All Chapters of MINE TO BULLY : Chapter 21 - Chapter 30

*Ezra's POV*I was walking beside Daniel toward first period when he grabbed my arm and pulled me to a stop right outside the classroom door."Wait." He tilted his head, studying my face. "Your lip. It's swollen.""What?""Right here." He tapped his own bottom lip. "Did something happen?"My stomach dropped. I hadn't even thought to check a mirror before school. "Allergies.""Allergies made your lip swell?""It happens to me sometimes.""That's not really how allergies work.""It's how mine work.""Ezra." He crossed his arms, not buying it for a second. "Name one allergy that swells your lip like that.""Pollen.""It's basically winter.""Late pollen. It's a thing. Look it up."He gave me a long, unconvinced look, the kind that said he knew exactly what he wasn't being told, but he didn't push it, because that was who Daniel was .... patient, easy, never forcing a door I wasn't ready to open.That was when Jace walked up behind us, hands in his pockets, moving slow like he had nowhere

*Ezra's POV*I smelled the argument before I even made it to the kitchen."....nd if you let Robert write another statement without running it by me first, I swear to God, Thomas....""Mavo, it's a campaign statement, not a hostage negotiation.""With this family it might as well be the same thing."I stopped in the doorway. My sister was standing at the counter in yesterday's blazer, coffee in one hand, phone in the other, glaring at our father like he'd personally wronged her before breakfast."Morning," I said."Don't," Mavo said, without looking up. "I'm mid-argument. Sit down and eat something before Mom notices you skipped again.""I didn't skip anything.""You look like you skipped something." She finally glanced over, eyes narrowing. "You look tired, actually. Late night?"My stomach dropped straight through the floor. "No.""You sure? Because you've got this face.""What face?""The face you make when you're lying." She pointed her coffee mug at me like evidence. "You had tha

*Ezra's POV*The wall between our backyards wasn't as tall as I remembered it being when we were kids.I stood at the base of it for a full minute, phone in my pocket, telling myself this was a mistake in at least four different ways before I finally found a foothold in the old ivy trellis and hauled myself up.I hadn't climbed this wall since I was maybe ten years old, back when the rivalry between our families was still just something our parents did on television and hadn't yet turned into something that governed every part of my life. Back then Jace and I used to meet right here, on top of this exact wall, and argue about whose side had the better tree to climb.I dropped down on the other side quieter than I expected, landing in the Rylands' backyard for the first time in seven years.His window was the second one on the left, same as always, light glowing gold behind the curtain. I found a low branch on the oak tree that grew close enough to the house and climbed it the same way

*Daniel's POV*I found Jace by the equipment shed after practice, alone, shoving gear into a bag like it had personally offended him."We need to talk."He didn't look up. "Not really in the mood, Cross.""I don't care what mood you're in." I planted myself in front of him, close enough that he had to actually stop and look at me. "Stay away from Ezra."That got his attention. He straightened up slowly, gear bag forgotten, something sharp settling into his expression. "Excuse me?""You heard me.""I heard you. I'm just wondering where you think you get off saying it.""I get off saying it because half the school's talking about some hallway scene where you told him you 'like him' in front of an audience, and meanwhile I'm the one who's actually been showing up for him since day one." My voice came out harder than I meant it to, but I didn't back off it. "You spent three years making his life miserable. I don't care what's happened since. That doesn't just get erased because you decide

*Jace's POV*I heard Logan before I saw him, his voice carrying down the hallway in that particular tone he used when he thought he was being funny."....still can't believe Ryland's actually into him. Like, the whole letter thing wasn't embarrassing enough the first time, now he's just...."I turned the corner and found him leaning against the lockers with two of his teammates, Ezra a few feet away pretending to dig through his bag like he wasn't hearing every word of it."....I mean, I get it, he cleaned up. Green hair, whatever. But it's still Monroe under there. Still the same guy who cried in a bathroom stall over a stupid letter."Ezra's jaw was tight, shoulders drawn in slightly, and something about seeing him fold himself smaller, even for a second, even after everything he'd rebuilt over three months, put something cold and sharp through my chest."Logan."He glanced over, grin still in place. "Ryland. Perfect timing. We were just talking about your boyfriend.""Were you.""J