“You’ll regret this!”
Then he bolted.
Ryan frowned at me.
“Claire Miller, was this trouble your doing again? You’re getting more and more reckless.”
Ryan Cooper’s face showed nothing but open disgust as he pulled Emily Carter away.
“I’ll take Emily home first. Wait here—I need to talk to you afterward.”
Emily glanced at me a few times but said nothing, following Ryan.
Maybe I should never have come in the first place.
This time, I didn’t wait for Ryan. I went straight home.
In my world, I had no parents—only Grandma.
Near midnight, I was bent over my diary, writing.
The door suddenly flew open, Ryan storming in.
As I quickly shut the diary, a sticky note slipped out.
On it were the words: Ryan Cooper, I like you.
Ryan’s face darkened when he saw it.
“You like me?”
There was no joy in his expression—only disgust.
I stayed silent, turning my head away.
“Claire, we should keep our distance. You know perfectly well that I like Emily.”
My voice rasped.
“I will.”
And just like that, we stopped seeing each other.
“Claire, no matter how out of line you’ve been, I hope you won’t drag Emily into this. She’s a good girl.”
Eyes burning, I tilted my head up at him.