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Juniper squeezed Ellie’s hand. “Why don’t you tell me and let me decide?”

“I was… kind of… dating someone.”

“Okay, I’m going to need more than that.” Juniper sat up straighter, and when Ellie didn’t answer right away, she spoke again. “It was Sierra, wasn’t it?”

Ellie snapped her eyes to Juniper’s. “What? How did you know that?”

“I kind of had my suspicions after the wholepicking up class notesthing. I wasn’t sure, so I paid extra attention at practice and meets. You two aren’t very good at keeping your eyes off of each other. You know that, right? But anyway… you werekind ofdating her? I take it from your moping over these past two weeks, you’rekind ofnot anymore?”

Ellie shook her head as more tears burst from her eyes. “I wasn’t justkind ofdating her. I was madly in love with her. Iammadly in love with her.”

Just like that, the whole story spilled from her lips, starting with their time together over Christmas up until their breakup.

Juniper rubbed her forehead. “Shit. So, what I’m hearing is this was my fault?”

“Not at all. I’m honestly not sure what happened. I think she just got scared. Her ex, who is actually the redhead from the track party, is an awful human, and I think she really messed her up.”

“Wait.” Juniper held a hand up and chuckled. “I don’t mean to laugh, but let me get this straight. The girl I caught you checking out multiple times is the ex of the girl you were dating?”

Ellie put on her most angelic smile. “So, it turns out, I was actually checking out Sierra all of those times.”

“You know what? That completely tracks. It makes much more sense. I’m not sure why I didn’t realize that.”

“So,” Ellie hesitated before asking the question, because she was scared to hear the answer. “Do you completely hate me now?”

Juniper looked stunned by her question. “Seriously? Of course not. It sucks that I was left in the dark for so long, but at the same time, I get it. The only thing I’m mad at you for is putting me in this predicament.”

“What predicament?”

“I was starting to think that maybe Sierra wasn’t so bad, and I figured if she’s good enough for you, she must actually be pretty great. But now, I don’t know what to think. She hurt my best friend, so all I want to do is cut a bitch.”

Ellie chuckled. Even though it didn’t heal her broken heart, being able to share this with her best friend definitely helped. It was almost like a band-aid for her heart. The cut was still very much there, but she felt better knowing she had something to help it heal. “Please don’t do that. I think she might be hurting too right now.” And that fact made Ellie’s pain even worse. Sierra might have broken her heart, but Ellie still wanted nothing more than for her to be happy.

“She’s definitely hurting right now. It’s written all over her face.”

“I hadn’t noticed. I’ve been trying very hard to avoid looking at that face.”

“Well, in case you were wondering, she clearly loves you just as much as you love her. It’s pretty obvious.”

“That’s good to know… I guess.” Was it, though? It’s not like it changed anything.

“So, what’s the plan?”

“What do you mean?” Ellie searched Juniper’s face for some kind of clue as to what she was talking about.

“The plan to get your girl back. Duh.”

For the first time in weeks, Ellie felt a genuine smile spread across her face. It was so comforting to know that, even after everything, her best friend had her back. Unfortunately, it didn’t take long for reality to settle back in, and when it did, the smile fell from Ellie’s face, and the pain returned. She stared down at the couch as the little bit of hope she had gained dwindled away. “That’s not up to me. Sierra was the one who ended things. She asked for time, and I have to respect that. My heart is in her hands.”

Ellie hoped and prayed she was gentle with it.

Chapter 36

Sierra

Sierra sighed as she walked into her dorm. It had been a week and a half since she talked to her sister and decided to make things right with Ellie, but she still had not found the courage to do it. What if she told Ellie she wanted her back, and Ellie was already over her? It had only been two and a half weeks, but it was two and a half weeks of not talking whatsoever. It might as well have been two and a half years. That’s what it felt like, at least.

When she opened the door to her room, she had to hold in a groan when she saw Teresa sitting on her bed. The two of them hadn’t talked since the conversation that ruined everything for Sierra, and Sierra was hoping it stayed that way.