A Fractured Light (Beautiful Dark)

in across from her. “I’ve seen that look before.”
    Cass glanced behind her, pretending I might have been talking to someone else with a gleam in her eye. She looked back at me and pointed at herself, mouthing, “Who, me?”
    “Yes, you, Crazypants. What’s going on?”
    “I was just thinking I’m so effing bored ,” she said. “I hate this stupid cast. I can’t do anything fun. I miss the Mysterious Ellipses. We haven’t had a gig in weeks. Plus,” she added, “it’s been forever since we had a rager. The last one was the party at your house. I want some drama!”
    I raised an eyebrow. I knew what was coming.
    “No way,” I said. “I can’t host it this time. I’m on dangerous ground with Aunt Jo as it is.”
    “Fine.” She sighed. “Well, at any rate, I’m going to talk to Ian today.”
    “Talk to me about what?” Ian asked, plopping down next to Cassie and ripping into a huge slice of pizza. “I can’t give you guys any more free cupcakes,” he said through a huge mouthful of cheese and sauce. “My boss said he’s gonna fire me for real.”
    “If you haven’t been fired yet, it’s never going to happen,” Cassie said, brushing him off. “Cupcakes are child’s play. I have a real favor to ask you.”
    Ian rolled his eyes and glanced at me, but what Ellie had told me he’d said was still eating away at me. I couldn’t make eye contact with him.
    “Okay.” He turned to Cassie. “What’s the favor? I’m not agreeing to anything without hearing what it is first.”
    “Will you book the ME at the Bean?” she asked, fluttering her eyes.
    “I’m sorry, the ME? Is that what you’re calling yourself now?”
    “The Mysterious Ellipses,” she said with a pout.
    “Can you really perform in that thing?” he asked, looking dubiously at her cast.
    “Well, that’s the favor. I was thinking maybe you could, like, ramp-ify the stage.”
    Ian laughed. “Oh my god, Cassie.”
    “Pleeeease?” More eyelash fluttering ensued.
    He shook his head. “Okay, fine, I’ll ask. But I can’t make any promises.”
    “Well, I’m looking forward to a potentially legendary ME performance this weekend,” I said as I got up. Ian opened his mouth to say something else, but I bused my tray and walked out into the hallway, eager to get away from him.
    “Skye! Hey!” He came running up behind me. I stopped and looked at him, one hand on my hip. “What’s your deal?” he asked.
    “So you’re hooking up with Ellie?” My voice came out angrier than I’d meant it to. Weirdly, I felt my face growing hot. I couldn’t possibly have been jealous—it was Ian !—but still. She was my archnemesis. And he liked me !
    “Um.” He turned red. “Just once. Well, twice. But it didn’t . . . I mean, I don’t . . . like her or anything.”
    “Oh, that’s great Ian. That’s real mature.”
    “Wait, what’s the problem? You turned me down, remember? We’re not together, so what does it matter?”
    “Well, it matters when you talk shit about me behind my back!”
    “Oh,” he said quietly. “She told you.”
    “Yeah. She told me.”
    Ian sighed. “Look, Skye,” he said. “You know I love you. Okay? But I have forgiven you a lot of things. Too many things. I forgave you every day that you pretended not to notice how I felt about you. I forgave you when you started pulling away from me—from us—when those two new guys showed up, and I forgave you again when you ignored my warning that I didn’t trust them, and when you decided you would rather be with either of them than with me.”
    “I—” I said, not sure what I thought I was going to say.
    “But when you ran away with Asher, you have no idea what it did to me! I was mad, okay? I may let you hurt me, over and over again, and that’s my own problem. But you don’t get to tell me what to do anymore!” His eyes were blazing.
    I stumbled backward. I’d never seen Ian get this angry in my entire life.
    “I—I had no idea,” I said quietly.
    “So, yeah. I went to Carmen Shane’s party and Ellie was flirting with me and I hooked up with her. And honestly it’s none of your business.”
    “Wow,” I said. “I’m . . . I’m so sorry.”
    “Yeah,” he muttered. “Well, whatever. I gotta go. I’ll see you or something.” He turned around and took off down the hall in the opposite direction.
    As I stood there, dumbfounded, the weight of his words crushed me, almost making it impossible to breathe. And the worst