ELLA'S POVMy mother's gaze burned into mine, eyes wide and mouth agape. This was it, I was totally busted. I braced for the tirade about to come my way. Sorry mom, but I can explain..."Veronica! There you are!" My mom suddenly exclaimed, her gaze shifting to peer behind our booth. "We've been looking for you all over. Why'd you already come in for dinner without us?"Wait a second...she wasn't looking at me after all? I risked a subtle glance over my shoulder and spotted Veronica, another one of my mom's salon clients, sitting a few tables back waving her hands"Oh, I'm so sorry, these pregnancy cravings of mine just demanded immediate attention," Veronica called back, patting her round belly. I wanted to collapse in gratitude over this lucky coincidence. That had been way too close."And here I was ready for the showdown of the year with you and Mama," Trent chuckled.I smacked his chest, watching cautiously as mom with her chatting friends began weaving between tables toward us. "

ELLA'S POVI woke with a pounding in my head so intense I was certain a construction crew was jackhammering behind my eyeballs. I cracked open one eye, then instantly regretted it as harsh sunlight stabbed directly into my retina. "Ugghhh," I groaned, pulling the blanket over my head. But the damage was done - my stomach was already churning. Oh God.I lay there miserably for a minute, trying to piece together faded memories from last night. How did I even get home and into bed?The last clear thing I remembered was doing shots with Susan at the club. After that, things got extremely hazy- Pounding music... Dancing with Susan...a man grabbing me...someone shoving him away. And then...Trent!More details came filtering back now - Trent's voice on the other end of my phone right before I danced.I patted down the bed searching for my phone. Finding it buried under a pillow, I scrolled through my call history with dread. And there it was - an outgoing call to none other than Trent last

ELLA'S POVTrent grabbed my hand and pulled me after him. My feet stumbled to keep up as we moved through the crowd. My mind was spinning trying to understand Trent's odd behavior. Girlfriend? Since when? What angle was Trent playing at?As we pushed through the students, murmurs started rising up:"That still doesn't explain the photo of her with that guy...""Yeah, if she didn't cheat then why did Damien dump her?"I bristled, wanting to yell the truth - that Damien slept with Amelia! But Trent's firm grip on my hand signaled that I should keep quiet.Without warning, Trent spun around and yelled out. "How can you all be so foolish? You'd condemn someone based off one photo."The students stiffened, surprised by Trent's unexpected outburst. It was unlike him to speak out like this, and it had their undivided attention.Trent held his phone high, the image still displayed on the screen "In fact, let's all take another objective look at this photo, shall we?"They all reluctantly pull

TRENT'S POVI strode into the locker room, resting my practice bag down on the bench. We had just run through drills and layups, and now Coach was giving us 15 minutes before the tryout scrimmage that would determine who makes the cut.Based on Coach's impressed looks during my solo drills, I knew I was a shoo-in to make Laurel Heights basketball team. I probably could've just had my dad call up Coach Roberts to ensure my place. But I wanted to earn my spot fair and square.I removed my sweaty shirt and kicked off my shoes. Reaching into my bag, I chuckled seeing the black marker I used to address Ella's package. That little gift ought to get quite a reaction from her! I didn't spot Ella watching me from the stands, but she'll come around. No girl can resist the patented Trent charm for long.Just then, my best friends Liam and Connor strolled into the locker room."Well, well, if it isn't the great Trent Donovan doing slumming it at tryouts," Liam joked, giving me a fist bump in gree

ELLA'S POVI unloaded textbooks from my bag into my cluttered locker. As I placed a hefty calculus book on the top shelf, Trent's sports jacket that I had stuffed in the back tumbled out. I had forgotten it was still in there after he so rudely ditched me at tryouts.I shook out the wrinkled jacket and flung it over my shoulder . It had been almost a week and I haven't been able to get through to trent. His weird reaction after tryouts had left me completely confused. It was so unlike him. Trent was the one who asked me to wait for him, then he treated me like I was the most irritating pest afterwards!I had wasted my time going to his tryout when he clearly didn't even need me there at all.Slamming my locker door shut angrily, I suddenly heard a voice behind me. "Jeez, what's got you all riled up so early in the morning?"Whirling around, I saw Susan watching me with one eyebrow raised. "Oh uh, nothing! Nothing's wrong," I said quickly.Susan leaned in with a knowing look, loweri