Page 2 of Exposed

I took a deep breath and sat down on the front steps of Empire High.

I hadn’t let myself think of the possibility that Brooklyn was alive in years. But when I used to let my mind wander…I’d always pictured her still being mine. Never once had I pictured her having a life with someone else.

She’d promised me forever.

I put my face in my hands. Yes, I’d thought about proposing to Kennedy. And I was in a fake engagement with Poppy. But none of that was the same. Because there was never any question over whether or not I was alive or dead.

Brooklyn disappeared. And married someone else.

She’d purposely let me drown.

Breathe in. Breathe out.

She’d ruined my life.

And I hated my last words to her. I hated the words I just said to her. But it was the truth. Who the fuck was that person? Because that wasn’t my girl. That wasn’t Brooklyn.

I can’t breathe.

Chapter 2

Saturday

Brooklyn

I’m not the girl he knew? Fuck you.

Of course I wasn’t the same girl. My father had ruined my life. I’d been in hiding for years. I’d grown up. Of course I’d changed.

And it was ironic, because Matthew Caldwell was exactly the same as I remembered him. He was hot headed. Immature. And a total asshole.

I stood up off the auditorium floor and tried to compose myself. I cringed as I pulled my pants back up my hips.

God, what was wrong with me?

The other thing that hadn’t changed about Matt was his whoreish ways. Apparently he’d slept with half of New York City now instead of just half of Empire High. Tanner said it was Matt’s way of grieving. But that didn’t seem like grieving to me. It seemed a lot more like he was perfectly fine.

And for the longest time, him being fine meant he was a traitor. A liar. But now? I didn’t even fucking care.

What I cared about was that I’d basically just had sex with half of New York too. I needed to be checked for a million STDs now.

One touch from him and I was already compromising who I was. I’d always had a hard time keeping my head around him. All Matt ever did was take and take and take. And I wasn’t giving him anything else. If there was one thing I knew for sure, it was that I didn’t belong in this world. In this school. In this cursed auditorium.

I hated that my tears wouldn’t stop falling.

All I’d needed was a few minutes to explain to him what had happened to me. How could he just walk away from me after all these years? Like I truly did mean nothing to him? I took a deep breath.

I didn’t love Matt anymore. I didn’t. So why couldn’t I stop crying? Why did it feel like my heart was breaking?

I put my hand on my chest. I knew why it was breaking. Because 15 years ago when I showed up to the lake house, I couldn’t promise my firsts to Miller. So I promised to let him be my last everything. And I’d just broken that promise.

I was the traitor. The liar.

My tears streamed down my cheeks faster as I thought about Miller’s note.“I need you to know that I’m okay if you choose him now. Because I never want you to stop smiling.”

“I can’t, Miller,” I said out loud. “I can’t promise you I’ll keep living. It hurts too much. Why would you make me promise that of all things?” That one thing felt impossible. I couldn’t live without him.

I wanted to scream. I wanted to curl in a ball and cry. I wanted to rewind time. I needed a do-over.

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