(Never) Again Read Online Free Page B

his shoulder in Matt’s direction just as Sadie walked in. “I didn’t expect to see you here,” he said, leaning closer to the table. To me.
    I didn’t look up. I didn’t want to look into those damn eyes of his. They were capable of turning stone to lava and should seriously have been registered as lethal weapons.
    I focused on the whiskers of my awesome dog drawing. “I support my friends. I don’t ditch them.” I couldn’t help glancing up and taking pleasure in the wince my words caused.
    “That’s not what I meant. I was surprised to see you at school today. I just always thought you’d go to a big, fancy, out-of-state school.”
    I was supposed to. It was the plan. But life screwed me again. Those rejection letters had turned my already scorched heart to ash. I pushed the painful memories away and made the mistake of looking up. “I could say the same thing about you,” I said, my voice no more than a whisper.
    Just looking into his familiar eyes caused a rush of feelings I didn’t want to revisit.
    I needed to get away. I needed my best friend—the one who didn’t leave me behind. Before Zach could say another word I jumped up. I didn’t care that Sadie was strutting towards Matt; I needed her. But I didn’t want to lose my sweet-ass table.
    So as much as it killed me to ask him, I sucked it up and did. “I have to go to the bathroom. Can you just stay here till I get back?” Sadness washed over me as soon as the words were out.
    His final words the last time we were face-to-face haunted my thoughts.
I promise you we’ll be together again. Less than two years till I get back.
    He might be back now, but he was the one who stopped calling. I was trying to deal with Zach attending the same college as me—even accepting him sitting next to me in class—but hanging out with my friends was a whole other story. Especially when he was acting like nothing had changed. Didn’t he get it?
    Everything had changed.
    Before I could let him see the emotion play out on my face, I ran to Sadie who threw her head back and laughed at whatever Matt had just said.
    I could see why Sadie liked him. While he was shorter than most guys, he still towered over her five-foot-three frame. His trademark Red Sox baseball cap, a homage to where he was born, and polo shirts combined the two types of guys she always leaned towards: jocks and preps.
    Sadie had carried a torch for Matt for as long as I could remember. One day in the seventh grade Sadie had missed her bus, and Matt walked her home even though his bus was still in the parking lot, and he lived on the opposite end of town. Ever since that day Sadie laughed at whatever Matt said, even if it wasn’t funny, and would always find subtle ways to touch him.
    She’d kill me later for pulling her away, but I grabbed her arm and tugged anyway. Poor Matt was left alone in midsentence.
    Sadie narrowed her smoky eyes. “Liz, what the hell?”
    “Did you see who’s here?” Her black hair was sleeked into a sexy ponytail that swayed when she went to look over her shoulder. I swatted at her arm.
    “Don’t look!” Sheesh. Did I really have to explain that?
    In the most pathetic attempt not to look obvious, she stretched her arms over her head and glanced behind her. She turned back, smoky gray eyes boring in on me. “Come on, what’s the big deal?” Sadie asked. I was happy she didn’t notice my eye roll. “It’s not like we’re going to hang out with him. He’s just here. You have to remember he had the same friends as us, and he stayed in contact with them.”
    That’s what hurt the most. The fact he was able to keep a relationship with the majority of our friends but didn’t have the decency to end things properly with the girl he supposedly loved.
    It was ridiculous to be holding on, but it didn’t stop me from doing so. Why should I let him off the hook just because he apologized?
    “Fine, I guess, but I’m not talking to him.”
    “No one is asking