“Damn, Daisy, you are such a loser. I don’t know how I ever managed to date you.”

“And you’re such an asshole that I don’t know how I managed to date you!” I yelled. “Take me to shore now.”

Twenty miserable minutes later, I was back on land, and the entire group was booing as they went back out. No one cared that I was upset, and no one cared I would be standing here alone without a ride until they were done.

No one cared because they never cared.

I had already known it, but having it thrown back into my face again felt worse than if they had slapped me.

I could already see Sydney sidling back up to Dean as they pulled away, and I was surprised at how little I cared about that even.

Maybe they didn’t care, but apparently I didn’t either.

I wrapped the towel tighter around myself and moved to hide by the tree. The trunk kept me hidden from all of my friends.

My ex-friends?

Did you break up with an entire group all at once?

I guess that’s exactly what I was doing.

My hands were shaking as I pulled out my phone and hit his name. My dad would come get me in a heartbeat, but I knew there was no explaining this situation to him now. He knew all of my friends and their parents—he would have too hard of a time understanding what they did wrong. Plus, as much as I didn’t want to care, part of me didn’t want to actually be the loser that brought her sheriff dad to pick her up and rat out all her friends.

And as much as Kye freaked me out the other day, I was pretty sure I could count on him showing up.

At least, I hoped.

“Hey.” Kye’s voice came over the phone and the simple word made me sag against the tree.

“Hey, what are you up to?”

“At two o’clock on a Thursday? I’m working like all the peasants have to do. What’s the prom queen doing? Ruling her kingdom from the throne? Getting her nails done?” The words that were supposed to be funny had an edge to them that only upset me more. Maybe he noticed I hadn’t talked to him since the other night, or maybe he was just showing exactly how fake this relationship was, but either way, I wasn’t in the mood.

“Wow, forget it. I’ll talk to you later.”

“No, wait. I was trying to make a joke, but my day’s been shit. Why are you calling me? You said you were hanging out with Dean.”

“I said I was hanging out with my friends. Dean just happens to be a part of that group. Unfortunately.”

“Yeah, how unfortunate that you choose to go hang out with people who treat you like shit.”

“Kye,” I said, ready to say more but not even knowing how to deny it. It was true.

“Daisy.”

“You seem to only call me that when you’re mad.”

“Yeah, well.” I heard something drop and him swear before he said anything else. “Why are you calling me if you are with your friends and boyfriend?”

“You are supposed to be my boyfriend.”

“No, I’m the fake one, remember? You’ve been with the real one. Or the ‘maybe’ real one? I don’t know. This shit is hard to keep track of.”

“Is that suddenly a problem?” I asked, trying to figure out why he was mad.

“No, but it is when you are bothering me when you are with him. I need to get back to work. What did you want?”

“Well, I needed a ride, but you’re being an ass, so I will just call an Uber.”

He was silent, probably deciding how much he didn’t like me at this moment.

“Where are you?”

“In the main parking lot at the Emerald Bay beach.”

He huffed loud. “And how did you get a ride there, but suddenly don’t have one back?”

“Because I came with that friend group, and they decided it would be hilarious to throw me off of the boat even though I am scared of swimming in deep water, and when they pulled me back in the boat, they called me names for having a panic attack. So really, I thought getting back to shore and letting them go back out was a better idea than staying.”

The line was quiet before he swore again. “Are you fucking kidding me? How the fuck is that funny?” He yelled something and someone else yelled back before I heard his car start up. “I’m coming to get you under one fucking condition. You are going to promise not to hang out with these people anymore, at least not alone. That isn’t funny, Daisy. They are going to get you killed. Do you understand that isn’t how friends work?”

“Yeah, that’s kind of how it felt. And obviously I understand this isn’t how friendships should work, but, besides Dean, these have been my friends for years. It’s been hard to wrap my head around the idea that they really don’t care about me.”

“Well, wrap your head around it quick because I’m not going to be picking you up every time they hurt you, or waiting for them to leave you in the middle of the fucking ocean next time. This isn’t funny.”

“I know.”

“Alright, I’ll come quick, but it will still be a while. Do you have somewhere you can wait without them bothering you?”

“Yeah, I’m okay.”

“Fuck, Daze. They don’t even care if you’re upset or scared. Why is it even fun to hang out with them?”

“It’s not.”

“Then I don’t get it.”

“It was mainly Dean. He thought it would be funny. The girls tried to tell him to stop, but I think he’s just mad at me and thought it would be some kind of revenge.”

“The girls I know would kick my fucking ass if I did that to another girl. I wouldn’t be walking. Get better friends, Daze.”

“Maybe I just stop hanging out anytime he’s around.”

He huffed again but didn’t argue more.

“I’ll be there soon. Just stay out of sight of Dean.”