“It’s not your fault,” she says quickly. “He feels everything very strongly. And he’s used to getting what he wants. Life has been easy for him. His future was looking bright, he got a soccer scholarship to UBC, he was seen as a promising athlete who was going to make it big one day, he had you . . . I think he feels like part of his perfect future is slipping away.”

Tension builds in my shoulders. “He wanted too much from me,” I say, shaking my head. “I didn’t feel like I had any other choice. I understand that you’re his friend, so I don’t want to make things weird by—”

“Allie.” She reaches out, placing her hand over mine. “You’re my best friend. You made the right decision. I’m not choosing sides, I’m here for both of you.”

“Really?”

“Of course,” she emphasizes. “He’ll get over it eventually. James and I are your friends. I wanted to tell you that on Friday, but you ran off before I had the chance.”

I sag in relief. It’ll be hard to figure out how to navigate my relationship with Damien, but school is suddenly sounding a lot less lonely than it felt today. Despite the times when we’re at odds with each other, Zoe is essentially my only friend. “Thank you. I was worried you guys might hate me now.”

A flash of my nightmare comes back to me, the three of them descending in my direction with soulless eyes, and I clear my throat, suddenly tense.

“Please, we’ll never hate you.” Zoe swirls her coffee in her mug. “Do you think there’s any chance of you guys getting back together?”

“God, no,” I choke out, nearly spitting out my drink. Zoe sits up straighter, lips twitching. “If I’m being honest, I don’t even understand how we were together in the first place. We just seem so different.”

“Good to know,” she says lightly.

“I’ve been meaning to ask you,” I start, leaning back in my seat. “People keep telling me I used to get into all kinds of trouble, and I’m assuming you must have been there for at least some of that. Is that true?”

“Oh, absolutely,” she remarks, looking amused. “We were real-life partners in crime.”

“Tell me more.”

“Last summer we spent a week in Vancouver pretending to be other people, sneaking into clubs, and other places we definitely shouldn’t have been,” she says. “Don’t even get me started on that guy we met who claimed to be a prince . . .”