In the static silence, Archer climbs slowly to his feet. He’s so tall, he has to hunch slightly to avoid the low ceiling. He takes two steps, then stops. He’s still not making eye contact. His shoulders are as rigid as his words.
“Don’t stay out here too long by yourself. It’s late.”
I swallow down an incredulous scoff. “As if you care?”
His hands clench at his sides. He doesn’t say another word. He just walks to the ladder, crouches down, and slides his legs through the gap in the floor. I don’t say anything as he grips the upper rungs and begins to descend. But as I watch the top of his head about to cross the threshold, I can’t hold my tongue anymore.
“I always knew you were destined for better things. Fame. Fans. Fenway Park. I always knew you’d leave this little town behind.Always. I just… I never thought you’d leave me behind, too.” A tear slips down my cheek. I scrub at it angrily with my sleeve. “I thought we meant more to each other than that.”
Apparently, Archer doesn’t agree. Because a second later, he vanishes from view. Down the ladder. Out of my sight.
Out of my life.
I sit in the boathouse until the sun comes up, crying long past the point of tears. When the sky finally breaks open, unfurling into pale blue-pink petals, the new day dawns alongside an entirely new reality.
One in which Archer Reyes is no longer my best friend.
* * *
Before full light,I head back to the house, climb into bed, and don’t move — not when my alarm begins to blare, not when Flora comes to check why I’m not downstairs in my uniform, ready to leave.
“I’m sick,” I tell her, my voice muffled beneath the heavy duvet. “I’m not going to school today.”
I must sound as terrible as I feel, because she doesn’t push me. She doesn’t even take my temperature. A gentle “Okay, mija” drifts to my ears before the door clicks closed. I’m grateful for the privacy. The last thing I want to do is explain why my eyes are so red and puffy.
I strain my ears, listening for the telltale rumble of a truck engine, for the distant click of the front gates that assures me Archer is gone for the day. All I can hear are birds chirping outside my window, building summer nests in the weeping willow trees.
Exhaustion clutches at me, a relentless suitor. I let it pull me under, thinking I might escape my misery with sleep. But I only dream of things that make my heart ache — narrowed caramel eyes, full lips spitting cruel words.
It’s time to move on.
I jolt awake, eyes watering.
Flora comes up with lunch on a tray for me. I send it away untouched. I have no appetite. I feel half alive. Hollow. Like someone’s taken a commercial fishing hook and gutted me, right through the stomach.
I tell myself I’m not waiting for Archer to text me. To call me. To show up at my door and apologize. To beg forgiveness for being such a jerk, plead temporary insanity, and assure me he’s back to his normal self.
He does none of those things.
Crazy as it sounds, even after everything, a small part of me was hopeful he’d try to mend things between us. Every hour that ticks by without hearing from him, I feel a little more of that hope wither inside my chest.
Eventually, I summon enough energy to pull my laptop beneath my sheets. I click onThe Great British Bake Off, losing myself in the comforting monotony of strangers competing to create the best blueberry custard tart. The light outside fades, shadows lengthening as the day wanes from afternoon to evening and finally to full night.
Flora brings more food for dinner. It grows cold on my bedside table before she takes it away.
My laptop runs out of battery halfway through episode eleven. I don’t bother locating the power cord. I curl more deeply beneath my cocoon of blankets, close my eyes, and, for the first time, allow myself to consider what the following day will bring.
Today, I got away with avoiding everything; tomorrow, that free-pass officially expires. I’ll have to go to school. To face my life.
To face him.
And if I want to get through the day without dissolving into pathetic tears in front of the wolves that roam the halls of Exeter Academy of Excellence…
I’m going to need a contingency plan.
Chapter Ten
ARCHER