xxxx
“You’re quiet tonight.” Via’s mom packed away the deck of cards she’d been using to play solitaire.
“Just tired.” It wasn’t a lie. The never-ending wave of panic had lasted most of the day, but she’d managed to calm herself down by the time Zac and her parents had returned from town. She’d even managed to eat pizza with them. Now she was wiped out.
“You do look pale. I might take your temperature.”
“It’s my fault. I told her ghost stories last night,” Zac chimed in from his own bunk. “Sometimes I forget what a great actor I am.”
Their mom gave him a level glare. “Ghost stories? Really? You’re sixteen now, Zac, not ten.” She swung her attention back to Via. “Don’t forget your breathing. And remember what Doctor Randolph said—”
Via hugged the pillow to her chest. The only consolation was that her parents didn’t know about the photo, or that she’d been briefly dating Hudson.
“Mom, I’m fine. It was just a dumb…story. Don’t worry.”
“I’m having an early night. You might want to do the same.”
“Sure.” She waited until the bedroom door shut before turning to her brother. “Thanks for the save.”
“Least I could do. You want to talk?”
“No…I just need to sleep.”
Her brother didn’t answer and she crawled under the covers, her mind still spinning around. The comments on the post whirled through her mind like barbed arrows. Was this going to happen every time she and Hudson were together?
It wasn’t fair.
When it was the two of them it was fine. Being closed off from the world where no one could see them made her feel safe.
He made her feel safe.
But even if she wanted to, they couldn’t take home the protective dark skies of Camp Doom.
There was always going to be someone around. Especially now they were obviously worthy of being laughed at.
She hadn’t returned any of Hudson’s text messages, mainly because she didn’t know what to say. Last night she’d been his girlfriend. It had been perfect and wonderful. Until it wasn’t.
The worst thing was, it wasn’t anything he’d done. He’d been nothing short of amazing. But as the day had gone on and her shallow breathing had continued, she’d realized there was only one solution to make it go away.
Tears rolled down her cheeks, and she quickly stuffed her buds back in her ears. Music pumped in, trying to drown out the one thought that wouldn’t go away.
The only way for it to stop was for them to break up.
xxxx
Hudson was pretty sure he was going crazy. Yesterday had gone on forever. Via had sent him a text message at eleven last night to say she was fine but needed more time. Great. He’d had a girlfriend for a nanosecond before she got a panic attack because the world discovered she’d been kissing him.
Yup. Feeling really great about myself.
He swallowed.
That was unfair. Via was smart. She knew why she was freaking out, and he’d promised he was fine with it. And he was. If he could at least speak with her. His phone beeped with a text message, but it was just another one from his dad. Closely followed by one from his mom.
They were still arguing with each other, and he was still stuck in the middle.
So flattering. He deleted them both. There was only one person he wanted to hear from.
In the distance Zac was having a deep conversation with someone on his phone. He considered asking him where Via was but thought better of it. Zac might let his sister fight her own battles, but he wouldn’t betray her secrets.
Which meant he’d have to hunt her down.
How hard could it be?
An hour later he was regretting those words. His ankle hurt, and the sky was shimmering with heat. He’d searched everywhere. Well, apart from the tree, because that would be way too—
He let out a groan.
Too obvious.
Which was why she’d gone there. If only he’d been as smart as she was.
Sweat was beading on his brow by the time he reached the copse where it had all begun. There she was. Tanned legs stretched out along the branch, and her back pressed against the trunk. The branch was lower down and thicker than the last one. No doubt making sure she didn’t fall onto him again.
Via never did like to make the same mistake twice.
He swallowed and swung his crutches forward until he was standing at the base.
“Nice view up there?”
There was a rustling noise and a soft groan as she peered down at him. Glossy brown curls tumbled around her face, and her gray eyes were smudged with dark lines. He obviously wasn’t the only one who hadn’t slept.
“H-Hudson,” she stammered. “I…this isn’t what it looks like. I’m not avoiding you.”
“Clearly.” His throat tightened. Now he’d found her, he had no idea what to say. “I wanted to make sure you were okay.”
“I’m sorry.” Her face was statue-still as the color drained away. She closed her eyes, and his stomach clenched. Not quite the answer he wanted.
“What are you sorry for?”
There was more silence, apart from the rustle of insects and the sway of branches in the light breeze.
“This isn’t going to work.”
“Because of one lousy photo? Via, I know it freaked you out, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t…” He trailed off, not sure what was meant to come next. Date? Be together? Be friends?
“I thought I could do it, but I can’t.” Her voice was thick, like she’d been crying.
“Don’t I get a say?” he said as an all-too-familiar shaft of frustration slammed into his chest. His parents’ divorce. Getting palmed off for the summer vacation. Getting dumped. “I meant what I said. I don’t care how we do this, I just—”
“Hudson, I can’t. It’s too hard.”
The frustration morphed and rippled into anger. “Via, you can’t keep hiding up trees to avoid life.”
“That’s not fair.”
“Life isn’t fair.” His tangled life flashed in front of his vision, and he swallowed down a bitter bark of laughter.
“Hudson—” she said, and then broke off as
