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I shook my head. “No, it’s okay. I need to be stronger. I need to learn to deal with breakups myself.”

“What you need is to not see Noah every day,” Anna said. “If only we could bail on school and go on vacation.”

I sat up a little straighter. “Well, it’s not a vacation, but we’ve got that English trip to New York coming up, and my mom said I can stay with you, Cress.”

“Yes!” She started clapping her hands together with excitement. “I’ve already started making a list of everywhere we’ve got to go. Anna, you’re coming, right?”

“Obviously,” she said with a wide smile. “It’s about time we had a girls’ weekend. I’m in desperate need of some new clothes, so this couldn’t come at a better time.”

For the first time in days, I began to feel a little more hopeful, and I smiled at my two friends. I wasn’t all that into shopping, but I’d be happy to do just about anything so long as it took my mind off Noah.

“This is perfect,” Anna said. “By the time the weekend’s over, you’ll have had such a good time you won’t even remember Noah’s name.”

I hoped that meant I’d forget his lips too.

CHAPTERTHIRTEEN

Noah seemed determined to keep his word the rest of the week. He didn’t bother me once. He didn’t so much as look my way. He acted as though I didn’t exist at all, and as much as that hurt, it was also somewhat of a relief not having to deal with him constantly staring at me. I was still looking forward to the escape I hoped our field trip would offer though.

“What’s this I hear about you girls staying in New York for the weekend after the English trip ends?” Sawyer asked as he and Wes joined us at breakfast on Thursday morning.

The bus was leaving after breakfast, so we were eating quickly to make sure we didn’t miss it. The twins were in Anna’s English class, so they were coming to watch the play too. We’d been keeping our weekend plans quiet from the boys because Anna was convinced they would try to gate-crash. I had no idea how they’d found out.

“We’re having a girls’ weekend,” Anna replied. “You’re not invited.”

Sawyer placed a hand against his chest. “Not invited?”

“Here we go,” Cress muttered.

“Not invited?” Sawyer’s voice had taken on an overly dramatic tone. “How could you girls hurt me so? I happen to be a great addition to girls' trips.”

Anna folded her arms. “No, you’re a boy. You’re not welcome on girls' trips.”

“But I love to do all the fluff you girls do.”

She shook her head. “The fact you call it fluff shows exactly why you shouldn’t come.”

Sawyer sank into his chair, a despondent look in his eyes. “I just thought we were all friends,” he said. “I thought you’d seen how tough Wes has taken his breakup with Sarah.”

“Don’t bring me into this,” Wes said.

Sawyer wasn’t listening though. “I thought you could see how much my poor brother needs cheering up. A weekend in New York would have done wonders for him. Instead, you’ve all broken his heart even further.”

Wes rolled his eyes. “You really haven’t.”

Sawyer looked at him with pity in his eyes. “See? Poor guy can’t even admit when he’s in pain.”

Anna huffed. “You’re not going to let this go, are you, Sawyer?”

He gave her a sly grin. “No, I’ll be milking this one for a while.”

Anna groaned and then glanced in my direction. “I’ll let you decide, Isobel. This is your weekend. We can either invite the twins or listen to Sawyer grumble about it until Christmas. Either way, he’ll probably just stay in the city and end up bothering us anyway…”

“Looks like we don’t have much choice then.” I laughed at Sawyer who was now batting his eyelids at me. “Okay, fine, you guys can come. But no calling girl stufffluff.”

“And you’re going to have to stay at your own place,” Cress added. “I don't want to get stuck explaining to my parents why their front window is broken again.”

“That was an accident,” Sawyer grumbled. “I blame your window for not being strong enough to withstand a gentle hit with a soccer ball.”