After flying overseas to enroll in a prestigious boarding school, Blake Graham assumes that she can finally catch a break.
Instead, she encounters the boy who she fought with almost every day as a child.
After moving back to England, then over to...
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Clark was never one to follow through on his own promises. The promises he made to himself were always the hardest to follow through on. He always managed to promise to himself one thing, and do the next.
He broke his promise when he said he'd stop eating so many chocolate chip cookies after his mother had reprimanded him on his sugar intake.
He broke his promise when he said he would quit football after his knee injury in the tenth grade.
He broke his promise when he said he'd never fall in love with Blake Graham.
And now he broke his promise as he stood hidden to the side of Cambridge's large auditorium.
He couldn't even remember what made him leave his dorm, what made him trek to the opposite side of campus, what made him enter the auditorium.
But as he watched the familiar brunette hurriedly walk across the stage, he remembered that she was the what.
Clark had been a royal mess lately and he hated every single second of it. He spent his nights in an endless cycle of studying for his courses, indulging in his never ending stash of cookie dough ice cream, and sleeping it all away.
But during the day was another story. He was perfectly put together. Clark Ellington was always the best at putting on a mask. He never let the world see him, he let them perceive him and label him. They saw a perfectly cold golden boy, while those he let in saw anything but.
He never let just anyone get a glimpse into his feelings, they had to be special. Only a certain handful could get to see the real Clark Ellington, the dorky, romantic, and cheeky boy.
But recently, he had closed off. His mask was back on, but this time he refused to take it off. It was hardwired shut. He refused to take the mask off even around his best friends and brother, who had come for a short visit. He didn't want them to see him suffering. He couldn't. Because he deserved it.
On the outside Clark was all crisp uniforms, pristine shoes, styled hair, and cold scowls but on the inside, he was lost.
He knew everything was his fault and he deserved everything that came to him, but he couldn't help but feel crushed. But he knew that since he had earned it, he couldn't show his brother or friends how he felt. He had to suffer, that was his consequence.
He refused to speak more than a few syllables, refused to let his lips turn up in a genuine smile, refused to let his eyes crinkle like they had used to do so easily. He merely existed like he used to do before, and while he thought no one had noticed his change in demeanor, some actually did.
"Did Clark say he was coming?" Nico lowered the megaphone he was holding to whisper to Luca, keeping his eyes trained on the stage where their friend was accepting her diploma.
"Didn't say anything, but I highly doubt he'll come. Checked up on him before leaving and he didn't look like he was going anywhere. I overheard him whispering to himself about promising that he wasn't going to go anywhere, I'm betting it was here he was talking about."
