Chapter 2

Kelsey's house was closer to both the school and the coffee shop, yet every time, Colton would drop Juliette off first and walk Kelsey home after.

Juliette had mentioned more than once that she wanted to spend a little more time with him, but he always turned her down.

"You're silly. Isn't it better that I get you home first? Kelsey can wait."

The truth was that every time he dropped Juliette off, he would go back and walk laps around the track near Kelsey's building with her. Kelsey had posted a photo of it once. It only showed a pair of sneakers, but Juliette had recognized them as Colton's.

Juliette and Colton were childhood sweethearts. They had promised each other since they were little that they would go to the same university someday.

He wanted Stanmore. She had already made up her mind that no matter how well she scored on the college entrance exam, she would follow Colton to Stanmore.

Kelsey had been her classmate starting freshman year. At that toime, her math grades were never great, and she was always coming to Juliette for help with math. Over time, the two of them became close friends. Then it became the three of them.

Kelsey knew Colton was Juliette's boyfriend-to-be. She would cling to Juliette's arm and whine, "I don't care, Juliette. Tell me I'm the most important person in your life, more important than that jerk Colton."

Colton would never back down. "I'm obviously the most important one. I'm Juliette's boyfriend."

"Boyfriend-to-be! No dating until after graduation, remember? I'm keeping you two in check."

The two of them bickered every time they were in the same room, and it always circled back to Juliette.

Everyone in their class said Juliette was the luckiest girl in the world. She had believed that once, but now she saw things clearly.

They had crossed a line a long time ago, and there was no reason to keep holding on. She was done with both her friend and her boyfriend.

The next morning at 9:00 am, she received a photo from Colton.

[I'm at the internet café. Want to come?]

The photo was of a computer screen, but in the reflection on the monitor, Juliette could make out two shadows. It was Colton and Kelsey, sitting close enough to touch. Kelsey was grinning, her eyes bright with joy.

Her chest tightened until she could barely breathe.

She typed back. [No thanks. Are you free later? I need to talk to you.]

[Let's just meet up at the party tonight. I've got stuff to deal with this morning.]

[Okay.]

Juliette did not bother wondering what he was so busy with. She did not care anymore.

That evening, she headed to the bar alone for their class get-together. The door to the private room was cracked open. She had not even stepped inside when she heard the voices.

"Did you guys see Kelsey's post? She and Colton went to the amusement park together. They looked like they were having the time of their lives."

"Isn't Colton Juliette's boyfriend? What's the deal with the three of them? You think she blocked Juliette from seeing it?"

"Everyone knows Kelsey's into Colton. There's that old oak behind the school where Colton carved 'Colton loves Juliette.' I went to check the other day, and someone added a new line underneath it. 'Kelsey loves Colton.'"

"You're kidding. Oh, I heard they're planning to go to Lakewood together. Juliette seriously can't see what's right in front of her."

Juliette pulled out her phone and opened Kelsey's profile.

There was nothing there. Kelsey had truly blocked her. It turned out that when Colton said he had things to deal with, he had been at the amusement park with Kelsey.

Her heart twisted. She stood frozen outside the door, still trying to decide whether to go in, when Colton and Kelsey walked up together.

They were laughing as they approached, and Kelsey was the louder of the two. "You look ridiculous in that shirt!"

"That's your fault. You just had to go on the log flume. My clothes are completely soaked. This shirt doesn't do me any favors, thank you very much."

"Oh, please. Just admit you had fun!"

Colton scratched his head. "Without Juliette there to kill the mood, yeah, it was a good time."

They were wearing matching outfits, one black and one white. Each shirt had two little pink hearts stitched across the chest.

Juliette did not know how to describe what she was looking at. She did not know what to say. She just stood there.

Kelsey spotted her and bounded over. "Juliette! You're already here! I called you, why didn't you pick up?"

Juliette looked at her. "Where'd you two go today?"

Colton shrugged. "Nowhere."

She did not let it go. "I just heard you talking about the log flume."