Ever After (East Raven Academy Book 1)(43)

“You can always date them both,” he says.

“No I can’t! I’m not a cheater.”

“It wouldn’t be cheating unless one of them asked to date you exclusively.”

“No, Charlie. I would never do that,” I say, shaking my head at him. “I’m not you. I don’t mess with people’s feelings.”

“Yet, you still haven’t told Estaine about Brooks. You might want to be careful.”

“I am,” I say.

I think.

“And you’re sure you don’t have feelings for the Estaine guy?”

“He’s my friend,” I answer automatically.

“Friend,” Charlie repeats.

“Yes. Friend.”

“Does he know that you only want to be friends?”





11pm.


Do you believe in love at first sight?





I can’t get Charlie’s words out of my head.

Does Estaine know we’re just friends?

Do I want to tell him?

These questions run through my head as Teagan and I walk down to the docks to meet up with Jason and Estaine. There isn’t anybody out there tonight, because most kids are off campus. Some senior is throwing a party at this parents’ mansion in Boston. Boston is pretty close to the school, just over an hour away. But I didn’t want to go. Even if I wanted to, no way Uncle Matty and Jake would’ve let me.

“Don’t worry, I won’t tell Estaine about Brooks,” Teagan says. “Maybe you should tell him, but I won’t. Because, in case I didn’t make it clear already, I’m team Estaine.”

I laugh and shake my head at her. “Yeah, I think that’s pretty clear.”

“Good.”

“I’m going to have to tell Estaine before next weekend,” I say. “If I can convince Uncle Matty to let me go to The Hamptons for Labor Day, I’m going to have to explain why I am splitting my time between the two houses.”

“Or you could just tell Brooks you can’t go and hang out with Estaine the whole time,” she says.

“You’re so bad.”

“Whatever. You know you love me,” she says. “Whomever you choose, I am still your friend. But tonight, don’t expect me to do much talking. Jason and I haven’t gotten to hang out since we got back to school, if you know what I mean.”

“Gross. Just don’t kiss him in front of me,” I say.

“No promises,” she says, as we walk out from the trees and into the clearing.

The guys are already there, and Teagan doesn’t even say bye as she walks off towards Jason.

“Hey,” Estaine says, as I walk up to him.

“Those two...” I say, letting my voice trail off. “How did I not see it before she told me?”

“I know. They’re perfect for each other,” he says. “They should just make things official already.”

I nod my head, agreeing totally.

We both walk onto the old boat deck and carefully take a seat. I dangle my feet over the side and pray I don’t get a splinter in my butt.

“You weren’t at lunch today,” he says.

And the conversation I wanted to avoid.

“I was hanging out off campus with a friend,” I say.

He looks at me for a second, clearly confused. “Who? All our friends were there.”

I take a deep breath before continuing. “I’m scared to tell you.”

“Why would you be scared?”

“Because you might hate me after you find out.”

“Trust me, there is nothing that could make me hate you.”

“I wouldn’t say nothing,” I say. “I hung out with Brooks Remington today.”

“WHAT?”

I cringe.

“I’m sorry,” he says. “I didn’t mean to yell. It’s just... Brooks... he’s not a good guy.”

“Yeah, you’ve said that. But I don’t get it. He’s really nice to me,” I say. “You’ve never told me why you don’t like him.”

“I’ve never cared much for the guy,” he says. “No, that’s not true. We were friends when we were kids. The summer we were fourteen, right before coming to East Raven, is when we stopped being friends.”

“What did he do that was so bad?”

“He started dating my sister,” Estaine answers. “She was only ten months older than me. Our parents had us super close together. And I was cool with it at first, but Brooks didn’t treat my sister very well.”

“I didn’t know you had a sister,” I say.

“She died,” he says. “Last spring break. It’s really hard being at school without her.”

“What happened?”

“She did something stupid,” he says. “Brooks and River were always fighting. They’d break up and get back together all the time.”

Uh.

Also, his sister’s name is awesome.

Why wouldn’t she have a unique name like him?

“Like Emma and Bryce,” he says. “Except, way worse. My sister deserved better. Anyway, the night she died, they had broken up. Again. So, she went out with her friends, got drunk and then drove. She died. One of her friends was with her in the car, she was drunk, too. She lived, but she’s in a wheelchair now. She never came back to school.”