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When we push through the doors and walk into the school, everything feels different.

“Yo, Sebastian,” a buddy of mine hollers, and I acknowledge him with a flick of my head before I clap hands with Justin, who plays lacrosse with me.

I’m casual with my grin as I make my way through the crowd of people, saying hi to all my friends like a total fraud.

“Dude, where have you been? You missed out on some major parties,” another one says before grabbing my hand and pulling me in for a bro hug.

“Busy, man.”

“You’ve got some making up to do.”

After chatting with a few guys on the team, I find myself standing in a long line to pick up my senior schedule. Why they can’t email these out, I have no clue. It would be so much easier than herding us all back here when summer isn’t over yet just to waste a day standing in lines. Not that I should be complaining. It isn’t as if I have anything better to do.

“Welcome back, Mr. West,” Mrs. Alvarez greets when I step up to the table.

“Hey,” I mutter as she flips through the stack of student cards.

“Here we go.”

She hands over my schedule, and I scan through my classes as I walk away, cringing when I see I have Mrs. Fritz for Government. That woman is known to be a crusty old shrew.

“Did you get your schedule?” Brent hollers across the crowded hallway.

Squeezing through a couple of girls, I hold out my card to him, and he swipes it out of my hand. “Mrs. Fritz, dude.” He starts laughing. “That sucks.”

“Tell me about it.”

I glance over his shoulder, and my gut twists when I see Kassi talking to Emily, who points in my direction. Kassi’s eyes meet mine, and I can’t tell if she’s sad or pissed or a mixture of both.

“Shit,” I groan under my breath, and when Brent turns and sees them, he pats my back.

“Just get it over with.”

I nod, snatch my card back, and start walking. Emily, with her hands perched on her hips, shoots me a bitchy glare before whispering something into Kassi’s ear and stalking off.

Girls, man.

“What’s up?”

“What’s up?” Kassi sneers. “That’s all you have to say after ditching me? What the hell?”

She’s loud, drawing attention to us, and it’s annoying.

“Can we go outside and talk?”

Crossing her arms over her chest, she turns on her heel and heads toward the exit. I follow, and when we get outside, she stops, keeping her back to me. A few seconds pass before I step in front of her. She looks at me with tears in her eyes, making me feel like a shit person for treating her so badly. There’s no winning in this situation, and I hate that I have to hurt her when she’s done nothing wrong aside from falling for me.

I should come with a warning sign.

“Hey.” My voice is gentle, but I refrain from touching her.

“Where have you been?”

“After I got arrested, my mom sent me to stay with my aunt for a while in San Diego.”

“And what? You couldn’t call to tell me?” Her eyes narrow, forcing a tear down her cheek.

“She took my phone.”