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“Can I ask why they’re not coming?”

Miss Appleby glanced down at her hands. “Well, we had some notice of Liam’s attendance at Lincoln, and his being in the play was the main reason I was able to pull the favor.”

“So, the talent scout’s not coming because Liam is gone?”

“Yes.”

I swallowed down a thick lump in my throat as I nodded. “Well, I guess it’s for the best. Our play needs a lot of work.”

Miss Appleby reached out and touched my arm. “Don’t be disappointed, Teagan. You’re the most talented student I’ve ever had the pleasure of teaching and I’ll do whatever I can to help you follow your dreams of acting.”

I gave her a warm smile. “Thanks, Miss Appleby.”

I walked from the room feeling a small sense of relief. At least there was one less person coming to watch our play fail.

“What did Appleby want?” Evan asked when I found him waiting in the corridor.

“To let me know the talent scout isn’t coming to the performance. Apparently, Liam was the draw card to get them here. Now that Liam’s gone, so is the scout.”

“Damn, that sucks. I’m sorry, Teags.”

I shrugged. “Just add it to the list of things Liam has done to let us down this week.” I let out a long breath before I continued. “I just don’t understand how he could leave us all without saying a word.”

“It’s okay to be upset,” Evan replied.

“I’m not upset, I’m annoyed,” I continued. “I swear, if I ever see him again, I’m going to slap him right across his stupidly perfect face.”

Evan chuckled. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you this irritated before. It’s cute. Kind of like a little pissed-off Chihuahua.”

“I’m not a Chihuahua,” I protested. He only laughed again in response so I scowled at my friend and stormed ahead of him to class.

He quickly caught up to me, still laughing. “Okay, okay, you’re not a Chihuahua.”

“Good,” I grumbled. Evan was right in thinking he’d never seen me so annoyed before though. I usually kept my emotions completely in check and had plenty of experience acting as though I was okay when everything was falling apart. But Liam had been chipping holes in the barrier I kept my feelings behind ever since I met him. He’d opened those floodgates wide, allowing my emotions to run free. Now I had no idea how to close them again, and I was seriously struggling to keep my cool.

“You are hurting though,” Evan said, turning more serious.

“Yeah, well, he never had the decency to even text me goodbye. He just disappeared without a word and sent his assistant to tell me he was gone.” My voice became quiet as I allowed sadness to rush through me. “I feel like I deserved more than that.”

Evan tilted his head as he looked at me. “You really liked him. Didn’t you?”

His deep hazel eyes seemed to see right through me, and I knew I couldn’t hide my true feelings anymore.

“Yeah, I really did.”

He wrapped an arm around my shoulders, pulling me close. “Well, he’s an idiot for treating you this way. He’s never going to do better than you.”

“He’s a movie star, of course, he is.”

“No, Teags, he isn’t. You’re the best person I know.”

Tears started to well in my eyes, but somehow, I managed to gain control of them before they started to fall. I tried to give Evan a smile. “I guess it’s his loss then.”

“It definitely is,” Evan agreed.

We continued on to class though English was the last place I wanted to be right now. Between our failing play, my broken heart, and my absent mom, I desperately just wanted to run and hide from it all. I wasn’t the kind of person who let my problems overwhelm me though, and I refused to be overcome by them now. I needed to keep on slogging through life, just like always, and try to move on.

When we arrived in English class, Mr. Randall announced he was going to return our biography assignments today. Since I’d done mine with Liam, it was going to be near impossible to take my mind off him this period.