LOGINLUKE’S P.O.V We hit the locker room, change quickly, and head straight to the court. The squeak of shoes and the constant bounce of balls already fill the gym. Coach is in full form, barking orders like always, with Vincent right by his side. “Move your asses! This is the final game of your high school careers! I will not let you embarrass me out there!” We’re playing against the Red Devils, Chrashaw Prep again. All my years playing against them they won every game. They never failed to serve our asses on a platter, whether it was a home or an away game—they're that good. They have a winning streak, and they sure as hell didn’t want to break it now. But the Eagles are just as determined. Vincent claps his hands sharply, rounding everyone up. “Let’s go! Focus! Warm-ups first, then we run sets. Final game means no excuses!” I start my stretches, but Coach’s eyes lock on me almost immediately. “Ford!” he yells, storming over. “You pull that meltdown shit from last game again
LUKE’S P.O.V It killed me when I let Dre’s phone call go straight to voicemail this morning. It killed me to ignore her, but according to Ian, it needs to be this way. Ian suggested I ride with him to school; that way I wouldn’t have to give Dre a ride back home, leaving the chances of the sender catching us together down to zero. According to the pictures, the sender unfortunately has eyes everywhere, the school parking lot too. The list I wrote last night is currently folded and tucked safely in my back pocket. Ian only skimmed through it. His parents came home very late, so he had to attend to them. After his mum made us have dinner/ breakfast, we were both exhausted and slept immediately. As soon as we arrive at school, I give Ian the list to look at properly. The page is filled with my handwriting. Names, motives, question marks, and crossed-out lines. I lean back in the seat, rubbing my still tired eyes while Ian starts reading. He scans the list slowly, eyebrows raise
DRE’S P.O.VAfter hours and hours of lying awake, my alarm finally puts me out of my misery.The glow of my phone screen is the only light in the room. I keep staring at it, willing Luke to text or call me back, but the last message I sent him hours ago still sits unread. He’s at Ian’s. He’s supposedly ‘still’ asleep, but it’s seven in the morning; he has to be awake by now.While brushing my teeth, I call Luke again, hoping that this time he’s wide awake and already on his way to drive us to school. I can’t imagine going alone. Ruth is still mad, and I have a feeling she’ll confront me again and I don't want to face it alone. After I told Luke she knew about us, he went straight to her place to meet her himself. He never told me what happened when he was there— what he said to Ruth, or what she said to him. He came home afterwards and said there was nothing I needed to worry about, and that was it.But worrying is all I seem capable of. Worrying about what happened with him and
DRE’S P.O.VThe line connects after a third call.“Hello?” I call impatiently. “Luke, are you there?”A few seconds pass, and I finally get a response, but it’s not Luke.“Hi, Andrea,” the soft-spoken person responds. I immediately recognise the voice; it’s Ian’s.My cheeks still burn when I recall our last conversation. Ian caught Luke and me messing around in the locker room, and I haven't known how to face him ever since.“Hi, Ian...can you put Luke on the phone?” Luke did mention he’ll be staying at Ian’s, but then he changed his mind. At least, I thought he did. Why else would he leave me here alone tonight?“Uh, he’s asleep. Is everything okay?”I swallow hard. I just want to know if he’s fine, from him and not Ian. But if he’s asleep at Ian’s, everything should be okay then.“Yeah, everything’s fine,” I assure, forcing lightness into my tone. I just wanted to know if he’s okay... that’s all. Sorry I called, good night—”“Wait,” he cuts in. My ears perk up. I strain
LUKE’S P.O.V For the next two hours, Ian and I spend it scrolling and analysing every single picture we can get of Nathaniel. Group photos, selfies, we even got our hands on some family photos. We go through his entire socials. Posts he uploaded himself, posts he was tagged in, every single one we can find. It gets to the point when we have to ask a few guys and a couple of his first to send pictures they have of him too. They did, we search through each one. At the end of it, we gathered close to three hundred pictures of Nathaniel, and not one of them has a single piece of jewellery we're looking for. A black plaited bracelet. Whoever is in that video with, Dre wore it. It’s the only clue I could find. The only other options to get to the bottom of this are worse. It's either we: A- break into Nathaniel’s room to see if it somehow resembles the room in the video. Or B- show Dre the actual video and ask her directly who the guy is. Ian suggests we do the latter. “It’s th
LUKE’S P.O.V I drive straight to Ian’s instead of Dre’s. I need to think. I need someone who isn’t going to look at me with the whole time with those big, trusting eyes and ask why I sound off. Ian’s house is dark except for the basement light. His parents are probably still out. I let myself in, as always and head downstairs. He’s sprawled on the old couch, controller in hand, some shooting game paused on the TV. “Luke? Grab the controller; I’m about to play another round,” he says, barely looking at me before fixing his eyes on the screen again. “I’m good.” Ian frowns then pauses the game. His eyes scan over me. "The fuck happened to you? You look pale.” I drop onto the beanbag across from him and pull out my phone. “They fucking texted again.” My hands are still shaking a little as I hand him the phone. “It’s not Nathaniel.” Ian sits up straighter his game forgotten. “How do you know? You said you were sure it’s him.” “Yes, because he's the only person
DRE'S P.O.VNate's lips finally leave mine, and I'm blushing so hard."You know it doesn't have to end here, we can go in, finish what we started," he says with a wink.I unbuckle my seat belt. Nate has taken me home, and, as always, he tries to convince me to let him stay over. Like I do all the t
LUKE'S P.O.V Footsteps follow behind me. "Luke," she calls. I'm angry, but never at Dre. I turn. My face softens instantly, just at the sight of her. "Are you okay?" she asks me. I don't answer. Dre sighs. "We've talked about this. I'd really like you both to get along. Nate is my boyfriend,
BOYFRIEND DRE'S P.O.V (PRESENT DAY) I'm going to kill those girls. No one is going to stop me— not even my boyfriend. I tap my desk angrily, my eyes never leave the clock. Class isn't over till fifteen minutes. The English teacher is up front. Her class drags on for so long. She had gi
PROLOGUE (THREE YEARS AGO) LUKE'S P.O.V The sexiest girl in the entire school agreed to go on a date with me...Me, Lucas Ford! I couldn't contain the excitement I felt. My phone trembled in my hands as I re-read the text she had just sent me. *See you then* Nia fucking Saint, the sexie







