The Good Girl's Rebellion

"Nice. Real Oscarlevel. She actually bought that?" Behind the door, Adrian Pace, the boy I had a crush on, was congratulating my brother for lying to my face.

My brother and sister cracked up right along with him.

Ten minutes ago my brother had sat me down and told me, dead serious, that my future self had come back from ten years ahead with a warning.

The warning: Adrian was going to be my sister's husband, and the guy I was meant to end up with was the guy everyone at school steps around. I'd wanted to ask for details.

Instead I stood outside a halfopen door and listened to the three of them laugh at how stupid I was. I wasn't going to ask anything else.

Because one second before that, the guy everyone at school steps around had actually texted me. Him: [Hey. I got you out of that last night.

How are you planning to pay me back?] Chapter 1 His profile picture was just him. Short hair, pushed around like he'd never once checked a mirror. Hard jaw. Bored eyes.

He scared me a little. I was still deciding what to type when the next messages dropped.

Him: [Without me, how were you getting away from those guys outside the gate last night?] Him: [Everybody knows what they're like. Ask your brother.

Ask your sister.] Him: [Oh, and your brother's best friend. Adrian. They all went to that school before you. They know exactly how bad those guys are.] I thought about it.

He still looked meaner than the guys he saved me from. God. Him. My husband. Maybe my brother heard it wrong. So I put my phone face down and jogged out after them.

I wanted to know what else my future self had said. What I got was Adrian's voice, cool and even. His bag was hooked over one shoulder.

He asked it like it barely mattered. "Are we going too far with your sister?" he said. "Time travel is a weak lie. She'll figure it out.

Then she gets mad and stops speaking to us, and what do we do?" My feet stopped. I ducked to the side of the doorway. My brother shrugged like the whole thing weighed nothing. "How?

Thea's dumb as a rock," he said. "Did you see her face just now? She swallowed every word. And honestly, I'd love it if she got mad and stopped speaking to us." "You, though.

Adrian. You're not actually falling for her, are you?" My sister looked over at him.

She tucked her hair behind her ear, easy, and smiled. "It's fine," she said. "If you're having second thoughts, we'll just bring her along today. Escape room. You two on a team.

She can hang off you like an octopus." She laughed into her hand. "Ha. It's kind of funny when you picture it." "Second thoughts?" Adrian cut her off.

His voice went flat. "If she weren't your sister, I'd have ended it a long time ago. She sticks to me like gum on a shoe.

You have no idea how much I hate it." "Why do you think I said yes last night, when you two wanted to leave her at the school?" The earlysummer wind came across my face.

It was warm. Everything under my skin had gone cold. I looked at Adrian. Same cool, quiet, goodlooking face as always. I didn't know him at all. So.

Last night they hadn't forgotten me by accident. Chapter 2 Applications were closing in.

Mom and Dad decided I was wound too tight and told my brother and sister to take me out for a night. Yesterday was a Friday. A movie, we said.

I knew the theater wasn't on their way. I told them I'd take the city bus and meet them there. They were so thoughtful about it. Really. Them: [Just wait at the gate after school.

We'll come get you.] It made me happy. I still said no. I didn't want to be the errand they had to run. The chat went quiet for a minute.

Then Adrian, who never said anything in there, said something. Adrian: [I want to see you.] Adrian had been nothing but distant with me since the day we met.

There was no version of me that could say no to that. I typed back "Okay!" in about a second. I changed out of my baggy school hoodie and sweats and put on my best dress.

I stood at that gate until the streetlights came on. I called all three of them, one after another. Not one call got picked up. The guys outside the gate got to me first.

The street behind them was empty. Then the guy everyone at school steps around took me home.

The three of them rolled in late that night, sheepish. "Sorry," they said. "We thought you still had class.

We forgot it was Friday." I looked at their honest faces and believed them. It didn't take me a second. I even talked them out of feeling bad about it. "It's fine, it's fine.

I got home early. More time to study." I put my head down so they wouldn't see my eyes. That's how I missed the look the three of them gave each other. Now I get it. Oh.

I'm the thing they have to carry. But why not just say so? I didn't chase them. I walked home slow. Then, because who cares anymore, I texted him back. Me: [Fine. I'll pay you back.

Name it.] He answered in a second. Him: [Then I'm going to think about it carefully.] Him: [Don't come crying to me later.] I could see the smirk on him from here.

I sighed and reached over to put my phone down. The pinned group chat started flashing and wouldn't stop.

Vivi: [Nothing beats the Big Three!] Vivi: [Photos are all edited, save your own copies.] Vivi: [Post them to Close Friends so Thea can't see.] Then nine photos of the three of them, shoulder to shoulder, hands on each other.

Grayson: [Don't worry, I'll feel her out later, see how much of the time travel thing she'll swallow.] Grayson: [If she doesn't question any of it, we can drop her whenever we want and not even hide it!] Grayson: [Hey Adrian, still on the water run? @Adrian] Adrian sent a voice memo back.

Cool, unbothered. Adrian: [Vivi's got cramps, she can't do anything iced. I got her something hot. Two minutes.] My finger hung over the screen.

Like a thief looking in a window at somebody else's good life. I hadn't even opened the photos yet when all of it was unsent for everyone.

A second later my brother was FaceTiming me. And it landed. No wonder that chat was always so quiet. They had their own. The invitation to be in it wasn't warm. It was polite.

And I fell for it, like an idiot. The first call rang for a long time and gave up. His picture jumped again. That time I answered.

Chapter 3 I got in before my brother could open his mouth. "I was in the shower, I didn't hear it.

What's up?" The relief hit his face hard enough for me to see it on a phone screen. He eased into it. "So we ran into some people from our old school.

They saw the three of us together and figured Vivi and Adrian were dating by now." "Hey. What do you think?

Aren't those two kind of perfect together?" My sister went red and reached over to pinch his ear. "Don't say that! Adrian and I are like brother and sister.

Thea's the one who likes—" "Yeah," I said. I smiled at them. The old me would have gone up like a match. Screeching, flailing, the whole show.

I just nodded, like I'd thought it over and agreed. "You two grew up next door to each other, too. Not like me. I was out in Cade's Mill until I was eighteen.

I didn't even meet him until I came back." "And anyway. Didn't you see my future self last night? You said he's my brotherinlaw.

If they end up married, how could they not be perfect together?" I looked down at my lap. Everybody happy now? Something moved across Adrian's face.

It shut down, cold, in a way I had never once seen from him. My brother didn't notice.

He was too busy being thrilled with me. "Ohhh," he said, dragging it out, and his voice came up bright. "I didn't get to tell you. Ten years from now, you're gorgeous.

Seriously impressive. You don't look like a hick at all… I mean, like you grew up on a farm." His eyes were shining. He was waiting for me to be happy about it.

I gave him the smile he was waiting for. "That's great." The three of them used to gang up on me about it every time it came up. Study harder. Get into our school.

We'll all be together. I lifted my head and looked straight into his eyes. "So where does future me go to college?

What city does she live in?" The smile stayed on his face and stopped working. Nothing came out of him. He didn't move. Like the call had frozen. It hadn't.

I could see him working through something behind his eyes. Adrian's face went darker over his shoulder.

He was staring at my brother, and whatever was in that stare, I didn't understand it. My sister got there first.

She leaned into frame, cheerful, playful, glowing. "He already told us! Future you applied to our school and didn't get in, and ended up at Charleston.

He didn't want to disappoint you, that's all." "Honestly, though, Charleston's a great school.

And now you know ahead of time, so you can get your head around it and just apply there. No letdown. Right?" Her makeup was perfect. Not one thing about her was accidental.

She had always been the one people find in a crowd first, and I used to be proud of that. Now there was something sitting in my chest with no name on it. I held my face still.

Getting the smile out took real work. "Grayson." I didn't sing it at him the way I usually did. No whining.

I said his name once and then asked it slowly, word by word. "Is that how it is?" The phone I had was my sister's handmedown iPhone.

It beat my grandmother's old flip phone by about a mile. Which is how I saw my sister give his arm a small tug. "Yeah." My brother turned his head to the side.

His voice came out rough. Chapter 4 "But travel's easy now. We'll come see you all the time. It's only like ten—" "Okay." My nose stung.

I talked fast so nothing else could get out. "I've got it. You three have fun. Have the best time!" I hung up clean. Maybe I saw it wrong.

Right after I stopped talking, the water bottle in Adrian's hand seemed to hit the floor. The cap wasn't on right. Half of it went across the ground.

My parents traveled for work most of the year, and they felt bad about not being around for my senior year. "When your brother and sister were doing applications, your dad and I rented a place near campus for a whole year.

It took a lot out of us. So with yours—" I said I knew.

They still thought it wasn't enough, so they made one big gesture and dropped a pile of spending money into my brother's and sister's accounts. "They barely have any classes, and they're already off for the summer.

They can cook for you and tutor you. That's their job now." "Your dad and I work this hard for one reason. We want the three of you to have each other.

When your dad and I are gone, you three are all that's left." I said okay. I didn't say the rest.

That out of the four of us, I was the only one who actually took that sentence to heart. I was done hanging on them. From that day on, I stayed out of their way.

At first my brother got nervous about it. He made me real meals, the balanced kind, every night, careful as a nurse. Then he saw how easy I was being.

Adrian would come over and I'd go straight to my room without a flicker. So he relaxed. Bit by bit, their old life came back. Dinners out. Trips.

Photos that only exist for the feed. They didn't have to hide any of it anymore. The group chat with me in it went quiet and stayed quiet.

Give it a few more weeks and they stopped cooking. Then they stopped answering their phones at all. So I lived on whatever showed up at the door.

Cold by the time I got to it, most nights. Then he came to collect on his favor. I was on the bathroom floor with my stomach folding in on itself. The screen kept lighting up.

Him: [Is what I'm asking really that much?] Him: [Come on. Now you won't even answer me.] Him: [I only helped you because you seemed like a decent kid.] Him: [???] Him: [Fine.

Ungrateful brat who does the silent treatment. Noted.] Him: [Okay, is five hundred words too many? I'll take something else.] Him: [I brought my own paper and pen.

I'm already at your door.] Him: [Three hundred works. Forget it, just write me a twoword title. Deal?] I used everything I had left to get off the floor and open the door.

Then I looked up at the tall, skinny boy standing on my step and said it like he owed me. "Take me to the hospital." "Eight hundred words." "On me." The doctor said it was the junk food.

I'd been living on it long enough to wreck my stomach. I tipped my head back and watched the IV drip for a while.

Then I opened my phone, the way you do without deciding to, and looked at the three of them. Lake Tahoe. Perfect light. The kind of photos people save.

I thought about it for a minute. The boy next to me was slouched down in the chair with his legs out. "Chase.

Is the food any good in the dining hall?" "What if I moved into the dorms?" So I moved into the boarding wing. Meals happened on time. Sleep happened on time.

And I finally had time to make good on what I owed him. Chapter 5 "This is the preloaded version," Chase said.

He raised an eyebrow and pushed the notebook across the table at me. "Write as many as you want." "I'll use them all." I said okay, slow about it.

I wrote and thought at the same time, and then it came out of me anyway. "I think you're a good person." "And I heard your grades used to be fine.

Why not just go to college?" Nobody answered. I turned my head. He was face down on the table, asleep. The sun was on his eyelashes.

Without the sharp edge he usually carries around, he looked younger. I sighed and went back to writing. One full page in, I stretched my arms over my head.

That's when I saw three people who had no business being in my school library. Adrian was in front, tall, put together.

He had a gift box in one hand and he looked genuinely pleased with himself. My brother trailed behind him, loose as always, muttering. "What's the rush?

Thea's not going anywhere." "And a gift? You're out of your mind.

She was finally about to give up on you, and now you want to—" "I feel guilty about lying to her, that's all." Adrian's mouth was a thin line. "What, you want to tell her you lied and show up emptyhanded?" My brother nodded, thinking it over. "True.

We've had a good long run of doing whatever we want." "Time to tell her. She's my sister at the end of the day.

I'm not going to stand around and watch her actually run with that punk. Right, Vivi?" My sister was staring at the box in Adrian's hand like she'd stopped hearing anything.

He had to ask twice before she gave him two flat sounds that meant nothing. Adrian scanned the room. He was losing patience. He pulled out his phone like he was about to call me.

I started to stand up. Chase moved first. His voice came out low and rough, only for me. "Thea. My eye hurts." "Look at it. Is it red?" He leaned in.

His breath came against my face, warm, uneven. In the glass I could see us. Close. From behind, it would look like we were kissing. I forgot how to move.

His breath was still on my face. Three voices behind me, all at once. "Thea. What are you doing