Red(54)

Jonathan’s tux jacket was still hanging on the back.

Oh no.

“It’s a jacket,” she said carefully.

“Yeah, I know that, Felicity. Whose jacket is it?”

She swallowed hard and reminded herself that she hadn’t done anything wrong. She had eaten some fries with a friend. They had talked. He had driven her to her car. They hadn’t even hugged. It had all been totally innocent.

“It’s Jonathan’s,” she said.

“The guy who was hitting on you at the art show?” Brent’s hands balled into fists at his sides. Felicity didn’t think he would hurt her, but she had to fight the impulse to step out of his reach.

“He wasn’t hitting on me. We were just having a conversation. Last night I went outside for some air, and I ran into him, and I was cold, so he gave me his jacket, and I forgot to give it back. It’s just a jacket. It doesn’t mean anything.”

“I thought you’d gone to Haylie’s when you disappeared last night,” Brent said, as if he hadn’t heard her. “But you didn’t, did you? You came here, with him.” It wasn’t a question.

“I didn’t, Brent! He’s never been here. I just wanted to get away because everyone was staring at me. So Jonathan gave me a ride to my car, and I came home. By myself. That’s it, that’s the whole story. Okay?”

“He gave you a ride to your car? That doesn’t even make sense. You couldn’t walk to the parking lot?”

“It wasn’t in the parking lot. It was in front of Mamma Leoni’s. Ivy drove me from the restaurant to school. I was going to pick up my car today, after Haylie’s party, but I didn’t end up going to the party, so Jonathan gave me a ride.” She reached out to touch Brent’s shoulder. “Honestly. That’s all that happened.”

Brent jerked out of her reach and looked at her with eyes full of ice. “You seriously expect me to believe that? Why wouldn’t you drive you own car to prom? That’s the lamest excuse I’ve ever heard.”

Felicity nearly laughed—she’d told so many lies lately, and Brent was fixated on the one part of her story that was totally true. “I swear to God I’m not making it up. Ask Ivy or Haylie.”

“Oh yeah. Because I’ll definitely get the truth out of your best friends.” He rolled his eyes. “I’m not stupid, Felicity. I know you were lying to me all along. That whole ‘prom committee hazing ritual’ thing is complete crap. You made me take Gabby to prom so I’d look like a douche and you could run off with your other boyfriend.”

“Brent, no. It’s not like that at all!” She tried again to touch his arm, but he just backed away as if she had some contagious disease.

“I was trying to help you! Do you think I wanted to go on a date with Gabby? And now I find out you’ve been cheating on me. How do you expect me to react to that?”

Righteous indignation rushed through Felicity. “I have never cheated on you,” she said, her voice more forceful than before. “I would never do that. Don’t you trust me at all?”

“Why would I trust you after this? Seriously, Felicity, do you think you’re the only one in this relationship who’s had other offers? Because I could have had anyone I wanted, any time. But I didn’t, because all I wanted was you. I actually cared about you. But I guess that wasn’t enough, since you ran off with some brunette behind my back.”

Felicity gaped at the boy standing across from her. She knew every line of his body as well as she knew her own, but he suddenly seemed like a stranger. She and Brent had been together for more than a year, and he still didn’t know her at all. Jonathan understood her better after four hours of conversation than Brent did after fifteen months.

She didn’t love him. Right now, she didn’t even like him. Brent was a safety net and an insurance policy, and she didn’t need those things anymore. She could take care of herself.

“You know what, Brent?” she said. “It’s over.”

“What, you and him? You think that makes it okay that you—”

“No, not me and him. There is no me and him. I’m talking about me and you.”

Brent stood perfectly still for a moment, looking so surprised that Felicity wondered if she’d made a mistake. But then the hardness returned to his eyes and he said, “Whatever, Felicity. I can do better.”

He shoved past her and pounded down the stairs. Just as he reached the bottom, Felicity heard the front door open. “Oh, hi, honey,” said her mom’s voice.

“Good to see you, Mrs. S,” Brent called before slamming the door behind him. Even after calling her a cheater, he still turned on the charm for her mother.

Ginger’s quick footsteps clicked up the stairs. “We’re back,” she called. “Can’t Brent stay and have lunch with us? I thought we could—” Then she stuck her head in the doorway and saw Felicity’s murderous expression, and her cheerful words died on her lips. “Baby, what happened?”

“We broke up.” Felicity wondered if she would fall apart as soon as she said the words out loud, but she didn’t. Underneath her anger about the false accusations, she felt curiously calm about the whole thing.

She no longer had a boyfriend. And she didn’t even care that much.