Page 38 of For Three Seconds

“I heard a rumor,” she said, and my body went still.

“Spit it out, Giuliana. I don’t have time for your shit.”

She glared at me, and her nails pierced my skin. I didn’t give her a reaction not even when she spouted cruel shit to hurt me.

“I know she’s back,” she spat, and my heart thumped loudly.

“What the fuck are you talking about?” I asked in a bored tone.

“Stay away from her,” she uttered not sure if she could believe me. “Or else I’ll tell her, and she will never forgive you.”

I just wanted to be done with her bullshit.

I removed my hand from the embrace and turned to face her. “Get this through your head. You. Are. Nothing. To. Me. You seem to think I care what you do or do not do. At one point, I did. I felt shit just like you did, but you made sure to turn it all into hate.”

She took a step back and then turned to her friends and gave them a small smile. She still had it in her fucked-up head that we would be together.

How could we ever be anything if I never felt anything for her other than blind lust?

I was at a crossroads, and I knew it. It’s easy to feel like you’re moving forward until a piece from your past is blocking the path.

Fourteen

It wasa rare night when all the girls were home. No practice today, because tomorrow was game day. That meant it was the first time I had to spend more than five minutes with Audrey.

I hadn’t wanted to confront her about the party. It was something I’d actually brought up with my therapist. And when I mentioned Audrey and Gavin, I had to bring in Gigi. It was a can of worms she didn’t see coming. I thought it was just some petty high school stuff, but she said nothing was ever inconsequential. We were working our way through middle school in my friendship. One thing she did tell me was that I was scared of conflict; I ran the other way to avoid it. I could recognize she had a point.

Delia opened the door and smiled at me. “Hey, we’re going to watch a movie. Join us.”

“Um, okay,” I said.

I felt like a stranger in this house. I tried to stay out of everyone’s way. Another thing I needed to work on was putting everyone’s feelings above my own. Timidly, I made my way out of the room. Kenia and Audrey were already sitting on the couch.

“Hey.” Audrey smiled at me and patted the spot on the couch next to her.

Feeling a warmth spread through me, I rushed to sit down.

“How mad are you at me?” Audrey grimaced. “I swear I didn’t know he was going to be there. I asked around, and he wasn’t supposed to be back in town.”

I felt such relief to know she hadn’t betrayed me. It was weird, but after my friendship with Gigi ended, I didn’t get close to any other girls. I guess I always expected them to backstab me sooner rather than later.

“I was going to see him eventually.” I shrugged it off.

“See who?” Kenia asked between bites of chips.

“None of your business, Kenny,” Audrey said.

Delia came in with a tub of ice cream. “What did I miss?”

“Audrey did something to piss Scarlett off.”

“Oh, does this have anything to do with Gavin?” Delia said as she sat down.

My eyes went wide when all three of them looked at me.

“He used to be my best friend’s boyfriend.”

Kenny’s mind was working overtime, and then she turned to me.

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