Page 123 of The Love You Win

Pretty much.

Don’t worry, Teach. I gotcha covered.

Thank you. Please don’t say anything to him.

Your secret’s safe with me.

How is he doing? Has he stopped getting himself into trouble?

He’s been better. But he’ll be okay. He knows what he has to do now.

The more important question is how are YOU doing?

I’ve been better. I’ll be relieved once this whole thing is done and over with on Saturday.

Mira asked me to find out if she could sit with you and your friends.

My chest squeezes. Mira wants to sit with me after everything? A rogue tear slips down my cheek.

“Stupid tears. We’ve cried enough.”

Me

Of course. I’d love to sit with her if she wants to.

Griffin

She says, “Hell yeah, I do.”

LOL. Okay then. Sounds fun.

Well, sounds less tortuous.

Hang in there, Teach. You let me know if you need anything, okay?

Thanks, Griffin.

I want to ask him if he told Maddox everything. Did Maddox believe him? Why hasn’t he called me? Does he simply not care? Maybe everything between us was all in my head. If that’s the case, I might as well give up on finding love altogether. Clearly, I’m shit at seeing things for how they really are.

Griffin

Night, Isla. See you on Saturday.

Me

See you then. Night.

I have two days to psych myself up. Two days to build up my defenses so I don’t crumble like a sandcastle in a rainstorm when I see Maddox for the first time since he dumped me. I can do this. Sitting by his sister will be fine, too. Totally fine.

Everything is fine.

I collapse onto my bed and stare at the ceiling.

Who am I kidding? I’m the furthest thing from fine.

Fake it ’til you make it, though. Right?

Right.

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