EMILY***I looked outside from my bedroom window. Gabriel and his mom were supposed to get there at any moment. I was so excited I debated being the one who waited for him at the door but I didn't want to seem too enthusiastic about the fact that he was coming over. I didn’t want to explain to my Mom that it wasn’t what she thought.I was still struggling to explain to her why I had turned red in the face the last time we were at his place. I decided to just keep my cool and watch from the window. Soon enough I saw their car get into our driveway and I couldn't contain my excitement. I almost flew out of the room and down the stairs but I had to keep my cool. I couldn’t be too excited because what if he wasn’t angry?I would get disappointed. He would watch me get disappointed. The scores would change in his favor. I couldn’t have that. I needed to be composed. It was the only way out of this situation. I took a few deep breaths and waited to hear my Mom at the door before I went dow

GABRIEL***“What about us?” I asked, leaning closer to her. Every part of my body was telling me to stop, to back up, and to walk out but I didn't want to listen to reason. “This,” she said, pulling my head towards her.The statement Harper made that there’s a very thin line between love and hate had never felt as true as it did at that moment. I could feel the lines blurring, but the moment was over as soon as it began. She pushed me off of her.“You have to go,” she said as she turned to face the wall.I didn’t know what to think or feel at that moment. I hadn’t even realized I was holding my breath until she stepped away from me. I took in a deep breath and tried to calm down but my heart could not stop pounding. She was waiting for me to leave. She would not turn around to look at me until I left and I wasn't willing to say as well. I was uncomfortable. I felt guilty. I had done something wrong. I walked out of the room and closed the door behind her. I made my way downstairs a

GABRIEL***Emily had texted me to tell me that we needed to meet as soon as possible to discuss what had happened. There was nothing to discuss. She probably just wanted to make excuses for herself because she knew I had caught onto her schemes.I was the inventor of the game, of course, I knew it when someone else was playing and she definitely was. It was the only explanation. Why else would someone who hated me suddenly kiss me? What kind of excuse would she try to come up with to save face? As far as I was concerned, I had won that round.It was Monday and I had come to school early for my morning class. I had realized that I was feeling more and more guilty as time went by. What the hell had I done? What was I going to tell Harper? I couldn’t tell her that Emily kissed me, that would just be absurd. I had taken part in it just as much as she had.I was just as guilty. By the time I was halfway through my class the feeling of guilt was overwhelming. I had yet again managed to scr

GABRIEL***My relationship with Harper had gotten to the point where she no longer asked me what was wrong when she saw that I was bothered because of just how frequently it was happening. She knew I was bothered. And I knew she knew I was bothered.Yet she didn’t ask and a part of me was grateful, not only because I should have been trusting enough of her to tell her what was wrong without her asking, but also because I still wasn’t ready to tell her what was wrong. How would I even begin? How would I begin breaking her heart again?It was a day after my conversation with Emily. The plan had been simple: I was supposed to come clean to Harper after my conversation with Emily, but the conversation had ended on a weird note.No, that wasn’t it. I was using her as an excuse. I had lost my courage. I wasn’t ready to look Harper in the face and confirm her worst fear, confirm that she had been right to worry about my relationship with Emily. It would damage her. It would ruin her confide

EMILY***Can we meet today? Need to know what the next move is.I had hoped that ignoring Tiffany would stop her from reaching out to me, and I don't even know why I thought that was the move because all I got was the opposite of the desired effect. She had reached out just a few days after my conversation with Gabriel and the extreme scare I had gotten as a result.I was relieved, still, very relieved in fact but a part of me was still antsy. What if she was there? What if I hadn't seen her but she was there? I knew I was being paranoid but I had legitimate reasons to be afraid of her. I didn’t know what happened between her and Henry but I could guess it was the intimidating way in which she made me scared and made me want to do what she wanted me to do.I was also afraid because I knew I would have to suggest that I would no longer do things the way I was doing them when it came to Gabriel, that I was going to take a step back and focus solely on her revenge. I hoped she would tak