I spent the weekend with Dad at the hospital. It was better than being at home, where I was alone. The nurses were funny, and after a good night’s sleep, Dad was more awake and aware of his surroundings. We laughed and played some hospital-provided boardgames.

It was interesting. Most of them had missing pieces, so we had to improvise.

We kept our conversation light and fluffy. Apparently, Dad had picked up on the fact that Ms. Swallow and relationship had become trigger words for me, so he stayed clear of both.

If she-that-shall-not-be-named called, Dad didn’t tell me.

She did, however, text me once to let me know that Dad’s car was parked in the lot behind the hospital and how to find it.

So when I walked into Chemistry on Monday morning, I really wasn’t sure what to expect. Was she going to be nice to me? Mean?

Thankfully, the entire school had heard what had happened to Coach Davis, so I was peppered with condolences and questions about his recovery. It helped take my mind off the impending doom I was going to experience in Chem. Where Ms. Swallow and Tyson were.

I glanced to my table to see Tyson sitting at it. His gaze was focused on his textbook in front of him. I snorted. He’d finally decided to give a crap about his grade—now that I wasn’t going to be around to hold his hand.

I still wanted to be there for him. But just seeing the way his shaggy hair fell across his forehead, or the way he furrowed his brow as he read, was enough to cause my heart to pick up speed and tears to brim my lids.

I couldn’t do this. I had to get out of here.

Turning on my heel, I ran smack-dab into Ms. Swallow. Her eyes widened as she took in my expression.

“Are you okay, Destiny?” she asked, grabbing my elbow and pulling me out into the hall as the final bell rang.

I nodded, chewing my lip. There was no way I could spill to her what had happened over the weekend. I couldn’t tell her that I’d fallen for the quarterback—Dad’s sworn enemy. She’d run off and tell him in a heartbeat. Get Dad to stop trusting me so that she could swoop in and take my place.

“Is it your dad, honey? Are you worried about him?” She reached out and rested her hand on my arm. “Because I talked to him this morning, and they are going to release him tomorrow evening. I’m picking him up.”

My frustration turned to rage as her words sank in. “You’re what?” I asked. I was shouting now, but I didn’t care.

Dad hadn’t changed. Even after our conversation, where I’d basically told him that I didn’t want him dating Ms. Swallow, he’d gone ahead, behind my back, and talked to her.

Ms. Swallow raised her eyebrows. “I’m sorry. I thought he told you.”

I narrowed my eyes. “Don’t you think you’ve done enough? If it hadn’t been for you, Dad would have never been in that crosswalk.” I pointed my finger at her chest. “This is all your fault, and I want you to stay away from me and my dad.” My voice was shaking as hard as my hand was. I hadn’t felt this betrayed and hurt since Mom had pulled out of the driveway with Pedro in the front seat.

Ms. Swallow hesitated. I could see she had words lingering on the tip of her tongue, but then she nodded. “You’re right. I never took into consideration what this might do to you, Destiny. I decided to never date a student’s parent, and I guess I just rationalized it away saying he was more another teacher than a parent.” She sighed. “I’m sorry if I hurt your feelings.”

I scoffed, shocked that she was being so nice about this. It was making it hard not to hate her. She was genuine and cared. That was a lot more than I’d gotten from any other woman in my life.

“Thanks,” I said, my voice softening. Actually, my whole body was relaxing, making me feel light-headed. I leaned against the lockers for support. It was as if the realization of what had happened this weekend came crashing down around me, and my body was reacting from the weight.

“Destiny, are you going to be okay?” she asked, reaching out to touch my arm.

I nodded. “Yeah. I’m just really overwhelmed.”

“Maybe you should go home.”

“No,” I blurted out. That was the last place I wanted to be. “No, I’m okay. I—I just was wondering if I could swap lab partners. Tyson and I…” I eyed her, sizing her up. Could I trust her? I pushed the doubt from my mind. She’d already kept my previous secrets, there was no reason for her to spill anything to Dad now. “We had a falling out, and I think with what happened this weekend with my dad, I’m just not up to being around him right now.”

“Of course. I’ll switch you and Betsy.”

Relief flooded my chest as I pushed off the lockers and followed her into her classroom. The noise dropped off to whispers as we entered. I could feel Tyson’s gaze on me, but I kept my eyes trained to the floor while Ms. Swallow called Betsy up to the front and explained to her what was happening.

After Betsy agreed and gathered her things, I made my way over to her lab table and sat down next to Sam, my new partner. Thankfully, I was behind Tyson, so I didn’t have to worry about him staring at me. It felt oddly comforting, being in control like this.

The rest of class, I only let my gaze linger on the back of his head five times. I kept count in my head. One of those times, he glanced behind him and met my gaze—which I dropped instantly.

By the time the bell rang, I was exhausted and ready to get out of there. I didn’t wait around for anyone—I was the first person out the door. But as soon as I got out into the hall, I was stopped by a few football players who wanted a Boss update. I explained to them what had happened and that he was expected to come back to school by the end of the week.

They nodded and patted my back, pushing me forward a few inches, as they passed by me. I swallowed and glanced toward Ms. Swallow’s room. Had Tyson left yet?

I put my head down and headed to English. I needed to stop thinking about him right now if I was going to survive the rest of the year. Tyson and I were done. Finished.

When I got to the lunchroom, I’d successfully pushed him from my mind. Instead of thinking about the way his eyes lit up when he talked about Cori or the way he stared at me in an open and unabashed way, I’d resorted to singing ninety-nine bottles of beer on the wall.

Just as I got to ninety, a familiar hand grabbed my elbow, and I was pulled into the supply closet.

I didn’t have to turn around to know that Tyson would be standing behind me. But when I did, my heart leapt into my throat. His expression was one of concern with his lips downturned. When I met his gaze, he ran his hand through his hair.

“What do you want, Tyson?” I asked, forcing my voice to come out strong.

He glanced at me and then to the floor. “I—um—” I watched his shoulders rise as he took a deep breath. He wasn’t even sure why he’d pulled me in here.

“I’m fine. If you wanted to make sure you didn’t break this naive girl’s heart, let me put your worry at ease. I’m just fine.”

Stop saying fine, Destiny. He’ll know you’re most certainly not fine.

But I couldn’t let him know that he was breaking my heart, that being in this room—breathing the same air as him—was killing me. Slowly and painfully.

“How’s your dad?” he finally asked, glancing up at me.

He was hurting. It was written all over his face. He was in pain, and that realization gripped my chest and squeezed until I could barely breathe. “He’s fine,” I whispered. I wasn’t going to let him win. I would be the stronger person. After all, he had dumped me.

He nodded and then slowed. “And you?”

Hadn’t we already covered this? I’d told him about fifty times that I was fine. But I doubted he was even listening. He was too preoccupied with whatever he wasn’t saying.

“Listen, if you’re feeling guilty about what happened on Saturday, don’t. It was good, what you said, and ending this”—I waved between his chest and my own—“whatever it is, was smart. I’d promised my dad that I wasn’t going to date, and I was an idiot to think that lying to him so that I could be with you was a good idea. If something really bad had happened to my dad while we were together, I would have never been able to forgive myself.”

I forced a smile. It felt more like a jack-o-lantern grin than anything.

A wave of sadness passed over Tyson’s face. I tried not to let that sway my resolve.

Standing in this room with him one more minute just might kill me. Just being around him was breaking my resolve. I stepped past him, toward the door.

He reached out, grabbing my arm before I could leave. I was only inches from him. My breath caught in my throat as I hesitated. I knew, in a moment, I was going to have to look up at him. To have a front-row seat to his pain.

“It’s okay,” I whispered, raising my gaze to meet his.

Tyson swallowed hard and then glanced over at me. “I’m so sorry,” he said.

I nodded. “I know.”

We stood there in silence. I swore I could hear the beating of our hearts. I would have given anything to be able to tell him that I loved him. That I didn’t want to walk away. But I couldn’t. It wasn’t fair to him, and it was most certainly not fair to me.

I patted his hand then opened the door and left. As I walked down the hall toward English, I tried hard to fight back the tears. I guess one nice thing about having Dad in the hospital was that most people who saw me blubbering would assume it was because of him and not Tyson.

I walked into English and realized that I couldn’t do this. Two nights of sleeping propped up on the chair in Dad’s room plus the emotional baggage I was carrying around had taken its toll on me. All I wanted to do was crawl onto one of those leather cots in the nurse’s room and take a nap.

So that was what I did. Mr. Jones didn’t have a problem letting me go. It was probably because I looked like I was on the brink of breaking down. And as soon as I walked into the office, all the students got out of my way as I walked past them and into the nurse’s room.

I headed straight over to the first cot, and I curled up on it. I closed my eyes as Mrs. Tate took my temperature and blood pressure and then told me to rest. I nodded and closed my eyes, letting sleep take over me.