LOGIN*Ezra's POV*My father was already home when I walked in, which never happened this early. He was never home before six, not once in the four years since the campaign started, and that alone told me something was wrong before I even made it past the front hall."Ezra." He was standing in the kitchen, tie loosened, sleeves rolled up like he'd been pacing in them, a glass of something amber in his hand he definitely wasn't supposed to be drinking before six. "Sit down.""What's going on?""Sit."I sat. Mavo was already at the table, phone face-down in front of her, which was unusual enough on its own ... my sister never put her phone down for anything short of an actual emergency, and even then only reluctantly."Someone want to tell me what's happening? Because you're both freaking me out a little."My father didn't answer right away. He set his glass down, walked around the table, and turned his tablet toward me instead, sliding it across the wood until it stopped in front of my plat
*Jace's POV*The dean's office smelled like burnt coffeeMr. Delacroix was already standing when I walked in, not sitting behind his desk the way he usually did, which told me something before he'd even opened his mouth."Sit down, Jace.""What's going on?""Your father called the school directly. He needs you to leave campus immediately." He slid a folded piece of paper across the desk, and I recognized my father's handwriting on it even before I picked it up. "I don't know the details. I was just told it was urgent, and family related."My stomach twisted. "Is someone hurt?""He didn't say. Just that a car would be here in twenty minutes."I didn't wait to hear anything else. I grabbed my bag from where I'd dropped it by the door and walked out, phone already in hand, dialing my mother because something about the whole thing felt wrong in a way I couldn't name yet.She picked up on the first ring."Jace." Her voice was tight, controlled in the way it only got during actual crises, n
*Jace's POV*Ezra slid into the seat beside mine two minutes before the bell, dropping his bag on the floor with a thud loud enough that the girl in front of us turned around to glare."You're late," I said."I'm not late. Class hasn't started.""You cut it close.""I like living dangerously." He pulled out his notebook, glancing sideways at me. "You're staring again.""I'm not staring.""You're doing the thing where you pretend to look at your notes but you're actually just looking at me.""That's a very specific accusation.""I've had weeks to study the pattern. I'm basically an expert now.""On what, exactly?""On you." He said it lightly, like it wasn't a big deal, but I caught the way his ears went slightly pink right after, like he'd surprised even himself with how easily it came out."That's a lot of confidence for someone who spent three months pretending he'd never met me.""I was committed to the bit.""You were terrifying, is what you were. Full ice-cold stranger energy.""
*Jace's POV*I heard Logan before I saw him, his voice carrying down the hallway in that particular tone he used when he thought he was being funny."....still can't believe Ryland's actually into him. Like, the whole letter thing wasn't embarrassing enough the first time, now he's just...."I turned the corner and found him leaning against the lockers with two of his teammates, Ezra a few feet away pretending to dig through his bag like he wasn't hearing every word of it."....I mean, I get it, he cleaned up. Green hair, whatever. But it's still Monroe under there. Still the same guy who cried in a bathroom stall over a stupid letter."Ezra's jaw was tight, shoulders drawn in slightly, and something about seeing him fold himself smaller, even for a second, even after everything he'd rebuilt over three months, put something cold and sharp through my chest."Logan."He glanced over, grin still in place. "Ryland. Perfect timing. We were just talking about your boyfriend.""Were you.""J
Chapter 28 – QuietJace's POVI found Ezra on the school roof after last period, exactly where I figured he'd be, staring out over the parking lot like the answer to something was written in the traffic pattern."Heard Daniel came after you today," he said, without turning around."News travels fast.""It's a small school." He glanced back at me, unreadable. "What'd you say to him?""That it's not his call. Or mine, either." I crossed the roof, stopping beside him at the railing. "That it's yours."Ezra was quiet for a while, wind pulling at his hair, and I let the silence sit there instead of filling it with something clumsy."I'm tired," he said finally."Of what?""Of pretending I don't know exactly what I want." He turned to face me fully, something open in his expression I hadn't seen since the night in his room, the version of him that let the walls down instead of building them higher. "I've spent three months being someone who doesn't need anyone. It was supposed to make thing
*Daniel's POV*I found Jace by the equipment shed after practice, alone, shoving gear into a bag like it had personally offended him."We need to talk."He didn't look up. "Not really in the mood, Cross.""I don't care what mood you're in." I planted myself in front of him, close enough that he had to actually stop and look at me. "Stay away from Ezra."That got his attention. He straightened up slowly, gear bag forgotten, something sharp settling into his expression. "Excuse me?""You heard me.""I heard you. I'm just wondering where you think you get off saying it.""I get off saying it because half the school's talking about some hallway scene where you told him you 'like him' in front of an audience, and meanwhile I'm the one who's actually been showing up for him since day one." My voice came out harder than I meant it to, but I didn't back off it. "You spent three years making his life miserable. I don't care what's happened since. That doesn't just get erased because you decide

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