Page 60 of Fame & Rhythm

Everyone turns.

My hand flies to my mouth as tears spill down my cheeks.

Aston frowns, confusion flickering across his face.

I can’t do this.

I pull out of Ella’s arms and bolt from the room, needing space, away from the laughter, the excitement, all of it, because I feel anything but happy.

All I want is Aston.

Maybe I’ve been wrong this whole time.

Maybe this… whatever this is… isn’t just friendship.

I race upstairs and into my room, slamming the door behind me. I don’t mean to… it just happens. Then I cross to my bed, swiping at my face, trying to pull myself together.

I hate feeling like this.

It’s confusing.

Part of me wants him to hold me so badly it hurts.

And another part is terrified of what that would mean if he did.

I lean over to my bedside table, grab my phone, and slip the earbuds in. I lie back on the bed, letting the heavy beats of an old band, Orgy’s cover of “Blue Monday,” wash over me as I close my eyes.

Knock. Knock.

I barely hear it over the music. My eyes flicker open, and I glance toward the door. It’s probably Ella.

“Come in,” I call, pulling the earbuds out as I sit up.

The door opens, and it’s not Ella.

Aston stands in the doorway, looking as wrecked as I feel.

I wipe at my cheek, swallowing past the lump in my throat.

“Can we talk?” he asks.

Every instinct in me screams to go to him, to close the distance, but I stay where I am and nod. He steps inside, shutting the door behind him, then crosses the room, sits beside me on the bed, and our legs brush. The contact sends a spark racing through me, sharp and sudden.

I look away, trying to hide how much that one small touch affects me.

His hand settles on my leg, squeezing lightly. “Annie, I don’t know what I’ve done,” he says, voice tight. “You won’t look at me. You’re avoiding me. I’m your best friend… what’s going on? What did I do?”

“I’m not avoiding you,” I say quietly. “You’re avoiding me. And you didn’t do anything.”

He exhales sharply. “Then why won’t you look at me?”

I turn to him, and for a second, I forget how to breathe.

His blue eyes are brighter up close, his features sharper, stronger than I remember noticing before. He’s changed… or maybe I’ve just never really seen him like this.

Something shifts between us.

The air feels thicker.