"So...how've you been?"

The all familiar gruffness of his voice felt like sandpaper scraping against my ears. I counted the cracks in wooden table we sat at, and then the brown specks in the tiles on the floor. Anything to avoid actually making eye contact with Jayden Calhoun.

Life in Florida seemed to have changed Jayden on the outside, giving his skin that "just back from a tropical vacation" glow, and the messy mop of thick brown hair he used to sport had been cut short. Sure he looked kind of different, but I could tell from the crooked half-grin he gave me and the glint of deviousness in his green eyes that on the inside, he was still the same.

"Fine," I huffed. "Totally fine."

If fine was the same as floating on a piece of driftwood in the middle of the ocean with no land in sight, then yes, I was fine.

12 cracks in the table. 70 something specks on the floor. I had lost count when Jayden sighed and reached across the table to put his hand on mine. I jerked away, which prompted another sigh from him.

"Kenendy...what happened?" he asked as he raked his hand through his hair.

"You're going to have to be a little more specific than that," I replied dryly.

"Well...you left." He sputtered out. "You left without saying anything, and you broke up with me over a text message when you were already in California."

"Yes, I left," I shot back. "And yes, I dumped you. I'm sorry it was over a text message, but in the moment, that was really all I could manage to do. I'm tired of having to justify my actions to everyone. It's not a god damn crime to leave this town. You left too."

"Okay, okay, I'm sorry." Jayden held his hands up in defense. "You're right. It's been a long few years, and I think we've both grown up a little."

I nodded tersely, but I had nothing else to say to him. What was the point? It could have been really easy to blame him for everything. Dating Jayden was the catalyst to the hurricane that came down on me. Maybe if Jayden hadn't been such a bad boyfriend, I wouldn't have cheated on him with Grey. Maybe if I hadn't been sneaking around with Grey, we could have paid more attention to Leah. Maybe...

Jayden cleared his throat to fill the heavy, painfully awkward silence. "Look, I know I didn't make things that easy for you. I was kind of a shitty boyfriend, and I'm sorry." The word sorry came flicking off his tongue. "I'm hoping maybe I could be a halfway decent friend while I'm back in town."

"I mean...I guess won't put salt in your coffee," I shrugged. Maybe it just wasn't worth it to take it all out on Jayden, and maybe it was time to start accepting some of the blame, but I wasn't ready. I was tired. Way too tired to care.

"That's a start. I'll take it."

He gave me that charming, white-toothed smile he had always used on me. It used to make my stomach flip and my knees wobble. Now I just felt sick.

"Can I ask you something though?"

I couldn't hold back an eye roll. "I mean, you're going to anyway even if I say no, so go ahead."

Jayden rubbed the back of his neck again. A blotchy redness spread across his chest even against his tan skin. He tripped over his words. "I mean not that I care, and I'm over it...it's really just out of curiosity..."

"Come on, spit it out," I groaned.

"All that stuff with Grey Fischer..." his said in a low voice. "And all that stuff he said about you two...that wasn't true, was it? I always assumed he was just trying to get under my skin but...I just wanna know."

I felt bile burn the back of my throat. "What did he say?"

"Something about how he's the one who took your virginity instead of me. At like, homecoming senior year or something." Jayden clicked his tongue. "I uh...I don't remember exactly, it was a long time ago. I still beat the crap out of him, mostly just because I wanted to for a long time, but..." he cleared his throat again. "Like I said I don't care, just curious."

Despite the fact that he did it often, Jayden had always been a bad liar, and it still hadn't been a skill he acquired as he grew up. Unfortunately I was a bad liar too, which is why I couldn't even mutter out a no, that's not true or Grey's crazy, he made it all up.

My insides felt like they were being put through a blender. At first I thought I was going to vomit, but as I kicked myself away from the table and stood up, in my dizzying trance I just saw pure, seething red.

"Wait, Kennedy, where are you going?" I heard Jayden's voice, but he was already far away.

"To go hit someone," I called back as I dashed out the door of the coffee shop.

Fat tears trickled down my cheeks as I kicked around rocks with the toe of my boots. The chilly, fall air bit at my bare legs, and I could hear my mother's voice in the back of my head telling me I should have worn pantyhose.

"I figured I'd find you out here."

A blast of music and light came spilling out of the open door of the gymnasium-turned-dance floor, and Grey walked over to me, draping his suit jacket over my shoulders. Even just standing next to me, he filled my body with warmth.

"You okay?" he asked.

I sniffed and dabbed away the tears on my cheeks with the backs of my hands. "Fine. I'm fine."

"Well, you made quite an exit after they named Kelsey Medina homecoming queen instead of you," he said as he bumped my shoulder.

"I don't care that much about not being homecoming queen," I said with a groan. "I guess I just thought my homecoming king boyfriend would care a little more. Instead he just went off with his crown and his queen and his friends and...conviniently forgot me here."

"Jayden? Care?" Grey said with a snort. "That's a little idealistic, don't you think?"

I rolled my eyes and huffed out a breath. "I know."

"Besides, kings are overrated. The knights are the ones that rescue the princesses and damsels in tall towers, right?"

Grey offered me his hand, but I gently pushed it away and gave him a dry chuckle. "I don't need rescuing, Grey."

"I know," he shrugged. "But just so you know, it's okay if you do need to be rescued sometimes. I mean, sometimes there is no easy way out of the tall tower. Sometimes, you just need a guy with a ladder."

"And I suppose you have a ladder?" I quirked an eyebrow at him, and I couldn't stop the smirk from pulling at my lips.

"As a matter of fact, I do."

When Grey offered me his hand again, I took it without hesitation, and we disappeared into the night.