Page 55 of Our Ruined Beginnings

He went out not long after dropping the bomb about Harper yesterday and didn’t come back last night. It’s not unusual—he probably hit some girl up—but he normally comes back before class. Now I’m in our Sports Science lecture, and the seat next to me is empty. I pull my phone out of my pocket and type out a message under the desk, hoping it makes sense without checking it before I send.

A minute later, it vibrates in my hand, and I risk a look to see his reply, immediately wishing I hadn’t.

Evan:I’m atHarper’s. I’ll check your notes later

Harper’s?Did he stay there last night? What the fuck is going on? The girl I assumed he hooked up with last night isher?

“Madden, if you could deign to give me your attention, I’d be most grateful,” Coach drawls, sarcasm dripping from every word, and my eyes snap up to him from where they were glued to my screen. He looks pissed. I’m not surprised—I’m supposed to be on my best behavior since the suspension from the team, and this isn’t that—but I can’t help the anger flowing through me.

But anger for what? That he’s decided so suddenly to be done with the bullying? It’s not as if I haven’t had the same thoughts myself recently, especially after everything that has transpired between us over the past couple weeks.

It’s literally what I was hoping to tell her, except he got to her first.

Is it jealousy?

Before I can answer my own question, the bell rings, and I’m grateful for the commotion. Grabbing my bag, I toss it over my shoulder and wade through the bodies that hang around, seeking out the echoing noise in the hallways on my way to the lunch hall.

Anything to get me out of my head.

Though it seems the universe has other plans. The moment I step through the double doors, my eyes find Evan, holding court in the center of the room … with Harper tucked into his side.

She looks so small next to him, and while there’s a smile playing on her lips, her shoulders are too tense and her eyes too dim for her to really be happy beside him.

Before I can question it, my feet carry me across the room, stopping within arm’s reach of the pair. My eyes narrow when I take in the mark that covers half of Harper’s cheek. It’s red and angry … fresh.

“The fuck happened to your face?”

Harper’s eyes snap to mine, but she drops her gaze, kicking her feet across the floor. Evan is deep in conversation with someone on her other side, so she’s able to answer for herself, for once. “Your little girlfriend got a bit too friendly with the scissors. Thought she’d give me a makeover, make me lessappealingto you.”

“My girlfriend?”

“Yeah. Starts with a B, ends in itch. Has crazy thrown in for good measure.”

“Bethany?”

“Ding, ding, ding, we have a winner,” Harper deadpans, smirking at me as she lifts her gaze once more. “Knew you still had some smarts in that head of yours.”

“Have you told anyone?” I ask, raising a brow. Evan hadn’t mentioned it to me.

“Told who? The administration? The dean of admissions? The teachers who have all willfully ignored me being bullied for the last four months? Who do you recommend I tell, Madden?You?Are you going to put a stop to the bullying thatyouinstigate?”

My mouth gapes, but words refuse to leave me. She’s right. I’ve made it so she has no one she can tell. Not a single person that’s on her side—

“You wanna grab some food, H?” Evan asks, interrupting my line of thought.

I barely bite back the scoff at his words. Guess I was wrong. She does have someone. One of the biggest cheerleaders for teamlet’s get Harper to leave this place. Fucking great.

She turns her attention to him, but it’s all wrong, and my hackles rise, especially when his hand curls around her shoulders, his long fingers drawing circles into the bare skin peeking from the sleeve of her cami.

“This is cozy, isn’t it?” I gesture between the two of them, my eyes narrowing. Evan cocks a brow, as if daring me to say something further, and I want to slam my fist into his face. Harper jolts slightly, stepping out of his hold, but he follows, like a lost fucking puppy.

“We’re working on our friendship again,” he says, loud enough that those in our vicinity hear his words as they carry over the room. “This went too far. I won’t accept people coming after Harper now, and I hope you’ll join me in this, Mad. It’s time to let go of the past.”

“Let go of the past…” I say, trailing off when Harper flicks big, hopeful brown eyes in my direction. Rage coils inside me. Anger at him, at the situation, at her. How dare he touch what’s mine, and then tell me thatIhave to let the past go? He’s not the one who lost everything that night. I grit my teeth, holding back a scathing retort as I turn to him. “Sure, Ev. Whatever you say.”

Chapter Twenty-Three

Harper

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