Twenty days of friendship. That's all that high school senior, Quinn Reid's ex boyfriend wants and then he promises to leave her alone forever. After some initial hesitation, she agrees to be his friend in exchange for her solitude when the twenty...
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-I hope you find what you're looking for
I read the text twice and then shake my head in disbelief.
"What?" Sai asks from beside me.
I don't look at her. "Nothing," I say as I type my response to Jessie.
-Fuck. You
For the past week and a half, we've only been communicating via text and as infuriating as that is, part of me appreciates the informal sense of things. I didn't have to talk to him. I could ignore him in person all that I wanted, but I knew that without fail, he'd send me a message because he can't help himself and he knows that I'll reply because I can't help myself either.
-You wish baby
I laugh and tuck my phone in my bag as Ms. Cruller finally makes an appearance.
"You're weird," Sai whispers.
I shrug and we move on.
English ends and as I'm making my way to my locker Sam falls into step beside me. "What do you want?" I ask without looking at her. Things have been better between us, but her brother tends to cloud my judgment and make me more hostile that I mean to be.
"Jessie's got a date this weekend," she says cautiously.
I swallow bile but offer no reaction. "Good for him." It's a lie. Bad for him. I don't want him dating anyone that's not me, no matter how bad things are between us.
She stops just before I reach my locker. "Just letting you know. As a friend." Then she walks back the way we came.
I whip out my phone and open Jessie's text thread.
-So much for 20 measly days. Asshole
I know that it's not fair. Of course it's not fucking fair, but I don't care anymore. It's also not fair of him to convince me to give him another shot at friendship just for him to go all cold on me after a week.
Angrily, I switch my books out and slam my locker shut. I jump back when I see Jessie standing there. Pressing my books to my chest, I stare at him. "What do you want?"
He holds my stare and for a second, I swear it's just the two of us in the hallway. "You didn't want to even give me twenty days, remember? I'm giving you an out. I'm backing down, Quinn. I meant what I said about you finding what you're looking for, cause it sure as hell ain't me."
I jut my chin out in defiance and smile. I'm practicing not being so quick to anger and making my mother proud, I hope.
Instead of mentioning his date, I try a different approach. "You still owe me a picture. You said that you'd show it to me after the month was up." He sighs and I grit my teeth, already forgetting my plan to be nicer. "I don't care if you no longer want me, Jessie." A total lie. "You still owe me that picture, twenty days or not."
