Page 33 of For Three Seconds

“He always came to the house and got you food, and at practice, he got you food too. I mean, I had girlfriends, and I didn’t treat them the way Gavin treated you.”

What the heck did that mean?

My brother left shortly after, but his words stayed in my mind. This was too much to handle on my fresh start, wasn’t it? I groaned and banged my head on the table.

“I’m guessing this is a bad time?” The voice sounded familiar and hesitant.

When I raised my head, I saw the pledge I’d given my panties to. Shit, I forgot all about that.

“Hey. What happened to my panties?” I asked.

He turned red, which would have been funny, but I was freaking out.

“Um…Gavin took them away. Don’t you remember?” he said as he took a seat across from me.

“Yeah, I know he took them, but what did you guys do with them?”

“Well, we were supposed to give them all to Jeff, but yours didn’t make it to that pile.” He scratched behind his ear. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know you guys had a thing.”

“We don’t,” I snapped.

He put his hands up in mock surrender. “I thought he was going to beat me up.”

For a second, I’d thought so too. Gavin used to be very protective of me. He made sure no one messed with me because of Gigi.

“He wouldn’t have,” I said. “Gavin doesn’t care about me.”

“We’ll agree to disagree. Will you be coming to the party on Friday?”

Fuck that. I shook my head, and Isaac chuckled.

“I have to go. I think my next class is all the other way across campus,” I sighed.

“You don’t know?” Isaac asked.

“I’m new here. Just transferred.”

Isaac smiled at me. “I’m going across campus. I’ll walk you.”

My smile dropped, not because I was horrified at someone walking me to class, but it just hit me that for the last three years, it had just been me and my demons.

“So, you’ll give me your panties but get horrified by me walking you to class,” Isaac said before he got up and started to walk away.

I missed having friends. I didn’t think; I grabbed my shit and ran after him.

“Isaac, wait,” I shouted.

He stopped and turned around, giving me a hesitant look.

“I’m sorry. I’m not good with the whole friendship thing,” I mumbled.

He smiled and leaned into me. “Me neither.”

We walked in silence to the other side of the school. I watched people pass us, smiling, and running, throwing a ball, and for the life of me, I couldn’t remember what that felt like. To be carefree and not let anything bring you down. I mean, I remembered being happy with no worries up until sophomore year. There was happiness, but it was filled with unease whenever Gavin was near. There was pain, but at least I had my parents then, so it was manageable. Isaac waved goodbye to me before I could walk into my next class.

Nick’s words still played in my head.I had girlfriends, and I didn’t treat them the way Gavin treated you.

I shook my head, not wanting to think about that.

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