Page 36 of Revive

She raises her shades letting them sit on the top of her head, her eyes boring into mine. “So, why are you not with him?”

Unruffled by her frustration, I answer her honestly. “I don’t deserve him.”

“Maybe not, but isn’t that his choice to make?”

“No.”

“No?” The resentment in her tone lessens as she realises nothing she can say will change my mind. “You’re going to lose him.”

“You can’t lose something you never really had.”

“But Sasha, you’ve always had him.”

The music blaresfrom inside the house, and I feel someone close behind me. Standing on the back porch, wide eyes from my friends settle on me as an arm curves around my waist. Praying it's the one person I want it to be, I turn around, only to experience full-blown disappointment. “Jay?”

Jay is the bad boy from the shitty part of town that every girl wants to fix. Older than us, he’s rough around the edges, foul-mouthed, and arrogant. There should be no appeal, yet he can’t walk in a room without turning heads.

All the girls want him, and all the boys hate him.

“I’ve been hoping to bump into you.” His eyes dart around the room before landing back on mine. “Your sidekicks around?”

Everybody who’s anybody knows Jagger, Drix, and Jay hate each other. Nobody can tell you how it started, but the older we all get, the more non-negotiable their rivalry became.

“Yeah, I think they’re getting drinks in the kitchen,” I lie. “I should go check on them.”

I knew better than to be seen talking to him. I was already on shaky grounds with both Drix and Jagger, and this would just send us tumbling into overdrive.

“Has anyone told you, you're a really bad liar? I know they're not here.”

“Fine, they’re not here,” I huff. “What do you want?”

“I thought we could hang out.”

“Nope.” I shake my head, and step back, farther away from him. “Whatever game you’re playing, I’m not in.”

“Are you sure?” He leans in, his mouth just beside my ear. “I think I’ve got some information that will change your mind.”

A shiver runs through me, the sneakiness in his voice, a warning I should walk away.

“Word on the street is Drix has been busy sticking it to Bethany.”

Don’t believe him, Sasha, he’s lying.

Drix and I hadn't spoken in weeks. The deadline for me to show up at his house and say I made a mistake came and went. Instead, I lay holed up in my room for the rest of that weekend, crying more tears than I thought I had.

I don’t know what I expected, but I didn’t expect him to disappear into thin air. Isolating himself from everyone, he shows up for the important stuff. School. Sports. Jagger. Anything that might mean he’ll bump into me is a no-go zone.

“Why would I believe you?” I challenge.

“I got eyes and ears everywhere around here, pretty girl.”

I broke up with him for this reason. To allow him to be with someone who would be for him what I couldn’t. Maybe Jay is right. Maybe Bethany is it.

“So, I’ll ask you one more time, you in or out?”

“I don’t know what you’re expecting from me, but we can only hang as friends.”

While a little voice in my head knew better and was screaming at me to walk away from Jay and his schemes, there was another voice. The voice that reminded me I pushed Drix away, Jagger was having a hard time looking at me, and Bethany was obviously waiting in the shadows for her moment to shine. A new friend wasn’t such a bad idea, even if it was Jay.

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