Silvia sat by the pool watching Blake take his photos of the stray kittens. He would stop, go through the photos, his shirt off, his skin tanning beneath the sun.

“You’re taking his whole photography thing very seriously.”

He shrugged, looking at her, the sun making his blue eyes look like pools of clear blue water. If she let herself, she could fall right into them.

“Turns out I’m pretty good at it. At least, according to our teacher. She’s really taking me under her wing.”

“What about Marine Biology?”

“Oh, I’m still going to pursue that. But, you know, I was thinking I could minor in photography. Think of all the great photos I could get underwater.” He lifted up the camera, pointed it at her, and then, quicker than she could react, took a photo of her.

“Dammit, Blake.”

“It’s good, I promise.” He sat down next to her, letting her see the unscripted photo of herself.

“You’re such a dork.”

He shrugged, putting the camera down. “How are you by the way?”

Silvia shrugged, playing with the hem of her tank top. “I hate seeing Evie at school every day. Academic probation is the only option they have. But it’s not enough. It’s not fucking enough.”

“You’re right, it’s not. But it has to be.” There was a pause. “Have you spoken to Olivia?”

Silvia shook her head. “No, she’s not allowed any phone privileges outside of talking to her family. I did speak to her parents, though.”

“How’d that go?”

“They heard about the suspension and fight with Evie.”

“And?”

“And they wanted to thank me. They wish they could file charges, but Olivia won’t. They said she is doing better. She’s in therapy every day. It’s this fancy recovery center. The way they describe it sounds almost like rehab. They go visit her every Saturday.”

“Isn’t that a long drive?”

She nodded. “Almost three hours. I googled it. But they were allowed to have any contact with her for the first month, so three hours to see your daughter is probably nothing to them.”

“I’m glad, ya know, that she’s getting help. God, Evie is a fuckin disgusting piece of garbage.”

Silvia laughed and looked at him.

“What’s so funny?” he asked, indignant.

“I’m just remembering freshman year when you and Evie were practically hooking up.”

“Yo, had I known how toxic she was, I wouldn’t have. Although truth be told, I was just doing it to piss off Tiffany.” He grinned at her, his dimple showing.

“I’m glad we’re friends, Blake.”

He nudged her with his elbow playfully. “Yeah, same here. Why did we ever hate each other again?”

“You were an obnoxious asshole who flirted with every girl around you.”

“I’m good-looking, what can I say?”

Silvia rolled her eyes. “Still obnoxious.” He grinned at her, dark hair falling over her face. Without thinking, she moved it out of his face.

“You need a haircut.”

She couldn’t tell what that look was in his eyes. Something smoldering, something she couldn’t describe and didn’t want to think about. Something that made her heart race and toes curl.

“Yeah,” he said, standing up, “My mom says the same thing. I gotta get going. See you later?”

She nodded, waving halfheartedly.

Packing up her own stuff, she made her way back to her apartment, hoping that Olivia really was doing okay, and trying to push her attraction to Blake aside.

***

Blake lay in bed, hands laced behind his head. He should have told her. He should have told her that Olivia had used her phone privileges to call him. He pinched the bridge of his nose, thinking of the conversation.

“Hello?”

“Hey, Blake.” He had recognized her voice instantly. He should have paid more attention to his caller ID.

“Olive, how are you?”

“I’m okay.” There was a pause, then a deep breath. “How’s Vee?” Her voice was small, sad, and caring. Blake let out the weight of his anxiety in one easy breath.

“She’s okay. She got suspended for a bit.”

“I know. My parents told me.”

“You should call her Olive, not me. I don’t ⸻ why me?” Silence had answered his question. Had she hung up? Was she okay? “Olive, you there?”

“I can’t talk to her yet. I … what I did was unforgivable.”

“Olive, Vee already forgave you. She misses you. I can tell, every time your name comes up.”

“You should tell her how you feel.”

That had shut him up real quick. “What?”

“You heard me. You should tell her how you feel. Maybe not right at this moment, but, you know, someday soon.”

“Olivia—”

“I know you care about her. I like that you care about her. It’s important to me that she has someone in her life to take care of her.”

“Olivia, just get better and come home. Then you can be with her.”

“No.” Her voice was curt and so familiar that he could almost see her shaking her auburn head through the phone. “No. I don’t know when I’ll be better. And besides, who am I to stand between the two of you?”

“Olive, you’re being ridiculous.”

“Don’t tell her I called, okay. When I get my privileges, I want to see her =. I want t o talk to her in person. I’ll see her again. Just promise me you’ll take care of her?”

“Of course. You don’t even have to ask.”

“Alright. Well, I gotta go, okay. Don’t tell her I called, okay.” Then she had hung up, leaving Blake hanging on the line.

But today, hanging out with Vee at the pool, he had almost kissed her when she had pushed his hair out of his face.

No, he wouldn’t tell Silvia how he felt, especially not now when she was still reeling from her relationship with Olivia. A relationship he could tell had made her so happy, tragically cut short. No, a future together wasn’t in the cards for him, and one day he would be okay with that.

Order ‘New Girl,’ the first in my YA Romance series.