Jade

“He left the house?” Serena said, gaping.

I nodded sadly. The three of us were seated at a table outside the school building during lunch break. Things at school hadn't changed yet, but my worries had already shifted.

“I just wish I’d said something before he left…”

He was going to hate me after this, wasn’t he? What else was I supposed to do, though? I couldn’t go against Dad’s word. I wasn’t sure he’d be okay with us dating even if we didn’t live in the same house anymore, because we’d still be stepsiblings. I felt terrible, not only because Zach had left, but because Dad couldn’t bring himself to look at me this morning, and Stepmom didn’t look all that well after her son left the house.

“Isn’t he at school?” Veronica said. “Then look for him and try to talk to him. It’s not like he can get away from you while we’re at school, right?”

What I was worried about, was that he would try to. I knew what he must have wanted me to say, that I’d go against what Dad said and keep seeing him