The voice of Daniel Johns filled the room as Exhale struggled to finish her Spanish homework. It was one of her favorite subjects, and normally she would have no trouble completing the worksheets. But her mind was heavy with other thoughts about Raine and Taylor and what an idiot she had been lately. Suddenly the door burst open and Echo entered the room with an annoyed look on her face. “Mom said turn the music down. And she wants to know what you want on your tacos,” she said prissily.

Exhale rolled her eyes before reaching over to lower the volume on her stereo. “Quiero queso, los tomates, y la lechuga. ¿Cuándo es ir de cena de estar listo?”

Glaring hard at her sister, Echo yelled down the stairs, “Mom! She’s answering me in Spanish again!”

“Exhale Annalise, answer your sister in English!” came Magdalen’s reply from the first floor.

“I said I want cheese, tomatoes, and lettuce. And when’s dinner going to be ready?”

“In a few minutes,” Echo snapped before leaving.

Exhale ignored her and turned back to her desk. Her eyes wandered across the many pictures of herself and Raine tacked up on her bulletin board until one in particular caught her attention. It was one her mother had taken of Exhale, Raine and Taylor at Ethan’s birthday party after the Lenders family had left and the three of them had been sitting together, lined up against the fence talking. Exhale’s face drooped visibly. Raine hadn’t spoken a word to her since their argument three days before, so Exhale had spent the last three lunches sitting alone in the library thinking that anything had to be better than eating alone in the cafeteria. And she also hadn’t decided whether or not to tell Taylor about Rory, so she had been deftly avoiding his phone calls for the past few days also. She had never felt more alone in her entire life.

She wasn’t sure how long she had been daydreaming when Ethan stuck his head in the room and said, “Dinner’s ready.”

Exhale nodded, the dazed expression still on her face. “Coming.”

“You okay?”

Her mouth opened to say yes, but she thought better of it and shook her head instead. “No.”

“Anything you wanna talk about?” If there was one thing Ethan was wonderful at, it was being a concerned older brother.

With a sigh, Exhale shrugged and stood up from her desk chair. “Not right now. Let’s just go
eat.”

A few hours later, Exhale found herself sitting on her bed, the phone receiver in her hand and her heart pounding loudly in her chest. Her fingers slowly pressed the seven digits she had known nearly her whole life and waited nervously for someone to answer on the other end. She was about to hang up dejectedly when she finally heard someone say, “Hello?”

“Hey, Raine…it’s me.”

“I know, what do you want?” Raine asked in a biting tone.

Exhale sighed. “I want to apologize. I was a jerk and I was upset but I took it out on you, and I’m sorry, Raine. I didn’t mean any of it. And I can’t stand having you mad at me anymore.”

Seconds of silence slipped by before Raine replied, “I’m sorry too, Hale. I’m supposed to be the one who knows you the best, and I should have known you were just upset.”

“So we’re friends again?” Exhale said with a smile even though she already knew the answer.

“Course we are,” Raine said, her voice back to its usual cheery tone. “Hey, can I sleep over Saturday night? My parents are going to some banquet for my dad’s work and you know how much I hate being home by myself.”

“Yeah, sure. I’ll see if my mom can bring us to the mall or something during the day if you want.”

“That’ll be cool. So have you figured out what you’re going to do about Taylor?”

“I’m not sure,” Exhale confessed. “I’m just so confused. I’ve never had to deal with anything like this, you know? And he and I get along so well…I don’t want to lose him as a friend over some stupid girl.”

“Well, I’ve been thinking about it too, and I think you should tell him,” Raine stated assertively. “I mean, if it was me, I’d want you to tell me. He might get pissed or not believe you, but it’ll be his own fault in the end when he gets hurt. And on the plus side, he may see how much you care about him…hint hint.”

Exhale laughed. “Yeah, I guess you’re right. I’ll be helping me and him. Because Lord knows, I cannot stand that girl.”

“Good,” said Raine approvingly. Exhale could almost see her smiling on the other end of the line. “I gotta go, though. My mom’s bugging me to fold the clothes. I’ll see you by the lockers tomorrow?”

“Bright and early,” Exhale replied before hanging up. Before she could lose the sudden burst of confidence her talk with Raine had given her, she quickly lifted the receiver back to her ear and dialed Taylor’s number. After a chaotic few minutes of waiting for Avery to give the phone to Taylor and hearing some strange snatches of conversation in the background as she waited, Taylor’s voice finally filled her ear in greeting. “Hey, Taylor. It’s Exhale.”

“Oh, hey. Haven’t heard from you in awhile. What’s up?”

“Okay…well…umm…I need to talk to you about something,” Exhale stammered nervously. The confidence had evaporated as soon as she realized she had no idea how to go about telling him what she was about to tell him.

“Okay…about what?” Taylor asked cautiously.

“It’s about Rory,” Exhale said quickly. Her voice caught in her throat and she tried to make something sensible come out next but her mind was a whirlpool of jumbled thoughts.

“What about her?” he urged when Exhale didn’t continue.

“Okay…” Exhale took in a deep breath before continuing. “I was walking in the hall a few days ago…Monday morning, after the concert. A-and I heard Rory…talking to Clarice Harden. I wasn’t eavesdropping, but I stopped because I heard them say my name. And then she started talking about you-”

“What’d she say?” Taylor interjected quickly, his voice sounding slightly cautious, but very curious.

“Well…she said…she said that she’s only dating you because you’re famous. And I hate being the one to have to tell you this but you’re my friend and I’d feel awful if I stood back and let her hurt you. But I don’t want you to think I was meddling in your relationship because-” She broke off, not knowing what else to say.

Taylor was silent for a long time. Just as Exhale was about to make sure he was still on the line, he said, “Thanks, Haley. I really appreciate you telling me.”

“You mean…you’re not mad at me?” she asked in a shocked tone.

“Mad in general, but not at you…Why would you think I’d get mad at you? You spared me a lot of shit from that girl,” Taylor answered.

“I don’t know, I just thought…”

With a laugh, Taylor said, “Haley, that’s your problem. You think too much. You let things swim around in your head so long that they go from something tiny to some huge dramatic dilemma, just like you did over Ethan’s present. Don’t think so much. Do what you think is right.”

“I know, I know,” she said with a smile cracking over her until-then somber face. “Blowing things out of proportion is the one thing I excel at. I’ll try to chill it out from now on.”

“Well, listen, I’m going to call her and break up with her. In all honesty, I’ve kind of been looking for an excuse for awhile now. And don’t worry, I won’t tell her you said anything.”

“All right. I should be honest with you though…I didn’t like her from the beginning. But I could tell you did so that’s why I said I was fine with it that day you came to school and asked me.”

“That means a lot to me, Haley,” he said softly.

“No problem, Tay. Good luck. Hopefully she doesn’t put a curse on you or anything.”

Exhale hung up the phone and sighed contentedly. Finally everything was back to normal and she could breathe a little easier. Her best friend wasn’t mad at her anymore, and she no longer felt the heavy burden of knowing Rory’s true feelings towards Taylor. And yet, she still didn’t find herself completely happy. Part of her had come up with this fantastical idea that when Taylor found out Rory didn’t really like him, he’d realize he’d really had feelings for her all along. When it finally sank in that she didn’t have a chance, it only made her hate herself even more for letting herself be so vulnerable.

INDEX | CHAPTER ELEVEN