Page 77 of It Was Always You

"Let me guess, he was popular and hot."

Harrison nodded. "Yup. Student Body President."

In this, Harrison and I were very similar. We were the band geeks who would always be tossed aside when something better came along.

I gave him a sympathetic look. "For what it's worth, it's her loss, really."

He gave me a sad smile. "I could say the same for you." He put his arm around me and gave me a brief squeeze before letting his arm drop. And I couldn't help but think about how ironic everything was. I had done so many crazy things this week that could qualify me as a good candidate for a mental institution—and I did them all just so that Harrison would talk to me like this and put his arm around me. But now that he had done it, I didn't even care. Because I only cared about Noah.

I was so pathetic.

I looked down at where Noah was sitting and noticed him watching me. But instead of the almost-sad gaze that he’d given me during lunch when I sat at the other table, his face contorted into a grimace. I looked away.

So maybe he hated me now.

Perfect.

26

NOAH

It took allmy willpower not to go up to that Harrison kid and tell him to get his hands off my girlfriend. I was just about to stand up and go give him a piece of my mind when reality brought me back: she wasn't my girlfriend, she never really had been. So I needed to be okay with her talking to other guys. That was our plan after all. And, at least where she was concerned, it had worked. So, it was time for me to move on as well.

I swiveled forward to watch what was happening on the floor. The cheerleaders were doing one of their routines. Raven was straight in front of me, smiling as she waved her pompoms and chanted with the rest of the cheer squad in their short skirts that I used to drool over.

And Easton was sitting next to me with his new girlMercedes by his side. Everything was back to normal. It was almost as if this last week hadn't even happened.

The announcer's voice came through the loudspeakers, introducing tonight's game and the players. Raven took a few steps closer to me as the guy read through the visiting team's roster.

"So now that you're broken up with Lexi, do you want to come to my house tonight? I was thinking about getting the old gang together and watching a movie or something." I couldn't miss the way her dark eyes ran along my body before lingering on my mouth. She was hoping for a rebound make-out.

And that was exactly what the old Noah would've wanted in a situation like this. Break up with a girl or get into a fight with his stepdad, and then go numb himself with another girl’s lips.

But I didn't want to fall back into my old habits. So I said, "Thanks for the offer, Raven. But I'm actually going to Easton's house tonight. Maybe some other time."

Her expression fell, but she soon replaced it with a smile. "Okay, maybe next time."

I nodded. "Sure."

"Have you seen Easton?"a familiar voice asked after the game was over.

I turned to find Lexi standing right behind me with her trumpet case.

"No, I think he already left to take Mercedes home."

"Oh, that's weird." Her expression fell. "I thought he was going to give me a ride home after the game." She adjusted her glasses on her face, a habit I had noticed her doing a lot when she was nervous about something.

"I can give you a ride home if you want."

She looked around as if to check the perimeter for anyone who might be watching or listening to us. I understood her agitation, since we probably did have a lot of people watching us today.

"Don't you think that's against the rules?" she whispered.

I shrugged. "I don't think there's a manual for this kind of thing. I think it's fine—just adds more interest to the Noah and Lexi show," I said, hoping it came across lightly.

She nodded. "Okay yeah, that would be great. I think my dad is out on a date or something."

I raised my eyebrows. "Your dad went on a date?" I'd never heard of him going on a date since I'd known him.

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