Jessica didn't wait for Molly to respond.
She stepped back, breath still heavy, lips swollen, eyes sharp.
"I'm not doing this anymore," she said, voice steady.\ "You don't get to have me like that and then disappear. I'm not you fucking secret Molly."
Molly opened her mouth, but nothing came out. Not right away.
Jessica grabbed her jacket off the counter. "Figure your shit out. Then maybe we can talk."
And just like that, she was gone - leaving molly standing in the middle of the bookstore, soaked, breathless, and alone.
Molly didn't go to school.
She lay in bed with the covers pulled to her chin, scrolling through old photos - cheer squad parties, beach days, late night selfies with Adam that felt like they belonged to someone else.
Her phone buzzed.
Samantha: You okay?
Ben: Jessica looked like she wanted to throw hands in chem today ngl.
Molly shut the screen off.
She wasn't okay.
She was crumbling.
And beneath all of it… was that kiss.
The sound of Jessica's voice in the dark. The way she'd said, "All of me, or none of me."
And the worst part?
Molly wanted all of her.
They sat in the back of the diner, sharing a plate of fries.
Selene twirled a fry between her fingers. "So.. you and the cheerleader."
Jessica sighed. "It's complicated."
Selene smirked. "Isn't it always?"
Jessica played with her straw, voice quiet. "I don't know what I'm doing."
Selene's expression softened. "You're doing what most of us do - you're trying not to fall for the person who's going to break your heart."
Jessica blinked. "You think she will?"
"I think she already has," Selene said gently. "But also? I've seen the way you look at her. Like she hung the damn stars."
Jessica looked away.
Selene gave a little shrug. "I'm not mad. I like you, Jess, but… you don't look at me like that."
Jessica reached across the table and squeezed her hand. "You were never a placeholder."
Selene smiled. "Maybe not. But I was never the endgame either."
The next day, Molly came back.
She dropped into her seat beside Jessica like nothing had happened.
"Hey."
Jessica didn't look at her, "don't."
Molly swallowed hard. "Can we talk?"
"No" Jessica said flatly.
Molly's voice dropped. "Please."
Jessica finally turned to face her. "You don't get to get for pieces of me after throwing me away. You either want me, or you don't."
Molly looked like she was going to cry, "I do. I want- "
"Then prove it," Jessica snapped, just as the teacher walked in.
They worked in silence, tension like a live wire between them, neither of them breathing easy.
Later that night, Jessica posted a story.
Black and white. Just in her bed, headphones in, a book splayed across her chest. She looked peaceful. Unreachable.
The caption:
"Read me like a book. But don't crumple my pages."
Molly replied before she could think.
Mollyhastings_: You're the only book I'd memorise cover to cover.
Jessica left her on read.
That Friday, Sam corned Molly after cheer practice.
"You look like a ghost."
Molly sighed. "I feel worse."
Sam crossed her arms. "Look, I'm not going to sugar-coat this. You broke that girl. And if you're going to fix it - someone else will."
Molly was quiet for a long time.
Then she whispered, "what if I already lost her?"
Samantha's voice softened. "Then go try anyway. She's not just another girl, Molls. She's that girl."
It was 11:52 p.m.
Jessica was alone in her room when she heard her phone buzz.
| Mollyhastings_: I'm outside.
She opened her window - and there she was, standing in the rain, again.
Jessica met her at the door, arms folded tight. "What are you doing?"
Molly's eyes were shinning. "I've made every mistake. I've ran from you, lied to myself, hurt you- "
Jessica blinked back sudden heat in her eyes.
"-but the truth is, I think I'm in love with you," Molly said, voice shaking. "And that scares the hell of out of me. But losing you scares me more."
Jessica stared at her for a long time.
Then she opened the door a little wider.
"Come in."