Tyed(48)

I knew this was too good to be true. This is not a love story. This is a Blaire-story. Happiness doesn't live here.

The he looks straight into my eyes. “I need to know that you’ll stick around ‘till shit blows over, that you won't bail on me.”

Brain shuts down. Hormones have their backs against the wall, and Heart is taking over mouth before I have time to think it through.

“I love you, Ty,” I hear myself saying, and feel the flow of panic pumping through my veins.

Shit. What the hell? What made me put myself in such a vulnerable position? I run my hand over my face, acting as if my confession was HIV positive related and not a love declaration. It's not even declaration, though. More of a fact. I just do. I love him.

He pulls me into his strong shoulder and kisses my forehead. No. No, no, no, no, no. I did not just say that after dating him for less than two months. This is crazy talk.

“So stick around.” He shoots me a dimpled smile.

And he doesn’t say it back. Why would he? He’s had a longer relationship with his freaking mail lady.

“Yes,” I say gruffly, deflated. “Yes, I will.”





Chapter Eleven



I get a text message notifying me the grade for my assignment has been posted online on my student page. I rush to check it on my laptop. I’m outside on the library steps. I’ve been studying for my last exam. My computer has been slow lately, but when I finally manage to log in, a yelp escapes my lips.

I got a freaking A.

I never shine academically. Scratch that—I never shine, period. It feels nice. Different, but nice. I busted my ass on this assignment, and for once I actually feel worthy of the good grade.

I want to yell, announce my grade to my parents on a helicopter banner or take a picture of the proof and post it online on social media so everyone can see. Then I remember that I have, like, eighty Facebook friends, so instead, I send a message to my loved ones: Ty, Izzy, Mom and Shane.

I text, Guess who got an A?!

Izzy is the first to reply. OMG, sissy, great news! So proud!

Shane, who I know is in the building right now, in about to take his own exam, confirms, This is epic, B. You're epic. Keep it real.

Mom is less than encouraging with Blaire, is this a joke? If not, your father and I are very proud of your accomplishment, sweetie. We knew you had it in you. You just needed to apply yourself.

I take a deep breath and force my lips into a smile. This may have hurt me a few months ago, and it's still a bitch to read, but the last weeks have taught me that if people don't believe in me, maybe it's their problem, not mine.

Ty doesn't reply. He is probably training, I tell myself. Don't be one of those girls. Think positive. I spend the rest of the lecture hyperventilating over my good grade. Up until now I wasn't sure I cared much about this degree, but this journalism assignment kind of rocked.

I don't know if it was the topic, the time and place I was in my life, or the outcome of the research, but hell, overall, I really enjoyed it.

“What's up, brainy?” I hear a familiar voice. I don't know how Shane got to the library so quickly, but I'm grateful for his support. Too bad a part of me wants to strangle him, now that I know how much he hurt Izzy.

Yes, we talked about it. About all of it. But it's her story to tell, and I know I need to stay out of this.

I stand to face my BFF. “Being smart is exhausting.” I pretend to wipe my forehead. "And I'm pretty sure my head has gotten significantly heavier since I saw that A on my screen."

Shane falls in step with me as we go down the stairs. "You do have a Mr. Garrison thing going right now." He chuckles at his South Park reference.

"What did you get?" I ask.

"You mean what did you get for your other assignment." He grins. "B+. Great job, brainy."

We walk in comfortable silence across campus, until Shane clears his throat. “How’s your sister doing?”

“She got her Fairy wings,” I reply.

“Very Disney. I’m glad to hear it. And your boyfriend?”

Goddammit.

"He's not my boyfriend." But this didn't stop me from confessing my love to him.

“Still on drugs and shit?”

“Excuse me?” I stop in the middle of the sidewalk. I shouldn’t be giving him the chance to poison me with lies, but my curiosity gets the better of me. Maybe it's the fact I know that Ty is hiding something from me, but instead of shutting this down, I look up at my best friend, waiting for an explanation.

Shane steps into my face, so close his cologne stings my nostrils and his clean-shaven cheek almost brushes mine. His backpack drops, his books spilling out on the ground. He doesn't even seem to notice.

“Shit, B, you don’t even know, do you?” He looks at me with eyes so miserable, they almost outweigh my anger toward him. “Remember I told you my roommate Josh had his nose broken in a fight? Well, what I left out was that the person who broke his nose was Ty Wilder. And the worst thing about it is that it wasn’t an accident. He actually hit Josh on purpose. Smashed his head into the bathroom wall. Know why he did it?”