My heart pitter-pattered against my ribcage. I’d never been asked to a dance before. Ever. But I was very aware of the fact that the person I’d always hoped would ask never would. I could feel Axel’s eyes on the back of my head. But he’d just promised it would always be the four of us. This didn’t have to change anything. I took a deep breath. “Absolutely.”

Jacob smiled.

It was my senior year. I deserved to be asked to homecoming. I deserved to be happy. I knew going with Jacob meant Axel would ask Gigi. But I couldn’t let his threats break me. It was really starting to feel like the two of them were written in the stars.

“You two are so cute together,” Sophie said.

I felt my cheeks flushing.

“Well,” Axel said. “I guess that leaves the two of us, Soph. What do you say? Should we just go together? Then I can’t possibly ditch you guys for another limo.”

It felt like the world had stopped spinning. Had Axel just asked Soph to homecoming? Was he serious right now? The one year he decided to ask a friend and he asked Soph? It felt like he’d stabbed me in the heart. And then thrown sand in the wound. And I hated that he was smiling. Like his words hadn’t just killed me.

“Ugh,” Sophie said. “It feels so desperate to go as friends. But fine. Whatever. The man of my dreams has rubbed me all wrong tonight.

I cringed thinking of Mr. Halifax.

“Besides, he never says yes when I leave him notes asking him to the dances anyway. Let’s do this thing.”

“Great,” Axel said. But he wasn’t looking at Sophie. He was looking at me.

Yeah, he knew his words hurt. And I think he liked it. He liked hurting me.

And I didn’t care that my mom said my dad had hurt her heart. I didn’t think love was supposed to hurt like this.

I wish I’d never told Axel I’d saved my first kiss for him. It was better when he didn’t know I liked him. I used to be able to brush everything he did under the rug because he didn’t know how I felt. He hadn’t known he was hurting me. So it was easy to forgive. But now he knew. I used to think he was kind. But I knew the truth now. Axel Stevens was cruel. And I didn’t know how to forgive him for all this hurt. Not that he was asking for my forgiveness.

“This’ll be fun,” Sophie said. “All of us going together.”

It actually sounded like a nightmare.

Sophie lightly kicked my foot again. “Right?”

I cleared my throat. “Yeah. So much fun.”

Jacob squeezed my shoulder.