For Nevermore Season 1

connection with her like nobody else I’ve ever known.”
    “So, what’s the bad side?”
    “I dunno. Probably that she can be really negative. She’s afraid to step out of her shell and do anything, really. Which is probably what I love most about Becca.”
    “What do you mean?” Ash said.
    “Becca’s fearless. But Noella is always thinking things through until she overthinks her way into being afraid to try anything that might make her look bad or stick out. It’s sad. But I get it. She’s had a tough life. She’s been through more than anyone I know, and I can tell she’s scared to lose the few things, or people, she has left in her life.”
    “And what do you not like about Becca?” Ash asked, “other than the fact that she’s a stuck-up tiara wearer?”
    “That’s it, really. I just hate how she acts around certain other people. Like she’s wearing a mask and being someone she thinks she’s supposed to be instead of being herself. But I keep hoping she’ll change and realize people like Vicky aren’t really her friends and she’ll dump them.”
    “I’ve got bad news for ya, bro,” Ash said, “People don’t change.”
    “Sure they do,” Sam said, “People change all . . .”
    “Nope, never. Ever. Oh, they might change for the worse, yeah, but trust me when I say they almost never change for the better. If she’s acting like a little princess now, it’s only gonna get worse. Trust me.”
    “I think you’re wrong. She just needs some encouragement is all.”
    Tommy sighed and leaned forward, and sat the popsicle stick onto a napkin on the coffee table. “Don’t waste your time, Sam. Yours or hers.”
    “So, what, you think I should break up with Becca?”
    “I’m not saying what you should do,” Tommy said. “But I know what I would do. Then again, I’ve got the most awesome girlfriend in the world, so it’s not like I need to make the tough call.” He laughed. “Must be tough when you’re a stud with cheerleaders fighting over you.”
    “Hardly,” Sam said red-faced.
    Ash leaned forward and kissed Tommy.
    “Well, there went my appetite,” Sam said, grinning. “I don’t know what I should do. I mean, up until yesterday, before I knew Noella liked me, I thought everything was fine.”
    “Really?” Ash said, “You weren’t thinking about how fake Becca was being, before then?”
    “OK, maybe a little. But still, I don’t think that’s the real her. And if it weren’t for that one little thing, I’d have no problems with her at all.”
    “OK, tell me this,” Tommy said, animating his hands as he spoke. “If you, Becca, and Noella were all on an airplane with only one parachute other than your own, who would you give it to? And don’t you dare say you’d give yours up, Romeo.”
    Sam laughed, “I dunno.”
    “Yeah, you do,” Ash said, grinning. “I can see it in your eyes. You’re imagining yourself right now giving the parachute to one of them. And I bet I know which one.”
    Sam didn’t say anything. But she was right.
    He would have to break up with Becca. Today.

    **

    5:15 p.m.

    Sam borrowed Ash’s keys, then took her car to break up with Becca while she and Tommy made dinner for the family.
    As he drove to Becca’s house, Sam mulled the many ways he could break up with her, hating each one more than the one before, but determined to see one of them through. Sam also couldn’t help but wonder what the aftermath of a breakup with Becca would be. Becca was in drama, plus another one of Sam’s classes. And many of their friends overlapped. Sam had seen plenty of ugly breakups, in both dating and friendships. He’d seen firsthand how animosity soured even the strongest relationships.
    Sam didn’t want, or need, that sort of drama, at least not off the stage. To have one of the lead actresses hate you was drama club suicide. Becca, if she were spiteful, could sabotage their scenes together.
    She wouldn’t do that . . . would she?
    Truth was, he had no idea what Becca would or wouldn’t do. The only falling out he knew her to have had was with Noella, and though Becca talked plenty of crap about her, she didn’t really go out of her way to do anything mean like some of the other girls had done to Noella, especially Vicky.
    Crap , Sam thought, turning right onto Becca’s street. He hadn’t even considered Vicky as part of the breakup strategy, but he should have. She was a vicious person and would persuade Becca not to forgive him, no