14

HIDE OUT

FOR THE REST OF THE AFTERNOON I HID IN the library. On the top floor. In one of the locked study rooms. Without telling anyone where I was.

Every five seconds my emotions changed. At first all I could think about was looking for Callie and comforting her. Jacob was her first boyfriend and she had to be a wreck. I knew she was in pain and it killed me not to be able to be there for her as she went through her first breakup.

After I thought about Callie, my mind went to Jacob. His claims about school, parents, and sports were probably all true, but it wasn’t the reason he’d broken up with Callie. I knew it. And it made me feel so guilty. But when that melted away, just for a second, I wondered what would happen if we ever tried again. I knew we couldn’t—not after everything we’d gone through to protect Callie from the truth the night of my party.

I sat in the library until just before dusk. My phone buzzed and I opened it to see a text from Paige.

Where r u? need 2 get ready 4 bonfire!

Oh, my God. I rubbed my eyes. I’d completely forgotten about that. Callie, Jacob, Eric, and I along with the other nominees were all forced to go to the bonfire since we were junior royal court nominees. Headmistress Drake would be there so there was no way I could back out.

B rite there, I texted Paige.

I left the library and walked back to Winchester. I had to tell Paige what was going on before we got to the bonfire. I had no clue how she’d react to the news. I knew she’d be upset for Callie, but I wondered if that would raise more questions from her about what really happened between Jacob and me at my party.

I opened the door to our room, barely realizing that I’d even walked down the Winchester hallway, and stepped inside. Paige turned around from her spot in front of our mirror and looked at me.

“What’s wrong?” she asked. “Something happened—I can see it in your face.”

I sat at the edge of my bed and pulled off my riding boots.

Paige sat on her desk chair and swiveled it to look at me. “You can tell me—whatever it is.”

“I know,” I said. “It’s just hard to talk about.” I paused, taking a breath. “I was at the stable and just before my lesson, Heather told me she needed to tell me something.”

“Uh-oh.”

“I know. I had to go through the entire lesson just waiting for her to tell me and I thought I was going to die. Then when it was finally over and I asked her, she told me to meet her at the hayloft with Julia and Alison in half an hour.”

Paige shook her head. “So typical Heather. Dangling something in front of you and then saying wait. Again.”

“Agreed. So after half an hour I met them. They said they’d overheard Callie and Jacob in the tack room.”

I watched Paige’s face, but her expression gave away nothing. She sat still—waiting for me to finish.

“Jacob told Callie that his parents were on him about his grades and he was feeling tons of pressure with sports. He knew he wasn’t being a good boyfriend and he apologized to her.”

Paige leaned back into her chair. “She must feel better now, right? I mean, if he had all of that going on, she must have sensed that things were off and he was going through something.”

I wrung my hands together. “I doubt she feels better. Jacob broke up with her.” I whispered the last sentence.

“Oh, no!” Paige’s shoulders slumped. “Poor Callie! She must be a mess. Her first boyfriend.”

“I know. She’s got to be so upset and I really do feel bad for her.” I had to choose every word carefully so that Paige didn’t think I still cared about Callie and missed her as my BFF. If Paige knew that, it would totally blow my cover story with Jacob.

“The last thing she probably wants to do is come to the bonfire,” Paige said.

And it’s the last thing I want to do, I wanted to say.

“You’re probably right, but she has to,” I said.

I pulled a jean skirt, platform wedge sandals, and a V-neck sweater from my closet. I couldn’t talk about Callie and Jacob anymore.

“I’ll be ready to go in half an hour,” I said. “You can wait or go without me, if you want.”

“I’ll wait,” Paige said, shrugging. “You won’t be too long and it doesn’t start till it gets dark, anyway.”

In the bathroom I closed the door and sat on the edge of the bathtub. It was going to be a long night.