Exhale glanced around the classroom of her Psychology class and realized she was one of the few students still awake. Mrs. Meteye had a habit of lulling her classes to sleep with her melodic voice and boring approach to the subject. Knowing that she’d soon fall victim to the voice as well, Exhale slipped out of her desk and hurried out the door towards the bathroom. She sighed heavily as she pushed the heavy door open, happy to escape. She was greeted by Rory Lenders turning sharply towards her with a startled gasp. Her face was red and it was obvious she had been crying, but still she managed to twist her pretty features into a sneer and spit out, “Oh, it’s you.”

“You act like I was planning to converse with you anyway,” Exhale snapped back in reply, stepping inside the bathroom and letting the door swing closed behind her.

“Don’t give me that innocent bullshit. I know you’re just coming to rub it in my face that everyone and their grandma’s talking shit about me.”

“What the hell are you talking about?” Exhale asked.

“Don’t pretend like you haven’t heard. Everyone has.”

In that instant, Raine’s words echoed in Exhale’s head. Still though she was confused, because she hadn’t believed the rumor from day one. “If it’s not true, then why do you care what people are saying?”

“Why do you think?” Rory said, spinning away from the mirror once again and looking Exhale straight in the eyes. “Because it is true, okay? I got pregnant, had an abortion, and got kicked out of school. There. So now you can run through the halls and tell all your little friends the truth. Oh wait. You don’t have any friends.”

Exhale ignored Rory’s last insult and said, “You know I’d never do that or you wouldn’t have told me in the first place. So what? So you made a mistake…then there was this loud pop when your head came out of your ass and you realized you’re not as perfect as you think you are. No one’s perfect, Rory. And I bet there’s some people in this school with worse backgrounds than that, you’re just the one unlucky enough to have it spread around.”

Rory’s face remained fixed and hard, glaring at Exhale harder than she’d ever glared at anyone in her life. But eventually, her wall of protective bitchiness collapsed. Her lip began to quiver and her eyes filled with tears. “God, I’m such a horrible person. I treated Taylor like shit. I’ve been a complete bitch to you because…”

“Because why?” Exhale encouraged, eager to hear the rest of the statement. “Why were you like that to me? What had I ever done to you?”

“Exhale, maybe it didn’t seem like it, but I really really liked Taylor and I wanted him to like me that way but…there you were. He talked about you all the time, he was always on the phone with you or hanging out with you. I was…I don’t know, jealous. But if you ever tell anyone I said that, I swear I’ll kill you.”

Exhale struggled not to laugh. “You were jealous of me? I can’t even begin to understand that, Rory.”

“Well, it’s true.” The tears that had been pooling in her eyes began spilling over her cheeks. “I wish I could just be my own person. I’ve always just leached onto someone and acted the way they act and not the way I want to be. I let Clarice basically tell me what to do about everything…and I’m such a bitch to people when they’ve done nothing to deserve it.” She raised her shaky hands to her face and sobbed into them. “My own brother doesn’t even speak to me because he can’t stand me. And I have absolutely no one because those girls who call themselves my friends would turn on me in a second. They’re already starting to because of Emma Braswell and her big fucking mouth.”

“You know it doesn’t have to be that way, Rory,” Exhale said, softening her voice. “There’s plenty of girls in this school who would love to be friends with you if they knew the real you. I know me and Raine would.”

“I know…” Rory said, sighing and grabbing a paper towel to dry her tears with. She smiled slowly. “Maybe I’ll come sit with you guys for lunch one day or something. I’m not making any promises or anything, but…”

“No, I know. I get it,” Exhale said with a laugh.

“Listen, I know you are far from owing me any favors, but can I ask just one? Can you maybe…just not say anything about all of this to anyone? You’re the only person who I’ve told that it’s true. As far as everyone else is concerned, it’s still a rumor.”

“Of course. I won’t tell anyone,” Exhale promised.

Rory started towards the door, but then stopped and turned back to Exhale. “Um…thanks, Exhale.” Just when Exhale thought she couldn’t be any more shocked by Rory’s behavior than she already was, Rory hugged her and just about made Exhale faint with surprise. “No more death stares in the halls, okay?” she said, smiling once again.

Exhale laughed. “Yeah, no more death stares. Maybe just one every once in awhile for old time’s sake?”

“Yeah, sure,” Rory said, giggling softly and exiting the restroom.

Still a little stunned at what had just unfolded, Exhale stepped up to one of the sinks and looked at herself in the mirror, proud of the way she had handled the situation. Even though she knew her and Rory wouldn’t suddenly be best friends, it was nice to know she no longer had an enemy.

_____________________

“REESIE! You’re late!” Zac yelled accusingly as Reese entered the conference room and found him to be the only one in there. “We even had donuts and I tried to save you one…but I ate it.”

Reese laughed and dropped herself into a chair. “Sorry, Zac. My dad kept trying to wake me up and said he was going to leave without me and then he really did. Where’s your brothers? Did you already have your lessons?”

“Yeah, we didn’t do too much though. They’re in the other room working on the piano for this harmony part we’re working on.”

“And you’re not helping because…?”

“Because I was waiting for you, obviously,” Zac replied, rolling his eyes as if Reese was an idiot for not knowing the answer.

“Aww, you’re so sweet, Zac. I love you too.”

“No surprise there,” Zac said, shrugging nonchalantly. “Who could resist my god-like looks and stunning charm?”

Reese smiled an exaggeratedly sweet smile. “Of course. I’ve been completely infatuated with the almighty Zac Hanson since the moment I laid eyes on him.”

“HA!” Zac snorted. “You’re clever. Or stupid, since you definitely said the wrong name. Come on, Reese, it’s so obvious you’re in love with my brother!”

“Whatever you must tell yourself to sleep at night,” Reese said, leaning back in the chair and trying to ignore the blush creeping up her neck. He must just be trying to get a reaction out of me, she told herself. He can’t possibly know I have a crush on Taylor, can he? Or can everyone? Thousands of questions swirled around her brain until she finally decided she needed an answer to one of them. “Zac, if I ask you a question, will you give me a straight answer?”

“I could give you a gay one, if you want,” he replied with a smirk. When he saw the serious look on her face, he dropped the smirk and said, “No, seriously, what’s the question? I’ll do my best.”

“Okay…that girl that Taylor’s been writing to and talking to all the time…Exhale? Are they, you know…involved or anything?”

Zac hesitated, honestly unsure of how to answer. “Well,” he said, thinking hard so as to choose his words carefully, “I mean, he always talked about her from the day he met her, like maybe he was interested in her or something. They really were just friends though, as far as I know, so he wasn’t just saying that because he was embarrassed or anything. Last I was told, she has a boyfriend, so maybe he’s over her. I can’t say for sure though, because he never really talked to me about their relationship, you know? More just about her in general.”

“Thanks, buddy,” Reese said, leaning over to ruffle his hair and break the air of seriousness that had fell over them.

“Don’t call me ‘buddy’,” Zac said, playfully shoving her hand away.

The door to the conference room flew open and Isaac and Taylor appeared in the doorway. “Zac, you ready?” Isaac asked, stepping into the room and grabbing some papers off of the desk.

“Yeah, sure,” Zac said, rising from his chair and stretching his arms over his head. Reese took that opportunity to punch him lightly in the stomach. He collapsed over onto the table dramatically.

But before he could add to his dramatics by speaking, Taylor cut in, “Seriously, Zac, come on. We’re trying to get this song finished by this afternoon.”

“Yeah, yeah, all right,” he said, lifting himself up and following them out the door.

“Can I come too?” Reese asked, hopping to her feet.

Taylor smiled at her and gestured for her to follow. “Yeah, come on. It might be boring though, so I feel like I should warn you.”

“Oh, I doubt that,” she replied, falling into step beside him.

They reached a door down the long hallway and Taylor pushed it open for her. “Our dad’s in there. You can sit with him and listen, and let us know what you think.”

Her skin tingled when his hand brushed the small of her back to guide her into the room. She didn’t have long to relish in the moment since Walker was already talking to her and pulling out a chair for her, gesturing for her to sit down. She did so just as the three boys were entering the room on the other side of the glass and began pulling on large headphones and arranging themselves around the microphone hanging from the ceiling. Another man in the room that Reese knew was their producer pushed a button and started giving them directions. Isaac flashed a thumbs up, and the music began. As goofy as Zac had been acting only a moment before, Reese was surprised to see how intense he became when it was time to perform. As their three voices melted into one, seeping into her ears harmoniously, she let her eyes fall closed and leaned back in the chair, letting herself become enveloped in the beautiful melody. When they had finished, she popped her eyes open and saw the three of them looking expectantly through the glass. To her, it had sounded like perfection, which was why she was so taken aback when the producer again pushed a button and began telling them a list of things that should be fixed or changed. The boys nodded as did their father, agreeing with the changes.

Reese watched in amazement at the way the three of them played off of each other and took criticism graciously. If someone had told her what the producer had just told them, she would have taken it as saying she was terrible. When the music started again, and their three voices again seemed to take the sound of one perfect voice, she smiled and realized just how lucky she was to be sharing this experience with them.

INDEX | CHAPTER TWENTY ONE