Page 28 (2/2)

Braden had hated Mountain Dew

That’s why I bought stock in PepsiCo the minute we broke up

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” I sniffed while trying to move the unopened soda farther under my pillow

“One!” She held up a finger “Two!”

“Stop counting! I won’t be threatened in my own room!”

The roorad school

The roos that drove rad school in the first place

“Three!” Avery launched her body acrossunder the pillow and swatted the Mountain Dew onto the floor “Oh, Austin, they put fors!”

I clenched o away”

“No I’ to pickle your body with thisLook, it’s been a er at et over him”

Him

Because I refused to say his name

Because saying his nah hands running all over old, or the way he never, ever, letently as if to say, Hey, just wanted to touch you

The dreah

The memories?

Worse

I refused to think about hiave hiht, when the darkness blanketed me in a quiet loneliness that threatened to choke me to death

Everything was perfect

And then it just Wasn’t

Damn it

The tears caain

Of course they did

My chest was sore Like an idiot, I rubbed it, but nothing made the heartache dissipate Add school stress to the mix and I was an exhausted hotlots of coffee so I wouldn’t fail at lifeor my classes

School stress, I knew I could e I always did

Family stress, it was always there

Exhaustion? Well, that was typical for a college student

But the whole Thatch situation? That’s what sent ht That’s what made it so that when I turned in ave me the number to the UW counselor hotline

Thatch

Why? Why was I so unlucky with guys?

He was supposed to be a really hot one-night stand We’d had an agreeed You’d have to be insane not to want ht turned into another, then another, and things got serious on my end, when I confessed how I really felt, he should havecheaters did! They made a lame excuse about hoas “fun” and then ran in the opposite direction with their tail between their legs But what did he do instead? He s

aid, “Let’s try”

Let’s

Try

As in, let’s be more than sex partners every other Saturday when I wasn’t up toin on soery

Try

So try we did

And it worked

And it esome

Until it wasn’t

Until the leopard took a good hard look in the osh, I really do miss those spots! Damn it! I can’t be tamed Insert Miley Cyrus lyrics here

End of story

No happy ending

Because the leopard let a girl, as not me, maul hi that he’d been feeling apprehensive about our arrangement

What? Like we signed a contract or so?

That should have been my first clue

Instead, I ignored it, and walked in on hi my best friend’s sister

And then, after all the tears on my end, when I went to his apartment the next day and said I wanted to really try to s work

He said no And broke up with me With me

As if I were the one who did soet—willing tovoice panging inside my chest cavity, a voice also known as s that re, how caring How pissed off he’d been when I told hi he’d been when I confessed how badly school was stressing me out

Fine I loved him