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Eli turns to face the kitchen and shakes his head slightly at Eric, who opens his mouth and nods slowly before walking backward into the kitchen. “Where is Axel now?” Eli asks.

“I left him in the parking lot of Kit’s and came home.”

“Jamie,” Eli says. “How could you do that to him?”

I shrug in response as my eyes meet Mom’s. “I guess I learn from the best.” Squeezing past my mother, I race up the steps to my bedroom and slam my door shut.

I hate her!

She kept me from my father.

She tore me and Ben apart.

She planted seeds of doubt in my head about Axel.

I grab my notebook off my nightstand, plop down in bed, and turn to a fresh page.New life goal: get as far away from Nadia Taher as possible—both in distance and personality!!!

CHAPTER NINETEEN

It’s Halloween. Maybe I should go to school dressed as a notable woman from history who’s been wronged by her lover. Problem is, my classmates wouldn’t get the joke if I dressed up as Princess Di in her black revenge dress.

Instead, I’ll go as myself.

Nothing scarier than that.

It’s been two days since my fight with Mom and Axel. Eli has tried multiple times to get me to speak to them, like it’s my job to be the one to “fix” things. But I’m not the one who went behind my back!

I’ll just go to school, keep my head down, focus on my classes, and come home. It’s probably what I should have been doing all along. Momwasright about one thing: I don’t need a man in my life. Especially not a man-child who charms you with his million-dollar smile, convinces you to dance in front of other people, introduces you to his family and friends, and then backstabs you in the same breath.

Losing Axel as a fake boyfriend is one thing. But losing him as a friend has been a whole other beast. A beast that’s been sitting on my chest, crushing me, making every breath I try to take nearly impossible.

I didn’t realize a person I’ve only known for two months could be everywhere. And I don’t mean his actual presence. He’s in thatspot in my room, where he tried to teach me how to dance for the first time. He’s on my bed, where we drew up our contract officially. He’s in my car, his scent still lingering. By my locker. The lunch table. The halls. My Instagram account. He’s there when I close my eyes. When I listen to music. When I cry.

I was with Ben for three years, and the main emotion I felt after getting dumped was anger. Sure, I shed some tears. My stomach twisted in knots the first few times I saw him with Olivia. But it was different. It wasn’t this constant ache. This yucky absence. This huge void. And the worst thing is, I don’t know what to do about it.

With Ben, I had a plan: Axel.

With Axel, I have nothing.

The school day goes quickly. Thankfully, I didn’t run into Olivia or Ben, and I even managed to avoid Axel. But for how long?

On the way to my car at the end of the day, I spot a familiar figure leaning up against the passenger-side door. Guess I spoke too soon. I don’t really have it in me to deal with Ben, but at least he’s alone.

“Hey,” he says as a hesitant smile appears. “How’re you holding up?”

“What do you mean by that?” I ask, unlocking my car and tossing my bag to the backseat.

Ben scrunches up his face as if he’s said the wrong thing. “Sorry. I shouldn’t have.” He pauses and then sighs, running a hand through his hair. “My mom told me you saw your dad this weekend. And the look on your face makes me think it went about as well as I would have predicted.”

I study the ground. “Yeah. It was pretty terrible. I was caught completely off guard.”

“It must have felt like seeing a ghost or something.”

“That’s exactly what it felt like. At least it gave our parents something to gossip about.” I shake my head as I twist my heel into the hard pavement.

“I don’t think they were gossiping, Jamie. My parents still care about you. We all do.”

I exhale a deep breath while meeting Ben’s eyes, feeling slightly comforted by his presence.