Chapter 2

A few days later, the whispers started.

I saw her before I heard them, Tiffany Hayes, the new transfer student, already a fixture by Kevin's side.

She was wearing Kevin's old varsity football jersey, the one I had cherished, the one he' d demanded back.

She was laughing, her head thrown back, as she showed off a handful of concert ticket stubs to a group of fawning girls, loudly proclaiming how Kevin had shared these "precious memories" only with her.

My memories. Our memories. Now, props in her little show.

Chloe, my best friend, saw it too, her eyes narrowing. Chloe was fiercely loyal, her temper a match for her bright red hair.

"That absolute jerk," Chloe seethed, grabbing my arm. "He gave her your stuff? After two days?"

She stormed over to Kevin and Tiffany before I could stop her.

"Seriously, Kevin? You took Sarah's gifts back just to give them to your new flavor of the week?" Chloe's voice cut through the hallway chatter.

Tiffany, ever the actress, immediately looked distressed, her eyes welling up.

"Oh, I didn't know," she simpered, clutching the jersey. "Kevin just said these were special things he wanted me to have."

She then turned to me, a malicious glint in her eyes. "Are you jealous, Sarah? That Kevin moved on so fast?"

Kevin wrapped an arm around Tiffany protectively.

"Lay off, Chloe," he sneered, then looked at me with disdain. "Yeah, Sarah, don't be so pathetic. It's just a stupid jersey."

"It was more than a jersey to me, Kevin, and you know it," I said, my voice low but firm. "It represented years of friendship, of what I thought was love."

"Well, you thought wrong," Kevin spat, his face uncomfortably close. "Tiffany's here now. Deal with it."

The casual cruelty in his voice was familiar, a painful echo of past hurts.

"I am dealing with it, Kevin," I said, meeting his gaze. "By realizing you're not worth another second of my time."

His eyes flashed with anger. He didn't like being dismissed.

"You think you're so much better than everyone, don't you?" he snarled.

And then, he shoved me.

Not hard enough to make me fall, but hard enough to send me stumbling back a step, hard enough for the a gasp to ripple through the students watching.

The shock on Chloe' s face mirrored the sudden, cold clarity in my mind.

This wasn't just about a jersey or hurt feelings anymore.

This was him, his true nature, raw and aggressive.

I straightened up, looking him directly in the eye.

"Thank you, Kevin," I said, my voice surprisingly steady. "You just made my decision to cut you out of my life completely a whole lot easier."

I turned, Chloe at my side, and walked away, leaving him standing there with Tiffany clinging to his arm, the murmurs of the crowd following us down the hall.

That shove, that single act of aggression, erased any lingering doubt.

He was toxic, and I was finally immune.