Page 9 of What If We Break?
“Seven,” I muttered. “It’s seven years.” Actually, it hadonly been five years, but only because Brooke and I hadn’t been intimate until we were fifteen, not that it mattered.
“You’re nineteen,” Fynn scoffed.
“I turn twenty next month, Sherlock. That’s seven years.” I stood up, ready to change, but my two idiotic friends scootched closer together and blocked my cubby entirely. Knowing they wouldn’t let it go, I sighed again. “No, it’s not getting boring. Now, could I please get changed before Coach kills me? I’m already late.”
Ming moved out of the way immediately, Fynn didn’t.
“So if it’s not getting boring, why the long face?” Fynn asked.
“Who said this was about sex in the first place?” I reached for my bag and dropped it on the bench. “And honestly, even if it was, you two would be the last I’d ever discuss my sex life with.”
“But we’re your best friends?” Fynn said with an offended undertone in his voice. He’d been even more offended if he knew I did not consider him my best friend anymore.
“Yeah, two very sad virgins who’d tell me shit like ‘be happy you’re getting laid.’” As much as I’d hate myself for it, I’d even rather ask my brother for advice about that than these idiots. But I’d have to be more than frustrated to go to Colin forthattopic.
Brooke would’ve killed me if I ever spoke to my brother about our sex life. And I was pretty sure Colin would’ve killed me as well because he didn’t want to hear about that.
“Exactly. Like what’s there to complain about?” Fynn was suddenly on the other side of the room, rummaging in his bag. “Your girlfriend is hot. If I had the chance to fuck someone like her, I wouldn’t give a fuck how bad the sex is. Actually, if you don’t want Brooke, I’ll take her.”
I was just about to pull my shirt over my head but stopped halfway up my torso at his words. My eyes snapped to his, every ounce of anger that I’d been trying to suppress these past days was boiling up.
“Say that again, Fynn. I dare you.”
“Woah. You know I was just joking.” He held his hands up, laughing.
My shirt dropped down again, and in the blink of an eye, I had my hockey bag swung over my shoulder and I made my way over to the exit doors. “Jokes are supposed to be fucking funny.”
I stormed out the door, past the ice, ignoring Coach calling out my name.
I could handle my friends taunting me about my relationship, making fun of how stupidly in love I was with Brooke. All of those jokes weren’t harmful, they werejokesand I knew that.
What I couldn’t handle was my supposed friend talking about my girlfriend as if he’deverhave a chance with her. And the fact that he thought saying that nonsense aloud was a good idea showed me how much of a great friend he was.
Why was Fynn thinking about Brooke in that sense in the first place?
4
REECE
Juilliard was bigger than I remembered. I’d picked Brooke up or dropped her off for her classes a few times before, so I’d seen the place multiple times. Still, I had this image of a small building with like ten rooms in mind.
Everyone made Juilliard sound like this magical place, put it on a pedestal, and made it out to be thehardestpossible college to get into.
I knew it was difficult to get accepted, that they were very picky about their students and had high expectations of them, so that probably fed into the false image of the school in my head.
In reality, it was a pretty awesome, huge-looking building. A definite upgrade from St. Trewery, though that school wasn’t much worse.
Walking up to the building, I slipped inside with a couple of other students. There was no way they all knew each other, but I tried my luck anyway.
“Can I ask you something?” I asked one of the girls who just entered the building with me.
The brunette girl looked at me, eyebrows raised in an arrogant manner. “Make it quick.”
“Ignore her,” another girl with a heavy Irish accent said as she took my hand and pulled me away. “That’s Valery. She’s kind of a bitch.”
“I see.” I pulled my hand away, not wanting to be touched by a random girl.
“I’m Rina.” The redhead smiled at me brightly. “Whatever question you have, feel free to ask me instead.”
