If you're loved by someone, you're never rejected, decide what to be and GO BE IT
-The Avett brothers
Recommend Reading Introduction to Unproven
DEFINITELY READ Prologue
Chapter One Chapter Two Chapter Three
Chapter Four Chapter Five Chapter Six
Chapter Seven Chapter Eight Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten Chapter Eleven Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen Chapter Fourteen Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen Chapter Seventeen Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen Chapter Twenty Chapter Twenty One
Chapter Twenty Two Chapter Twenty Three Chapter Twenty Four
Chapter Twenty Five Chapter Twenty Six Chapter Twenty Seven
Chapter Twenty Nine
“Andie, what is it?” Ary grabbed her friend’s shoulder, shaking it lightly. “You’ve been acting weird all day.”
“Have I?” Andie turned her face away and took a sip of her drink, her eyes darting around the low-key restaurant as she gathered her courage. This is it, she thought, lay it out there. She turned to face her and opened her mouth just as her phone started ringing. She glanced at it. Toby. She pressed ignore, determined to get out what she’d come here to say. “I…,” Her phone started ringing again and she answered it in frustration. “Hey let me call you ba…,” She was interrupted by the sound of yelling, not directed at her. “Toby? What’s wrong?”
“What is it?” Ary asked anxiously.
Andie focused on her, “Uh, not sure, hold on.” She tried to make out what was going on in the background without success.
Ary dug money out of her purse and threw it on the table to cover their bill. “You should go over there.”
Andie nodded distractedly. “Yeah, you don’t mind?”
“Not at all. I’ll have Grayson pick me up.”
Andie’s gaze snapped back, “I can drop you off.”
“No, that’s way out of your way and besides I want to check out that music fest a couple of blocks over, I’ll have him meet me.”
Andie frowned.
“It’s fine, really, just call me later and fill me in.” Ary smiled reassuringly.
Andie nodded, “Okay. Do you think we can do this again soon?”
Ary’s brows drew together, “Sure, is there something…”
Andie put a hand on her arm. “Yeah, I do need to talk to you about something, so soon, ‘kay?”
“Yeah, okay,” Ary answered slowly, worry lacing her tone as she watched her friend hurry out of the cafe. She wondered what she wanted to talk about. Toby? As far as she knew her friend’s relationship hadn’t progressed beyond ‘friends with benefits’, and every time she’d asked about it Andie told her sex had yet to come into it. Unless she hadn’t been honest. She’d seemed so nervous…Ary shook her head, smiling wryly as she realized that with Andie there was no way she was going to guess. She’d just have to wait and see.
**
The music fest had been fun, though part of what had made it fun was that she'd had Grayson to herself, so when Amanda called later that evening she decided to ignore it. Grayson was getting a movie ready for them in the Theater and she was looking forward to sharing popcorn and making out with no interruptions. A minute later her phone rang again and she slouched down in the reclining seat and sighed. She'd let it go to voicemail once more, and if she called again she'd just have to tell her that they were having a night alone.
She called again.
"Hello," Ary answered, hiding her irritation.
"Hey! Did you hear what happened with Toby and Andie?"
Ary sat up straighter, "No. She was supposed to call….Why what's going on?"
"Apparently Toby's parents announced that they were moving to Boston and he threw a fit, said he wasn't leaving the girl he was going to marry. Marry, can you believe that? Anyway she broke it off with him, and I guess he's heartbroken."
A
ry blinked, "Wow. So he…I thought they weren’t official, when did that change?"
"That's the thing, it didn't, Andie had no idea he felt that way. She said that she tried to let him down as gently as she could, telling him that they were too young to think about the future, but he was adamant so she had to tell him she didn't feel the same. Isn't that nuts?"
"Yeah, poor Toby. So Andie called you?" She asked, feeling a little hurt.
"No she called Sonya and Sonya called me."
"Oh." Well that was a little better, but she still felt left out.
"Yeah, so what are you guys doing?"
Ary grimaced, "Um, we're going to bed. We had a long day, went to the music fest and had a few drinks."
"Oh, okay, I'll see you tomorrow then."
"Yeah, see you tomorrow."
She disconnected the call and sighed. It was reasonable for Amanda to want to hang out tomorrow, so why did it depress her? Because it's Grayon she wants to hang out with. The thought was disquieting. Not because her friend had a bit of a crush on him, she understood how that could happen with the way he treated her. But...it was something else. Because she would act on it if given the chance. She shook her head. No, she thought firmly, that's not fair, you don't know that. She frowned.
"Hey, what's going on?" Grayson showed up next to her, his eyes narrowed in concern.
She looked up at him, feeling guilty for her train of thought. In the past eight years none of her friends had ever betrayed her, she wasn't going to start questioning them now. She forced a small smile and proceeded to tell him about Toby and Andie, hoping he would think it was the reason behind the look of distress she must have been wearing.
"Marry her?" He responded incredulously then laughed shortly. "What a dumbass." He stepped over her and slid into the seat next to her.
"Hey, she's a great girl," she said defensively, "I get why he'd feel like that, they're just a little young to be thinking along those lines."
"You think?" Gray raised an eyebrow and shook his head, then nodded to the screen in front of them. "The movie's about to start."
She leaned into him as he draped his arm around her. Her friends were good people Amanda included she told herself, and that was that. She snuggled into Grayson's warmth and smiled in anticipation as the screen lit up.
**
A few days later Grayson stood over Ary's napping form and allowed himself a moment of tenderness. She looked like an angel, her blonde hair spread out on his pillow, her face serene. He leaned down and pressed a soft kiss on her forehead and his heart squeezed when a smile played over her perfect pink lips. Eight weeks, he thought.
Eight weeks since she'd fallen into his life. The beginning of the end, right on schedule. In four-weeks’ time the essence of her would be mangled beyond recognition. The final week being the first week of school, which meant there would be a rather large audience to witness her fall. A merciless audience, he thought with a grimace as Brooke and her posse flitted across his mind's eye. He gave her one last lingering look and crossed the room to his desk, taking out a burner phone. He tapped out a message then slipped the phone back in a drawer and walked out of the room leaving the door ajar.
As he made his way downstairs he texted Amanda and told her to come over. She'd be in her car in a minute or less, which meant that she'd beat Sonya to the door by at the very least ten minutes depending on what the girl was doing. Showtime, he thought, and jogged down the remaining steps.
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