The Heartbreakers by Pamela Wells Page B

about you and Drew. It’s a bummer. You’re a cool chick.” He winked. “Later.”
    She froze in the middle of the hallway, stunned.
    What did he mean by that? What was a bummer? Had Drew said something? Or more importantly, done something that she didn’t know about?
    The thought made her nauseous.
    As the bell rang overhead, she rushed to the bathroom and slammed the door into the wall behind it. She went into a stall and slid the lock in place. Kneeling on the floor, her face over a toilet, she breathed in deeply, trying to quell the nausea.
    When it subsided, she came out of the stall and sat on the metal bench along the wall. Was Craig serious? Or was he kidding around? It’d be just like him to try and start something between her and Drew. He was a jerk.
    But the more she thought about it, the more it made sense. Drew’s avoidance and Craig’s comment meant one thing: They were done.
    D-O-N-E.
    But they couldn’t be done! The last four days of Drew-silence had practically killed her. There was no way she could go another day. As it was, she felt like she was going to explode with anxiety at any minute.
    Just as the tears started rolling down her face, her phone vibrated in her backpack. She scrambled for it. It was a text message from Drew.
we’ll talk during lunch. lets meet at my truck after this hour.
    drew
    â€œThat’s it?” she muttered. There was no, “I love you.” No, “I miss you, too. This is a huge mess and I can’t wait to see you.”
    He was so cold and impersonal in the message that she hardly wanted to leave the bathroom, let alone talk with him at lunch. Maybe she should feign being sick and go home. Drew had always taken care of her when she was ill. And she did feel like vomiting.
    But what if he didn’t come over? And he spent another four days avoiding her? Four days might as well have been a year. She couldn’t go another four days! And if she wasn’t at school, then Nicole Robinson would take the opportunity to follow Drew around between classes and lunch…
    Sydney scowled at the thought. No way was she going to let that happen. Drew was hers. He’d always been hers.
    If he wanted to talk, then she’d talk, but she wasn’t going to allow the conversation to end with them being broken up for real.
    Sydney slipped into her black peacoat and buttoned it up to hide the hooded sweatshirt she’d stupidly put on today. She looked down at her gray Old Navy sweatpants and her scuffed charcoal Nikes. What had she been thinking this morning when she got dressed? She should have worn those Lucky Jeans her mom had bought her last fall. The ones that actually gave her a butt. She’d been so tired and depressed this morning that she hadn’t felt like putting in much of an effort getting dressed.
    Outside, the cloudy sky gave the day a gray cast. It was drab and dreary, matching her mood. She plunged her hands in the front pockets of her coat. Her breath puffed out in front of her in a white cloud.
    At the first aisle of cars, she stopped and scanned the vehicles for Drew’s truck. A couple ran past her toward a red car. The girl laughed at something the guy said. He smiled over the roof of the car as he fidgeted with the lock.
    What wouldn’t Sydney give to be that happy again? She could still turn back. If she didn’t talk to Drew, were they still going to be done? If she avoided it, maybe it wouldn’t happen.
    But then she felt a hand on her shoulder and she turned, electric blue eyes meeting hers.
    â€œDrew.”
    â€œReady?” he said, keys jingling in his hand. He’d used gel in his hair today so that the front of it stuck up in a crooked spike. She hated it when he gelled it. Maybe he’d done it on purpose, as if to say he didn’t care what her opinion was anymore.
    â€œYeah, I was just…looking for the truck.”
    â€œThird row,” he said, and