Summer kills

Evelyn observed cooly from the poolside. She thought, it sounds ridiculous, right? She couldn't understand how any topic was off-limits within a friend group. If they were close enough to flip-flop around a coastal getaway on their own, they could talk about a relationship that everyone knew was about as good as dead. Jaxon's future with Kennedy died the day she moved to Los Angeles. To Evelyn's disappointment, he refused to admit the obvious and just needed to react on impulse. "Oh, I know you didn't just open your goddamn mouth about my Kennedy-" Before Jaxon finished his sentence, he grabbed Liam by the shoulders and shoved him into the water. Maddie shrieked out of fear. Had Liam not been just as coldly poised as his friend, he would've plunged straight to the bottom.

Liam bounced forward with a snarl on his face. "What are you gonna do about it, huh? Mr.

Tough Man? You're so happy to speak on everybody else's girlfriend, maybe it's time you remember 'ya lost your own?" Jaxon flinched at the crudeness of Liam's taunt. He was never the type of guy to revel in someone else's misery. And up to now, Jaxon was viewed in the friend group as the overconfident guy-the bad boy who'd brave any challenge that was thrusted his way, even if it involved jumping off a 12-feet high cliff to Ruby's pool.

Jaxon wasn't supposed to have any vulnerabilities. He was the guy his friends could rely on to shake things up-and very wildly so with his round-the-clock escapades. His personal baggage never got in the way of his pearly-white grin.

As long as Kennedy wasn't brought up. That was when the storm inside of him spun to full

force.

He snarled at Liam, crowing, "Oh, back the hell up. My relationship is in goddamn heaven

compared to your private school pass-around." And that's when a fist smacked him square in the jaw. Maddie let out a piercing cry. Blood spewed from Liam's mouth, spraying the pool as she

sunk underneath the surface. "Someone, help!" She shrieked through the hands she'd clamped over

her mouth. Evelyn's jaw dropped in shock. No way in heck did she see that coming.

Her brother quickly kicked his way up to the surface. Jaxon stared at him agape, like he

couldn't comprehend what he'd just did-and in his daze, neglected the blow that hurdled straight in his direction.

"CRAP!" He howled, reflexing from the impact to his cheek. Liam was coming down on him hard-pummeling past Jaxon's raised arms, intent on doing everything but sparing this fight. "Liam, please, STOP!" Maddie screamed. She screamed until her throat was dry, and then wheezed for help. Seeing her best friends mangle each other like this was terrible-Jaxon's nose was already getting throttled askew, and Liam's jaw was crushed-yet she couldn't look away. How could she let them bear this agonizing pain alone? Somehow, it felt like her responsibility to watch every droplet of blood that shot out of the boys' mouths.

Liam tried to raise his arms over his head to guard himself, to no avail. Liam's bruised fist launched at his face and then at his sides, his swings so determined Jaxon would've thought he was in

front of his mortal enemy and not his best friend. He could barely snap out of the daze that'd consumed him since seeing the blood dribble down Liam's nose and now, he was the one being punched to the pool floor.

"Stop," he begged breathily, swaying in and out of consciousness. His pleas meant nothing.

They faded into the background noise along with a girl's cries-who did they belong to? —and the ringing sensation in his eardrums. Liam's body ached everywhere. He could barely move his jaw to speak as Liam launched for him like a floating dummy.

He squinted at the blonde waves that blurred in front of him, the girl who was sitting by the poolside with her chin propped up on her arms. And then, the wailing, shrieking blonde who shouted for his attention.

Maddie.

She was crying for him. And all he was doing helplessly flailing in the water.

A fire flickered in his eyes-and before Liam knew it, he was thrown up with the velocity of a ferocious punch to his jaw.

Jaxon's eyes burned with hate as he sent his friend backwards, and from the punch's velocity,

on a slow trip to the bottom of the pool. That's what you deserve, jerk. Liam's head flopped to the side as he sunk below the surface.

Maddie was now arrested of words to speak. Her trembling, quivering body watched as Liam

drifted below the water, and Evelyn stood up defiantly.

"Jaxon, what the hell!" She clenched her fists angrily. Jaxon couldn't see why the girls were

pissed off at him. He was the one who'd been attacked relentlessly. All he did was defend himself.

And now he was supposed to kowtow to Liam's flimsy fighting technique?

His expression only twisted into horror when he noticed Liam was not rising from the pool

water. His head still hung limply, and from the looks of it, he'd been knocked out cold.

"Crap, Liam!" Jaxon flung his legs into the air as he dove below the water.

Evelyn shouted after him, "Hurry up, damn it!" She was nervously chewing on her fingertips.

This idiot, she thought while pacing the perimeter of the pool. What was Jaxon even thinking? Liam could drown to death, and it'd be all because of some stupid girlfriend who lived a thousand miles away.

Evelyn watched the shadows beneath the pool water nervously. She was seriously right about Jaxon's hangup over that dead relationship. She was always right. These lies were tearing apart her friend group, and she'd done the right thing by prying them before it was too late.

Right?