. One word. Please." She didn’t even blink. Maya walked next to her with a hand on Clara’s elbow and glared back at me once over her shoulder.The bus pulled up. Maya got on first. Clara stepped up after her and never looked back.I sat there with my hands tight on the wheel as the bus drove away. Her silence was worse than any yelling.…At school, I found her in the hallway outside the library. I stepped in front of her."Clara. Please."She stopped. She looked at me, and when I saw her eyes, I almost wished she hadn’t. There was nothing in them. No tears. No anger. Nothing."Move," she said. Her voice was firm."I just need five minutes. Please. Let me...""Move, Jaxson."I moved. She walked past me without even brushing my sleeve.I stood there with my bag hanging off my shoulder, and I understood something craz
JAXSON’S POVThe locker room was dead quiet. Guys stood around with towels on their shoulders, looking from Charles to me. A few of them had no idea what was going on. I could tell by their faces.Charles looked over at me with a cold, mocking grin. "You want that video file deleted now, Jaxson?""Delete it," I said. My voice came out hollow. "Or don’t. I don’t care."The boys murmured between themselves."Don’t care?" Charles teased. "Are you being serious, King? I’m not joking, you know.""I’m serious," I groaned."I mean, you did it! You fulfilled the whole thing. She fell for you, and hell, you fell for her as well. Shameful, I must admit."A couple of guys laughed, but it died down fast."Don’t talk about her," I said, charging towards him."Whoa." Charles put both hands up. "Relax. I’m just saying."Miller was still staring at the floor. He wouldn’t look at me."Well, you got your girl," Charles went on. "And I’m a man of my word. So, Carl," he waved a hand toward the end of th
Claras pov I slid to the floor, and tried to take off the bracelet, but my fingers wouldn’t work. I opened the locket instead and looked at the silly picture: his crossed eyes, my pencils in my mouth. I thought I finally found it. Finally found love. Something true and real. I thought I finally found someone who loved me for me. And I loved him right back. I really did. Oh my God, Clara, you are an idiot—a big fool. Maya was right all along. Wolves don't change. He never changed. I looked at my sewing machine and the mannequin standing in the corner. Some part of me wanted to believe him, that he really did fall for me, because this … all of this was just too good to be a lie. He went to my house and met my mom. He kissed me and bought all these expensive things. They must mean something, right? They had too. First it was Derek, I could say I was n
The word hit me like a physical blow to the chest.Filled?This couldn't be true. I needed this job. It wasn't just a job; it was the medicine in my mother's veins. It was the roof over our heads."Maria, wait," Mrs. Gabe pleaded. "I spoke to Helena this afternoon. She said—""And I am speaking t
I couldn’t speak.“She’s fading, Clara,” he continued. "Every hour we wait is an hour we don’t get back. If we delay much longer, she might not make it.”The doctor walked away to check on another patient."I’ll get the money, sir. I’ll try," I whispered as he went.My phone buzzed in my hand. I lo
Clara’s POVSterling Heights Academy – CafeteriaThe warm milk dripped down my hoodie, soaking into the thick fabric.I didn’t have to look up to know who it was.“Oops,” Sloane smirked. She held the empty milk carton like a trophy. “I thought that was the trash can. My bad, scholarship girl. You’r
He stared at me. I stared right back. Our eyes fixed on each other. The world did not end, though it felt like it should have. His mouth opened. "What the hell?" he screamed. "Adene? Is this a joke? Are you stalking me now?" "Jaxson." Maria appeared behind him, but her eyes moved straigh







