She had fallen onto her mattress where the cutest kid she had ever seen sat only a few minutes ago. She ran her hands over her face, pulling at her face. 

She always did this. 

She had always pushed people away. Anyone she could ever possibly love, she kept at an arms distance. It might've sounded ridiculous, especially since she had only met Sonny at a party, and had only had a total of like- four conversations with him- but she could feel it. 

She could feel it when she looked at him. When he laughed, and how angry he got when Annabelle had absolutely wrecked him at Super Smash Bros. She could see it in the way he tied his hair up, exposing his shaved undercut. 

She could tell, that if she allowed it, she'd fall head over heels for him. 

And that was one thing she couldn't do. Ever. 

Admittedly, there was one thing Belle had absolutely hated. It was falling for someone. It hurt too much, for too long, and it never lasted. It was dumb. And she had decided she wasn't going to be stupid anymore.

The idea of being broken again, by her own hands that were desperate for someone- it swallowed her whole.

Bzzt.

Her phone buzzed in her pocket and she hurriedly unlocked it, grateful for the distraction. 

[G: I know how Theo's mom died.]

Bzzt. 

Annabelle's eyes widened as she read the next message. She shot up, hitting the call button at the corner of her screen. 

"Are you kidding me?" She exclaimed as Georgia answered the phone. 

"Of course not. Why would I be?" Georgia sighed. 

Annabelle crossed her legs, devoting her full concentration to the conversation. 

"Wow. That's... uh-" Annabelle popped her lips. "That's a lot to take in. How'd you find out?" 

There was silence for a second. 

"I talked to her ex, and she pointed me in the direction of one of her old friends, Taylor. She's a complete ass-hat by the way, some chick on the basketball team- but she was helpful, nonetheless." 

"Taylor Minore?" Annabelle gasped. "Like, the Taylor on the girls' varsity basketball team? One of the snobbiest girls in school- she used to be Theodora's friend?" 

"Yeah, in sixth grade." Georgia answered, her voice oddly even. 

Annabelle raised a brow at Georgia's odd tone. "What's up, Gin?" 

"Did you do it again?" She asked, calmly. 

Annabelle bit her lip, chewing the inside of it. "Do what again?" She knew exactly what Georgia was talking about.

"Did you push him away?" 

Annabelle rushed to her window, pulling open the blinds to see Georgia staring at her window from the driveway, a frown on her face. 

"How do you..." Annabelle choked. "How did you know?" 

"I just watched him leave, clearly five seconds away from crying." She paused. "And don't give me that crap about you not actually liking him. I saw it, Belle- the way you looked at him. In the photo from the party. At the ice-cream parlor. Don't lie to me, Belle." 

Annabelle just shook her head. "I just can't, Georgia. Not again. You know it'll only last a month or two at best. You know I'll screw it up." 

"Of course you will." Georgia stated, a pitied gaze upon her features. "You'll always screw it up as long as you think like that, idiot." 

Click.

Annabelle looked to her phone to see that she had hung up, the words "call ended" flashing across her screen. She turned back to the window, and her eyes followed Georgia's car as she drove away.