“I loved voices, I always had. Words held meaning, but voices held emotion.”

“Words held meaning, but voices held emotion.”

“Words held meaning, but voices held emotion.”

“I saw the folded note peeking up from behind the cover of the book in which I'd hidden it.I brushed my fingertips across the lineny surface, my skin sparking with electricity, my fingers itching to pull it free.I shoudn't, I told myself, even as I held my breath and watched myself withdrawing it from the book. I tried to tamp down the feeling of anticipation coursing through me at the same time I argued that it was a mistake to look at it again.It didn't deserve anymore of my time. He didn't deserve the space he already occupied in my mind.I glanced around to see if anyone had noticed me there, tucked beneath my desk, reading a note that I'd already memorized.No one paid me any attention.I held the letter, vividly picturing the six words written inside the folds. Six words that I already knew by heart. Six words that meant more to me than they should.I unfolded the top third of the paper, then the bottom, purposely keeping my eyes unfocused for just a moment.My heart stopped.And then my eyesight cleared.I pledge to keep you safe.”

“He reached out and took her hand, wrapping it tightly in both of his. “Look, Vi, I don’t know exactly how to say this, but I don’t want anything bad to happen to you. I don’t think I could handle it if something, or someone, hurt you.” The tone of his voice was still immovable and stubborn, despite the sweet sentiment lurking behind it. He squeezed her hand, though . . . firmly, as if emphasizing his point. “I know it’s selfish, and I don’t really care if it is, but I’m not gonna stand by and let you put yourself in danger, even if it is to catch a killer.” He eased up on her throbbing fingers, and his voice got all husky and rough again. “I can’t lose you,” he explained, shrugging as if those weren’t the most wonderful words she’d ever heard before. “Not now that I finally have you.”She felt years pricking in her eyes, and she blinked hard to try to stop them from coming. She was completely overwhelmed by what she’d just figured out . . . she’d realized it even before he finished talked. She knew what it was that he wasn’t saying while he lectured her about safety.He loved her.Jay Heaton, her best friend since childhood, was in love with her. He didn’t say it, but she knew that it was true.And the part that really freaked her out, the part of it that caught her completely off guard, was that he wasn’t in it alone. Because even though she’d been denying it for a long, long time, it had always been there . . . waiting just beneath the surface of their friendship. And now that it was out, there was no going back.And it was so weird to even be thinking it, but . . .. . . she was in love with him too.”

“Charlie?" he said, pulling mme back to face him. "I do love you." My breath caught on his words . . . words I'd waited so long to hear.”

“School went exactly as Violet thought it would: weird. It wasn’t her best, and it wasn’t her worst, day ever. It was just weird.Jay was true to his word, deciding not to hold anything back. And it started the second they got out of the car, when he claimed her hand and refused to let go, even when Violet tugged and pulled to try to get it away from him. He ignored her mute protests and held on tight, smiling more to himself than to her, and paraded her right into the school like that.Not that they’d never held hands before, because they had. But this was entirely different, and Jay was hell-bent on making sure that everyone knew it. And just in case anyone wondered what the hand-holding actually meant, he made sure to clear things up for them by planting a big, albeit very satisfying, kiss on her lips, right in the middle of the hallway. Violet didn’t try to pull away from that; in fact, she was dismayed to find herself leaning into him, craving more, and not caring—at least at that moment—who might see them together.Unfortunately that person turned out to be Chelsea. Chelsea, of all people, along with Claire, who happened to walk up at very inopportune instant.“Well, well, well,” Chelsea said in an oh-so-innocent voice. “Look what we have here, Claire-bear. It’s old Jay and Violet.” The unconcealed smile was embedded deep in her voice. “Only, and correct me if I’m wrong, this looks a little more than friendly, don’t you think?”“I never kiss my friends like that,” Claire replied, blank-faced and serious, oblivious to sarcasm.Jay’s answer was to pull Violet closer, wrapping his arm around her waist. Violet cringed.Chelsea cocked her head at Claire. “I was just trying to make a point.”Claire looked confused. “What point?”“Seriously, Claire? That Violet and Jay are dating now.” She glanced away from poor confused Claire and flashed a gloating look to the couple in front of her. “It’s about time, by the way. I think everyone will thank you for putting us all out of our misery. I, for one, was completely fed up with watching you two lovesick puppies pining over each other. Seriously, it was disgusting.”She grabbed Claire by the sleeve of her snug, body-hugging hoodie and led her down the hallway, toward their first-period class. Violet watched in stunned silence, processing everything that Chelsea had said to them, as Claire bounded along in Chelsea’s commanding wake.Jay decided that it was his turn to gloat. “You pined for me?” he asked, stupid grin and all.Violet hit him in the arm. “Shut up!” She shook her head. “I’m pretty sure she was talking about you anyway.”