My heart stuttered — a single sharp beat that knocked everything off rhythm. I blinked down at the screen, reread it twice. Somewhere in my chest, my ribs tightened like a trap I hadn’t realized I was standing in.

A second buzz followed.

JAMIE: Hey. I wanted to check—are you okay with Liam and Maddie being there? If not, I’ll uninvite. No drama needed.

I just stared for a second. Jamie had never been the emotional support friend. His emotional range usually hovered somewhere between “sarcastic eye roll” and “light public roasting.” But this? This was gentle. This was loyalty.

He was trying.

ZOE: It’s fine. Promise.

Pause. Then:

JAMIE: You sure?

My fingers hovered over the keyboard longer this time. But I finally typed:

ZOE: I’ve got this. Really.

And I meant it.

Or maybe I just wanted to believe I could.

***

Later, between fourth and fifth period, Jamie caught my elbow in the hallway — right by the vending machines that only ever stocked orange juice no one drank and snacks that always jammed halfway out.

“I mean it, Zo,” he said, his voice steady in a way that pulled me out of my head. “If they do anything shady, I’ll drown them both in the shallow end.”

I snorted. “You’d get expelled.”

“I’d get a statue in your honor.”

That one made me stop walking.

He smiled, not big, not performative — just the kind of smile that reminded me who he’d been before all of this. Before betrayal had edges. Before I learned how sharp mine could be.

For the first time all week, the pressure in my chest eased.

Jamie was still on my side.

Although…not everyone was.

Leah texted me a neatly bulleted packing list:
1. Sunscreen. 2. Snacks. 3. At least one hot-but-comfy outfit.

Classic Leah.

But Macy?

Macy reposted a blurry photo of Maddie and Liam by the pool. Matching drinks. Filtered lighting. That kind of casual intimacy that looks innocent if you squint hard enough — but I knew better.

Her caption was practically sung:

@macy_madsquad
#cabinpreppppp 💦🌲🔥

I stared at it.

Too long.

Macy and Maddie had always been like that — magnetic. Drawn to each other like stars locked in each other’s orbit. Maddie burned hot: fierce, fast, unapologetic. She made things happen. She pushed people. Sometimes too hard.

Macy loved it.

Me? I was always the ballast. Steady. Responsible. The one you leaned on, not the one you followed.

Macy didn’t orbit me. And now?

That closeness wasn’t just felt. It was broadcast.

Maddie and Macy: aligned. Shiny. Untouchable.

Zoe: drifting.

I shoved my phone deep into my bag before I let myself spiral into another comparison game I wasn’t going to win.

Instead, I pulled out my phone again and opened a different thread.

ZOE: Just got invited to a group lake trip. Full class. Friday to Sunday. Maddie and Liam will be there.

He replied within seconds.

JAXON: Let me guess: Jamie’s family owns it, Liam’s planning the playlist, Maddie’s designing matching hoodies?

ZOE: You’re disturbingly accurate.

JAXON: I know the enemy well. So… what are you gonna do?

ZOE: I said I’m fine.

JAXON: Liar.

ZOE: Rude.

JAXON: Sexy.

I rolled my eyes so hard I nearly sprained something.

ZOE: Anyway. Still good for tonight?

JAXON: Unless you’re chickening out.

ZOE: Not a chance.

JAXON: Then bring snacks and your self-control. We’ll only use one of them.

My stomach flipped. I stared at the screen for a second, unsure whether to laugh, groan, or drive to his house right now.

ZOE: You’re a menace.

JAXON: And yet, you said yes.

He wasn’t wrong. Tonight, I was going to Jaxon’s house. No plotting. No games.

Just junk food. A few bad movies.

And whatever it was that kept pulling us toward each other.