Lahat ng Kabanata ng Too Big to Fit.: Kabanata 111 - Kabanata 120

Tyler Scrolling through the team’s group chat or bouncing a basketball against the wall on my back, or even trying to perfectly memorize how many kinds of fungus there are, should have been enough to keep my head straight. Because I mean, I’d somehow gone from getting mad at myself for making Sydney Walker cry again… To wanting to walk back into Coach’s office and flip his god-damned table. “I tried to cover for you, but Coach wasn’t having any of it.” Micheal explained when I hopped into his car after leaving Coach’s office. His face looking like he’d been punched once, then left to figure out why. “You good?” I asked automatically. He didn’t even look at me. “Brooklyn.” “Ouch.” “Yeah,” he said flatly, reversing out of the parking lot. “She’ll come around.” I could hear the uncertainty in his voice, and I wasn’t going to nurse it. Because whatever goes on between them usually burned out in a day or two. It’d be useless taking the conversation further from ther

SydneyI ran my fingers through my hair as I walked through the empty hallway. Telling myself I was fine.That everything was okay, and none of this was my fault. And I honestly didn’t want to sit back and let Tyler hurt me again.And I genuinely believed that I was good until I walked down the stairs and got to the dining room.Then I remembered there was no way Mom would have dinner with only me.And even better…Brooklyn was already there, helping set the table like it was something she’d do on a normal day.I swallowed, my eyes watching as she lit the candles in one of her tiny pink pyjamas, her hair tied in that neat bun that made her look so much like Mom.But that wasn’t what made something crawl down my spine.Because Brooklyn was…smiling.I stopped. Didn’t blink. Didn’t move.Like if I took one more step, she’d look up and finally say everything she’d probably been holding back since that party.And honestly…I might take it all without too much tears.Either way, I—“Sydney.”

Sydney Mom never came back to the table. At least not before I shoved my chair back and hurried out of the dining room, that smile on Brooklyn’s face burned into my mind like it belonged there. I slammed my bedroom door shut the second I got into my room, leaning against it as my heartbeat rang in my ears. “...Tyler doesn’t date, Sydney. Especially not girls from school.” I squeezed my eyes shut, forcing back a scream. Because…no. That can’t be true. Brooklyn had to be lying. Tyler wasn’t leading me on just because…right? He’d kissed me in that stupid bathroom, told me he’s always liked me and apologized in class. That couldn’t be for nothing, right? I pushed away from the door and walked over to my bed on shaky legs, throwing my pillow aside. I took my phone and stared at his text one more time. Reading and rereading it more times than I was able to count. Each time it began feeling like some of joke. Because…five words. Four days and a lot of hours, and all

Sydney“Alright,” Dean said, rubbing his palms together as he dropped onto a lab stool beside me. And I slid off mine, keeping a safe distance as Mr Hayes finished reading out the pairs.Dean scoffed. “Scared?”“Well,” I tucked my hair behind my ear without looking at him. “Only one of us clearly knows what we’re doing. And I’m not going to sit down doing it.”“Fair.”I just kept my eyes on the tray in front of us—three small bottles and plastic droppers, mentally counting the time till this day was over and I could be in the safety of my room.And away from the one person every part of me kept screaming I had to yell at…Or forgive.“Alright,” Mr Hayes’ voice echoed through the lab again. “You may begin.”I immediately pushed the worksheet towards Dean.“You read. I’ll do the practical.”He picked it up without much hesitation. “Rodger that, fatty.”I just rolled my eyes, took a steadying breath, and reached for the first dropper.“Place one drop of the patient’s sample into each re

SydneyThe tightness in my chest eased.Just a little.“Thank you.” I muttered.But Maeve studied me for a second. “You know you’re still going to have to talk to him somehow.” I just shrugged, shifting my eyes to my food. “I don’t know.” “Eventually.” She added. Then glanced over my shoulder and scoffed. “God…he looks so oblivious.” “Right?” I asked before I could stop myself, pushing back that look on his face in the hallway.Right before I shoved his hands off me.“Maybe…” Maeve forked a piece into her mouth. “...you should actually let him explain.” “No,” the word came too fast. “He’ll probably just deny everything and keep leading me on.” “What if he doesn’t?” Maeve asked, waiting for me to catch the small frown on her face. “You’ll never know if you don’t talk to him. And you’ll just keep hurting yourself, Sydney.”My lower lip trembled.“I really hate seeing you like this.” Her voice softened. “And ignoring him isn’t going to help, Sydney.”Her words lodged somewhere in my