"You hooked up with Jax?" Mi Yun asked while me and my girls stood in our corner in the storage room.

        "We only made out," I said with my voice quiet.

        "That's still hooking up," Sadaf made sure to remind me.

        "What's the threshold for hooking up?" I asked.

        "Making out," Sadaf said, listing off on her fingers, "petting, oral sex, going all the way..."

        "Physical contact," Mi Yun elaborated.

        "So cuddling is hooking up?"

        Mi Yun and Sadaf paused to think about it.

        "It doesn't matter," Mi Yun said. "You guys hooked up. We know that much."

        The bell rang, so we began putting our instruments together. "What're you going to do about Brice?" Sadaf asked.

         "Yeah," Mi Yun said, "I don't like the guy and all, but you have to think about him. How's this gonna work? If all three of you are into that polyamorous lifestyle, then you're good."

        I wrinkled my nose. I wasn't.

        I groaned. "Don't remind me."

        I avoided contacting Brice the whole weekend. Now, it was Monday. I had to face him in psych and then at lunch. Speaking of lunch, I also had to face Jax—in French, too. I didn't mind that. I was looking forward to seeing him, especially since he didn't contact me all of Sunday, despite me texting him. It was fine. He was probably just busy dealing with his dad and all the family drama.

        "You and Jax need to figure out what you want," Mi Yun said, "so you can stop wasting Brice's time or so you can stop wasting each other's time."

        "What you're saying makes logical sense," I agreed.

        "You're not being logical right now, are you?" Sadaf said, and I shook my head.

        Mi Yun walked over to wrap an arm around me as the three of us exited the storage room for class. "It's okay. We'll be the logical ones for you."

        This was why I needed my girls. Band went as normal, and I endured my other classes. When it was time for psychology, I slowed my pace in the hallway, and it took me longer to get to class. I was hoping the class would get filled up, and Brice and I wouldn't have to sit together, but when I entered the classroom, my gaze instantly locked with Brice's.

        He flashed me a dimpled smile. "Estella, over here." He removed his book bag from the seat beside him. "I saved you a seat."

        Of course, he did. As I made my way over to him, that small gesture made the guilt intensify. When I sat down, he maintained his smile.

       "You've been M.I.A. this weekend," he said as I got settled in. "Everything okay?"

        I cleared my throat. "Perfect," I replied. "Just busy, that's all. It was a hectic weekend."

        He nodded. "Makes sense. You're a smart one—hardworking, too." He smirked. "Intelligence and a good work ethic is sexy in a woman."

        My heart melted, and that statement reminded me of why I liked Brice so much. First, he was mostly a pretty face, but the more I got to know him, the more I liked him as a person. He wasn't a bad guy, after all.

        Class started not long after, but Brice and I found a way to sneak in some conversations here and there. We never got called out. Maybe Mr. Clines was more accepting of talkative students than Madame LeBlanc, or maybe Brice and I were slick in that class. Either way, it was great talking to him.

        When it was time for French, I had to refrain myself from running to class. I had to see Jax, so we could see how things were post-weekend. It was one thing to act a certain way in the heat of the moment, and it was another story when we were faced with reality. When I arrived, Jax was already seated with his Beats headphones on as he stared ahead. I grinned as I made my way over to him.

        When I placed my things down and got seated, he didn't glance my way. "Jax?" I said, trying to get his attention. He still didn't look at me, so I removed his headphones, and he sighed. "What's up?" He looked at me with little interest and maybe even annoyance. My smile wavered. "You okay?"

        "I just wanna listen to music." He put his headphones back on and continued staring ahead.

        I stared at him in disbelief. He couldn't be serious, but he was. Throughout the whole class, whenever I tried talking to him—because that was what we did—he always brushed me off. He even told me at some point that he wanted to listen to Madame LeBlanc, and that he didn't want to get in trouble. Since when? We always got in trouble, and we embraced it.

        I gave up after a couple minutes, but I could hardly focus since most of my attention was on Jax and why he was being so strange.

        It didn't get better at lunch. I even tried talking to Jax more and keeping my attention on him, but he continued to be dismissive. He barely talked to anyone and mostly sat silently eating his food. Even with Brice talking to me, I could barely understand what he was saying since my mind was on Jax.

        After school ended, I waited at the vending machine, keeping an eye out for Jax. When Brice came into my line of vision, we smiled at each other.

        "Hey, Estella," he greeted while stopping in front of me. "Waiting for me?"

        I sucked air through my teeth. "Not quite. I'm waiting for Jax."

        Brice chuckled. "Damn. Couldn't even lie to make me feel good."

        "Nothing personal, Brice." I kept on sneaking a glimpse at the hallway I knew Jax would come out of.

        Brice rubbed the back of his neck. "What's up with you and Velasco? You've both been acting kind of weird today."

        "Nothing," I said right as I spotted Jax walking past us and heading for the exit. "I'll talk to you later, Brice. Bye!"

        "Estella!"

        I was already running to catch up to Jax, who didn't even acknowledge my presence. "Where're you going?" I asked.

        We walked out of the school, side by side with his pace slightly ahead of mine. "Home," he answered, and I waited for him to say more, but he didn't.

        I followed him into the parking lot, and when Verda came into view, I broke the silence. "Can you give me a ride home?"

        "That's not a good idea." He opened the car door, and I hopped in anyway. "Estella..."

        "We have to talk," I said while buckling myself in. "I don't care if you don't want to talk, we're going to talk." He sighed, but he hopped in and sparked the car to life. As he reversed out of the parking space, I said, "What's wrong with you?"

        "Nothing."

        "Something has to be wrong," I said as he drove off school grounds. "We spend the weekend together and even hookup, and now you're treating me like yesterday's news. We didn't even have sex."

        I was glad we didn't have sex if this was how he was going to act afterwards.

        "We just kissed." He wouldn't look at me. "Stop making it a bigger deal than it has to be."

        I stared at him—not knowing what to say at first. "What's going on? Why're you acting so cold and aloof? Even before this weekend, you never treated me like this."

        His grip tightened on the wheel. "Don't worry about it."

        I rubbed my forehead and stared out the window for a couple seconds. Then I decided to test him. "I'm ending things with Brice."

        He inhaled and exhaled slowly. "Why?"

        "I don't want to waste his time," I said. "I don't know if I can be with him after what happened between us. I have to let him go."

        I wasn't sure if I wanted to let Brice go, but I wanted to see how Jax would react to this.

        It took him a couple seconds to reply. "Don't."

        I blinked a couple times. "What?"

        "Don't end things with Brice," he said. "I'm not leaving Ximena."

        My mouth stayed opened with no words coming out. "But—"

        "This weekend was a mistake." He said all this, still not looking at me. "Don't end things with Brice over a silly weekend."

        My chest tightened from his words. "I thought you liked me. I like you, too."

        I did like him. That was the only thing I was absolutely sure of.

        He swallowed. "You don't know what you want, Estella."

        "I do." I turned in my seat to face him, even though his focus remained ahead. "I'll end whatever this is between me and Brice."

        I would. I just needed his confirmation that this was real. That we were doing this and that we would have a plan. That was all I needed to give up the guy I'd been crushing on since freshman year.

        "Don't bother," Jax said. "There is no us, and there never will be."

        We were almost at my house, but I didn't care. I only watched him in disbelief. This couldn't be happening. Why was he acting like this?

        "What happened?" I finally asked when he parked into my driveway. "What happened with your dad? What happened when you got home to change your mind?" He killed the engine and leaned back in the seat with a blank stare on his face. "We were fine—more than fine. What changed that? Did your dad threaten you?"

        "Estella!" He finally looked me in the eye with a glare, and I leaned back from his stare. His gaze softened, but his lips remained in a thin line. "Not everyone wants to be with you. Get over it."

        I shook my head. "Something happened. I'm not stupid."

        No one did a complete 180 without a reason. Something was going on with Jax, and I knew it had to do with his father.

        His demeanor relaxed with his cold expression intact. "Be with Brice and I'll be with Ximena, but me and you aren't going to be together. I was in a vulnerable place, and we both mistook that for something else. Now, we know. You can leave now."

        I eyelids became heavy, but I curled my lips into my mouth to prevent myself from showing any kind of weakness. "I always thought you were a sweet guy. Someone who respected women and cared for them. I guess I was wrong."

        I grabbed my things and opened the car door to get out. As I walked up the driveway, Jax called out my name, and I stopped.

        I turned around, with a glimmer of hope bursting through me that I'd somehow knocked some sense into him.

        He stared at me for a second with various emotions flashing across his features, but it eventually settled on that cold expression. "Good luck with Brice."

        My heart broke a little, and I turned around and ran for my front door. I fumbled to unlock the door, and once it gave way, I ran into my house. Daddy sat on the dining room table, but I completely ignored him and made it for the steps.

        "Bunny, what's wrong?" he asked, but I was already halfway up the stairs.

        When I reached my bedroom, I dropped my things onto the floor and threw myself onto my bed, bawling into my pillow as soon as I landed. I couldn't believe I was crying over a guy. Jax of all people.

        I didn't even recognize him anymore. He was so cold and emotionless. I'd never seen Jax like that—ever. Even when we first started talking, there was always this warmth about him that he seemed to suppress. Now, I didn't know what to call him because I'd never seen this side of Jax before.

        This side that was nothing like the boy I thought I liked.

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* What do you guys think about the repercussions of Jestella's hookup? Jax's behavior? What's in store for them? Comment your thoughts.