Archer swallowed hard and continued in a low voice. “I’m sure you got my text, and I know you don’t want to talk to me, but … fuck, I’m so sorry. Caleb was way off base, saying all these things that weren’t true, so I only tried to explain…” He trailed off, knowing exactly how pathetic it sounded out loud. “Mateo, I would never—”

“Never what?” Mateo snapped, whipping around to face him, voice raw and rough. “Hurt me? Betray me? Humiliate me? Because you did all three. Christ, I told you about my parents—” He took a step backward, shaking his head. “Leave me alone, Archer. We are not friends.”

The blood drained from Archer’s head. Dizzy, he reached for a chair to steady himself. “That’s fair, but … I want you to know I’ll never mess up like this again, I swear. You can trust me.”

Mateo’s mouth twisted into a bitter smile. “You know, it’s my own fault for believing that in the first place. Turns out you and Caleb are perfect for each other.”

It was a knife through Archer’s heart. He nodded, holding back a fresh wave of tears, tongue thick in his mouth. “Okay. Got it.”

Betty had come in behind him, and the sympathetic look she gave was enough to send Archer fleeing. He turned and crashed directly into Caleb in the doorway. The shock of hitting him was nothing compared to the wave of anger that swamped his senses.

“How could you do that?” The words exploded out of Archer at the same time as his tears. “How could you sell out Mateo like that?”

He realized he was shouting in a silent room. Mateo watched from his locker.

“I only told them things that were true.” Caleb’s reply was quiet, and his eyes stayed on his feet.

“But it was no one’s business!” Archer yelled. “Why would you go out of your way to hurt someone like that?”

Caleb’s head snapped up. “Hurt someone? You wouldn’t know anything about that, would you, Archer?”

Archer blinked as he processed, the anger fading as rapidly as it had exploded. “Was this … was this whole thing about getting back at me?”

The silence between them stretched on. Caleb looked away.

“Look,” Mateo interjected, voice weary. “We have a show to do. Can we be professionals and just … fucking dance?”

Archer wiped at a tear and nodded. Caleb nodded too, at least having the decency to look a little ashamed. You could hear a pin drop backstage as they got ready. Most of them were mad at Caleb, some seemed to be mad at Archer, and in general, Mateo, Caleb, and Archer were given a wide berth.

Unsurprisingly, it was another terrible show. Archer couldn’t even look at Mateo or Caleb, and he was on the verge of tears half the time. He knew his dancing was substandard—heavy and joyless.