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LENA'S POVI rushed outside the second I saw Jace at the window, my heart pounding in my chest. “Jace? What are you doing here?”He didn’t say a word. Instead he closed the distance in two big steps and pulled me into his arms, holding me so tight I could barely breathe. His face buried in my hair, voice rough and low against my ear. “Fuck, Princess… you scared the shit out of me.”“Oh… okay,” I whispered, stunned. I wrapped my arms around him anyway, feeling how tense his shoulders were, the slight tremor in his hold. “I’m right here. I’m okay.”“You disappeared,” he muttered into my hair, not letting go even a little. “I couldn’t find you anywhere. You weren’t answering your phone. Your friends didn’t know shit. I thought something really bad had happened. I thought—”“I’m sorry,” I said softly, still holding on. “I turned my phone off. I guess I just… didn’t really feel like school today. Or talking to anyone.”He pulled back just enough to look at me, his eyes searching my face a
LENA’S POV“So this spoiled brat bully Allison harassed your friend Naomi?” Mom asked, carefully separating another section of hair while staring at the mirror.Mom and I sat side by side on our worn couch, our legs tucked under us, while we shared one giant bag of Skittles.Some terrible reality show about house flipping played muted on the TV in the background, but neither of us was paying any attention to the drama on screen. Her fingers moved slowly and gently through my hair as she braided it, the familiar rhythm pulling me back to simpler times.“Nicole,” I corrected softly, popping a red Skittle into my mouth.“Right, Nicole. Sorry, honey.” She chuckled quietly. “Allison makes herself head of the media team just to hurt Nicole, because she obviously wasn’t raised right, and then Nicole retaliates by pranking her with mustard?”I sighed, leaning back into her hands. “Hot sauce, Mom. Anyway… I’m really sorry for making you miss work today. I know we probably can’t afford it. I f
JACE’S POVI barged into the junior homeroom, my eyes scanning each person’s face until they locked on Nicole in the back row. She looked like shit, her eyes tired and half-closed, as though she hadn’t slept all night. Good. That made two of us.“Where the hell is Lena?” I demanded, marching right up to her table.Nicole’s head snapped up in surprise. As soon as she saw me she hissed under her breath, “What the hell are you doing here?”“I came to sell Girl Scout cookies. Do your ears not fucking work?” I demanded, slamming a hand on her table.Nicole jumped with fright, then her eyes narrowed “I’m a junior, you’re a senior. This isn’t your homeroom, Jace, so get out before you get me in trouble.”I stepped closer, ignoring the stares from her classmates. “I didn’t ask you to remind me what grade I’m in, I asked you where Lena is. I left my house today, thinking she had already left for school, but she’s not here. And no one has seen her, so answer the damn question, or—"Nicole gl
“No, no, of course not!” Nicole backtracked quickly. “But… you have to admit—even though punching the door was a horrible thing to do—he did kind of have a right to be mad if you basically accused him of trying to kill our friend. That’s a pretty heavy accusation, Lena. Some people don’t take that kind of thing very well.” I sighed deeply, “That’s it. I’m hanging up on you now.”“Wait! Wait, Lena, please. I’m sorry. It just makes no sense for you to be so suspicious of someone who’s done literally everything for you.”“But that doesn’t give him the right to…” But Nicole didn’t want to hear it; instead, she cut me off, “I’m trying to be as supportive as possible here, but you’re making it really hard for me. You’ve been through a lot, I get it, but Noah? Come on.”“I can’t believe this,” I whispered, hurt burning deep in my chest at her words. “I trusted you. I thought you would be on my side no matter what. After everything we’ve been through together—”“Just apologize to Noah and—
LENA'S POV“He’s what?”“I can barely believe it myself!” Nicole’s voice exploded through the speaker, bright and breathless with relief. “Jake just called me a few minutes ago. Not too long after Jace dropped him off at the hospital, he woke up. He’s got this killer headache and he’s super out of it, but the doctors ran some tests and said he must’ve eaten something he was really allergic to.”I stared at the phone screen with disbelief, “But… But he was bleeding? And pale, and he wouldn’t wake up no matter what we did. That makes no sense.”“Yeah, I thought so too. But I guess his allergy explains the blood and everything, because that’s what the doctors said. Isn’t it great? I’m so freaking happy right now I could cry again.”I sat up slowly, my brain struggling to process the words I was hearing. “Wait, wait… so he wasn’t poisoned? Like, at all?”“No!” Nicole laugh-cried, “He just snacks like his life depends on it, you know how he is. I guess he forgot he had a very weird reacti
Noah’s eyes went wide with genuine-looking shock. “What? No! Lena, how could you even think that? That’s insane!”I stepped back even more toward the door, terror crawling up my spine like ice. “I know. But I don’t know what to think anymore, Noah, and I know how jealous you can get. And the things you’ve been saying are weird as—"“I would never do something like that!” His voice rose, desperate and edged with anger. “Come on! Think about it. How could I? I was trying to protect them. I went there for you. Everything I do is for you.”“I don’t really trust you right now,” I said quietly, my back almost against the door, I reached behind me for the door handle. “I can’t take your word anymore. I don’t know how many lies you’ve told me or how long you’ve been lying for—"“What are you going on about? Stop that.” He took another step closer, his expression growing stern. “Of course you trust me. You’ve always trusted me. I’m the one who’s been here for you through everything.”“I'm sorr







