Jealousy by Jessica Burkhart

royal-purple blanket. I undid Whisper’s blanket, folding it but watching Lexa.
    â€œYou okay?” I asked. “You seemed really upbeat when you got here, and now you’re really quiet.”
    Lexa’s face was hidden as she brushed Honor’s neck. She flicked the body brush over the bay’s coat a few times before turning to me.
    â€œLauren, I’m sorry. I hate being in this position. I have to tell you something, but I want to protect you and not say anything. You’re one of my closest friends, though, so I feel like I’m lying if I don’t tell you.”
    â€œLex, you’re really scaring me,” I said. I ducked under Whisper’s neck and stood in front of my friend. “Whatever it is, I’m not going to be mad at you. I get your instinct to protect me, but I need to know.”
    â€œThat’s what Khloe and Clare said,” Lexa said, her voice soft.
    â€œYou told them something before you even told me?” I asked. “Why?”
    Both mares lifted their heads at my loud voice.
    â€œNo. No ,” Lexa said, shaking her head. “It’s not like that at all. I swear. It’s—” She stopped, and I stood motionless, staring at her.
    â€œLexa, please just tell me.”
    Lexa played with the bristles on Honor’s body brush before looking up at me. “I had class with Clare last period today. Clare had to see Ms. Utz about a volunteer program she wants to do over Christmas break, and I went with her.”
    I nodded. “Okay.”
    â€œTaylor was waiting to see Ms. Utz too. We sat next to him and talked to him for, like, two seconds before Ms. Utz called him into her office. When he got up, his BlackBerry was on the seat. It must have been in his pocket or something and fallen out.”
    Whisper bumped my arm with her muzzle. She was doing the hey Lauren don’t forget I’m here act. I rubbed her neck. “Please, please don’t tell me that you guys went through his phone or something.”
    I regretted my words the second they left my mouth.
    Lexa’s eyes widened. “Of course not! Lauren, you know us better than that.”
    â€œLex, I’m so sorry,” I said. I reached out and touched her elbow. “I do know better, and I’m really sorry I said that.”
    Lexa gave me a tight smile. “Clare picked up Taylor’s phone so no one else would grab it, and we were waiting for Taylor to come out. He got a text when he was inside. His phone wasn’t locked, and the message was visible for a few seconds before the screen darkened.”
    His dad. Something’s happening with Mr. Frost that Tay’s hiding from me. I knew Taylor. Very well. So well that I’d been fighting the feeling that he’d been keeping something from me. I hadn’t even admitted it to myself because I didn’t want to think about what it might be. I’d chalked it up to Tay being nervous about Mr. Frost, since he’d been a little . . . off around me since day one. But now Lexa was about to confirm my worst fear.
    â€œWhat did it say?” I asked. “I already know it was from his dad. Oh, poor Taylor. I’m going to have to find some way to talk to him about it. He must be so upset and—”
    â€œLauren, it wasn’t his dad,” Lexa cut in. Her caramel-and-mocha-colored eyes locked with mine. “It was Brielle. She wrote, ‘I really miss you. You didn’t call last night.’ ”
    I was silent.
    â€œLaur?” Lexa asked after a few long seconds. “Are you okay?”
    I stepped forward and gently shook my friend’s shoulders.
    â€œLexa Reed!” I said. “You scared me! I thought it was something really serious!”
    Confusion was all over Lexa’s face. “Isn’t it? Taylor got a text from another girl. One of your best friends. He didn’t call her last night.”
    â€œLex, I’m sorry you were