Chapter 6

Time kept moving. Once I stopped letting the noise in, I discovered how much I actually liked studying. Sebastian and Madison dropped out of my line of sight.

My teachers knew what was happening at home. My father arranged for an early-morning private French tutor before classes started. My mother scheduled a whole roster of afternoon prep right after the final bell. My days didn't overlap with Sebastian's anymore.

With SAT season closing in, Sebastian finally knocked on my door. My mother was surprised. We hadn't been a team for a long time.

"Sebastian? You're here for Ava? I thought the two of you had a falling-out. Come in, come in."

Sebastian rubbed the back of his neck, embarrassed. "We didn't have a falling-out. We've all just been really busy with school. Ava signed up for so much extra prep. The SATs are around the corner. I wanted to come over and see if she had everything she needed..."

My mother blinked. "Sebastian, you didn't know..."

"Mom." I stepped out of the living room to cut her off. "Go do your thing. He's here for me."

I took him back to my room.

The moment the door closed, Sebastian burst out, "Ava. All this time, are you really still not going to talk to me? You're smart enough that you don't need any of that extra tutoring..."

"What do you actually want." I cut him off.

Sebastian sighed. "Ava, if you're still mad, I'm sorry. The SATs are right around the corner. High school is supposed to be the best years of your life. I don't want you to miss out on those memories. The class president sent you the date for the group photo. You never responded..."

I didn't have patience for his speech. And "high school is supposed to be the best years of your life" sounded like a punchline to me.

"If someone put you up to this, you can head home."

Sebastian's brow creased. "Ava, don't be petty."

After months of distance, something had finally shifted. He didn't set me off the way he used to. My feelings for him, the attachment and the hate both, had been fading fast.

"You came at the right time," I said quietly. "I've been packing. A lot of this stuff is from you. Take it home. Otherwise I'm throwing it out."

Sebastian stared as I dragged a large moving box out from the closet. It was full. Photographs from every year we'd known each other. Keepsakes he'd given me. Crafts we had made together as kids.

His face drained. "Ava. What is this? You're trying to cut ties with me?"

My face was just as cold. "I thought you cut ties the day you stood by while they tried to drown me."

Sebastian's eyes darted. He dug in anyway. "What are you even talking about? I told you it was a joke. Are you really this petty? You can't take one joke?"

"Sebastian." I said his name quietly, the way I'd say a stranger's. "A joke is something both people find funny."

"In three years of high school, tell me one time you saw me laugh."

Every ounce of color drained out of Sebastian's face.

Back to tonight. Back to the reunion.

I kept trying to leave. Sebastian and Madison's little entourage kept talking at me.

"Ava, you don't even know. Sebastian almost missed the SATs waiting for you that morning. If Madison hadn't lied and told him you were at the other testing center, and one of the guys hadn't said he saw you walk in, Sebastian would have lost the whole test."

I nodded without looking at him, hoping he'd wrap it up so I could go.

He just got more worked up.

"When Sebastian found out Madison had lied to him, he almost ended the friendship right there."

"And when he got home and realized you'd left the country with your parents, the look on his face. I still feel sick when I think about it."

I was done being polite. I met the guy's eyes.

"I get it."

He took that as encouragement. "So give Sebastian a shot? You two have a whole history. He waited ten years."

Sebastian's eyes lit up.

I kept my voice flat. "No."

Madison stepped forward, right in front of Sebastian. "Ava, how can you be this cold? He is literally groveling in front of every person in this room and you're still stuck on high school drama."

"Do you realize how petty that sounds?"

I looked past her to Sebastian. "You too? You also think I'm being petty about nothing?"

Sebastian opened his mouth. Nothing came out. I laughed once, softly, and scanned the room.

"Well, I hate to disappoint you. Being petty was kind of my thing in high school."

"I mean, I was so petty I got the entire class to freeze me out, remember?"

The people I was looking at all suddenly found something else to stare at.

Only Madison held her ground. "Who do you think you are? We called you Princess once and you actually believed it?"

I looked at her, voice level. "I am exactly that petty. I'm not forgiving any of you."

"And you? My attitude is pretty much what you wanted, isn't it?"

I walked slowly toward Sebastian, with his ruined expression, and Madison, lit up with righteous anger.

"We're all adults now. Don't pretend none of you know Madison has been in love with Sebastian since we were teenagers. That's why she hammered me the whole way through high school."

"The only reason I'm not out for revenge is that I'm generous enough not to bother. I knew every single one of you was too easy to play."

Several of them went red. The embarrassment curdled instantly into anger. I didn't care.

"And you, Madison. What are you even mad about right now? Shouldn't you be thrilled? Or do you genuinely enjoy having it both ways?"

Madison lunged. Sebastian caught her arm.

He looked at me, aggrieved. "Ava. I get that you're angry. But we're still classmates. Don't take it too far."

I looked at him coldly. "This is too far? Back then your version of too far was a hundred times worse. Especially yours, Sebastian."

"I don't know how you have the nerve to say you waited ten years for me."

Sebastian's shoulders sagged. He gave me a broken smile and looked at the floor. "You're right."

Madison's eyes flashed. "Sebastian."

Knock. Knock. Knock.