EDEN
"This is the stupidest thing we've ever done."
"Agreed," Savannah says, flipping through the script. "But unfortunately, it's your idea."
She's right. I suggested we stage a dramatic confrontation scene for the Senior Showcase. But I didn't know the drama teacher would hand us this script—with this line at the end:
> "I hated you... because I didn't know how not to want you."
Savannah reads it like it's a dare.
I wish I didn't care how good she sounds saying it.
---
SAVANNAH
The lights are dimmed in the empty auditorium. Our scene is just us—two rivals caught in an emotional standoff. Fitting.
"Let's just run it," I say, avoiding her eyes. "No big deal."
Eden shrugs, voice flat. "Sure."
We make it to the final page without too much drama.
And then...
She speaks the line before mine. "Why do you keep pushing me away?"
Her voice is rougher than I expected. It hits something in my chest.
I swallow. "Because being near you—"
I take a breath. Too long.
"—makes me feel like I can't breathe."
Eden stares at me. It's not acting anymore.
Then comes her final line.
"I hated you... because I didn't know how not to want you."
The silence after is so loud I swear I can hear my heartbeat.
---
EDEN
She looks at me.
And I break.
"Is that what you really think of me?" I say, too sharp.
Savannah freezes. "What?"
"That I'm just angry all the time? That I don't care?"
"No, I—Eden, it's just a scene."
"But it's not, is it? Because you look at me like I'm something you have to survive."
"I don't—"
"Every time I try to be decent, you run. And when I don't, you act like I'm heartless."
"You're impossible!" she yells.
"So are you!"
We're inches apart now. Too close again.
She breathes out, shaky. "What are we doing?"
I don't answer.
Because if I say it out loud, I don't know what happens next.
But I look at her.
And she looks at me.
And for the first time, we don't back away.