Chapter Twenty-Six

Zach

"Zach, wait." It's bittersweet hearing her perfect voice call for me. Once it went down to my stomach, smooth like honey, but now it stings. Because now, it's a reminder that I'm not part of her world. I never was. I was a willing participant, offering myself up to be used. I just never realized how bad it would hurt me.

I was stupid to think that hanging out with Honey and Mike would change anything. I will always be the scholarship kid to these people.

Students laugh as I push through them, not giving Honey a second glance. What's the point? She believed Jamie before even asking me. She knows all about Tiff and Ella, and instead of taking me aside, she expected me to explain that mess in front of the whole school.

Classmates shoved phones in my face of the video of our epic meltdown. I should have handled this better. I'm usually a lot more restrained than this, but when Honey's eyes dripped with disappointment, I knew I was losing her and myself in the process.

The whole school knows about Tiff and Ella now, so maybe I should come clean and accept it. I should own it since I like to believe I don't give a shit about what other people think. Unfortunately, that's not the case with Honey. I care too much about what she thinks, and that's what hurts the most. She didn't offer me the benefit of the doubt. She readily believed her cheating ex before hearing me out.

Pulling out my new phone, I throw a quick text to Tiff, telling her I'll be home in a few hours and will look after Ella. If I'm skipping school for the day, I might as well make myself useful and give Tiff the day off. She will freak the hell out once she finds out my whole school knows about her.

This is all my fault. I ticked off the richest dude in school because I pretended I was screwing his guaranteed lay and then punched him in the face for all the shit he's pulled. I gave him exactly what he wanted, and I will have to do some serious groveling with Coach to ensure I only get a suspension. That, I can handle. An expulsion would mean a loss of my scholarship and ruin all my plans for next year.

Fuck.

What the hell was I thinking? I've put my entire future in jeopardy for Honey. He knew she'd become my kryptonite over the past couple of weeks. He threatened to tell the whole school about Ella, and I ignored him like a lovestruck idiot.

"Dude, hold up." Ignoring Mike, I press forward, pissed that Jamie fulfilled his promise of ruining my life.

Mike clamps down on my shoulder when he gets close enough. "Zach. Stop." Shaking his hand loose, I stare at him with misplaced contempt. "What the fuck happened back there?"

I'll never know why Mike puts up with my shit. I seem to only ever cause him trouble, yet he's always there for me. He glares expectantly, and I take a deep breath, still too angry to talk. He knows me well enough to know that's the case. "You just punched Jamie in the hallway."

"Thanks for that, Captain Obvious." I smile. It's the first smile I've cracked since the end of our football game on Friday.

I groan internally because fuck my life. The end of that game was a disaster and the start of this shitshow. When we only had a few seconds on the clock, I left because I wanted to find Honey and kiss the crap out of her. Unfortunately, I found Tiff and Ella at my game before I had that opportunity. I've told her before that she can't come to my games. It's not safe for her to be near South Point Prep, especially to bring Ella. It was risky and irresponsible, but when those big, fat tears dropped from Tiff's eyes, I knew something bigger was going on. Something that would not be fixed by the time we got home.

And let's just say I wasn't ready for what she told me when we were alone in my mom's car. I mean, how the hell was I supposed to process that hard truth from her?

Mike groans, pushing my shoulder with an eye roll. "Zach, unless you're going to say something important. You need to shut the hell up. You know Jamie could get you expelled over that shit back there."

"I know."

"Then why the fuck did you do it?"

"Because it's the least Jamie deserves." Honestly, the least of Jamie's issues is a bloodied nose from me, but that's a problem we'll need to solve later.

"We all know he deserves more of a beating than that, but that doesn't mean you do it. The guy's dad is a lawyer. If he decides to press charges, your grandkids will still be paying it off before retirement."

"I know."

"And what the hell made you think you could treat Honey like that? Don't you think she's been through enough public humiliation?"

My eyes snap to the school doors, but she's not there. It's only a crowd of students, still filming, hoping I'll go off the rails and do something stupid for their feeds.

Nodding, I say, "You're right." There's nothing else to add. She was trying to be nice, but I took out all my anger and frustration over the last week on her. "She didn't deserve that."

"Then why'd you do it?" Pushing my shoulders, anger flashes across his face, and now I know I have officially pissed off everyone in this school.

"Jamie found out."

Mike drops his flailing arms, looking at me with confusion. "Found out what?"

"Found out about Tiff." Her name is all I need to say; he knows how damaging this is.

His jaw tenses and his eyes move back and forth. "Did he find out about Ella too?"

I nod, clamping my teeth shut, trying to hold back my anger, but punching Jamie in the face can only reduce so much of it. I'd need to kick him a few times to get rid of it all. "How the hell did he find out about them?"

I shake my head. "It doesn't matter. I have bigger issues to deal with. He has bigger issues too."

"Like?"

I take a breath, looking around and noting that students are still filming us. I lean closer to him and speak through gritted teeth. "A whole lot of shit that I can't talk about here."

Mike follows my gaze and tilts his head to the parked cars. "Come on, I'll drive you home since there's no point in you going back into school today. We'll talk about it in the car." I follow a step behind him, still reeling over all the information that's flooded my brain over the last week. Feeling the way I do about Honey hasn't helped matters either.

Sitting in Mike's car while he stands outside talking to Olivia, I close my eyes and let out a long, disappointed breath. When I joined here, I thought this would be a dream and my way to help Tiff, Ella, and my parents. Unfortunately, it's only brought me misery. Always the outcast, only spoken to when needed, no one wanted me here.

Then her big amber eyes and awkward smile come to mind. Honey wanted me here. The only girl who's made me feel like I was something more, until today.

Screwing my eyes shut, I slam my hand on the door, not caring that it's my throwing hand.

Why did it have to be him?

Why did she have this invisible string always pulling her back to her old life?

Why was it so easy for her to rip my heart out of my chest and tear it to shreds?

"Dude. Break your own car," Mike grunts, sliding into the seat beside me. "I know you think we're all made of money here, but I don't want the press sniffing around, thinking I've done something wrong. My dad would kill me."

"Sorry," I mumble, staring out the window, strangely hoping Honey will walk through the school gates.

Mike pulls out of the lot. "We need to figure out what your explanation will be to Coach once Jamie cries wolf. He's the only thing standing in the way of you and an expulsion."

"I won't get expelled." He throws me a look of disbelief, and I shrug, sinking into the seat. "I'm the only hope for you rich assholes in the championship game. If I leave, there's no chance of a trophy for the third year."

"One day, your luck will run out, Evans."

"Good thing today isn't that day, then."