Say You Swear (Boys of Avix, #1)

Arianna’s family hosts Thanksgiving. All her friends come, including Noah. On their first night home, Payton goes into labor. They return from the hospital the next day, shocked that Noah has cooked them dinner. Afterward, Arianna steps outside for some air. Chase confronts her, insisting that he wants to be with her. He’s drunk and grabs Arianna’s arm; he won’t let go when she tells him to leave her alone. Noah appears and tells Chase to give Arianna space. Chase storms off, furious. Noah tells Arianna that she can go after him if she wants to. Arianna feels confused, but she goes to find Chase. He again tells her that he wants to be with her even though he didn’t before. He kisses her, and she pulls away. She accuses Chase of being unfair because she’s with Noah. She races back to the house and finds Noah, telling him what happened. Noah insists that if she wants to be with Chase now that he wants to be with her, she should let him go. Arianna promises him that she wants him, not Chase. They hug and kiss.

After Thanksgiving, Arianna and Noah spend even more time together. Arianna still feels upset with Chase but hasn’t confronted him about what happened.

One day, Arianna and Noah work out at the gym together. She feels aroused while watching him lift weights. Then, they go into the locker room and have sex. Chase finds them together. Arianna and Noah hurry out, but on their way, Arianna makes a comment to Chase that she instantly regrets. She was using Noah to get back at Chase, and Noah realized it when she spoke to Chase. She races after Noah, begging him to forgive her. Hurt, Noah says that he needs space. Afterward, Arianna collapses on her dorm floor, overcome by regret.

Arianna spends the following days hiding in her room. She realizes that she’s in love with Noah and that he’s made her happy. Now, she feels like she ruined everything between them. Meanwhile, Chase texts Arianna repeatedly, begging her to talk. Arianna ignores him, desperate for Noah to call.

Meanwhile, Noah feels just as heartbroken. He wishes that none of this had happened with Chase and wonders if Arianna is in as much pain as him. He’s desperate to see her but doesn’t know how to fix what happened.

Arianna spends the next week avoiding her friends, skipping the boys’ games, and hiding at the library. She tries calling and texting Noah, but he doesn’t respond. Meanwhile, Chase tries to see her. She starts thinking about their relationship and realizes that she might not have acknowledged how much he hurt her. She realizes that she needs to confront him so that she and her friends can all go back to normal.

Arianna finds Chase near the football field before practice. He apologizes for his actions and admits that he regrets pushing her away. They make amends and hug. Suddenly, Noah appears. Seeing them together, he flees the field and doesn’t return for practice.

Arianna tries to get in touch with Noah over the following days, but she can’t find him anywhere. He also hasn’t shown up for football. One night, she attends a party to distract herself. Chase confronts her again and suggests that they try being together. Mason interrupts, furious that Chase is making an advance. He accuses Chase of hurting Arianna enough already by being Arianna’s first sexual partner and then abandoning her. Arianna is mortified, as she hadn’t told Chase that it was her first time. The boys continue arguing until Arianna cuts in, telling Chase that she doesn’t love him anymore. Realizing that she needs to tell Noah she loves him, she texts him and moves to leave the party.

Noah gets Arianna’s text and races to the party to find her. They run toward each other, but then a car races out and hits Arianna in the street.

Noah waits in the hospital with Arianna’s friends. Finally, the doctor emerges and reveals that Arianna is stable but that they had to induce a coma so that her brain could heal. Overcome by emotion, Noah races out of the hospital and goes to see his mom. He wishes that Arianna would wake up so that he could apologize and tell her how much he loves her.

Noah returns to the hospital later and sits by Arianna’s bed, begging her to wake up. Mason encourages him to go home and rest. They have a heartfelt conversation, and Noah reveals that he’s giving up football when he graduates at the end of the year. Mason insists that Arianna wouldn’t want this for him, but Noah won’t change his mind. Shortly thereafter, Arianna wakes up. Everyone is thrilled. Then, the nurse comes in to update Arianna on her condition, revealing that she had to get a blood transfusion and lost the baby. Arianna didn’t know she was pregnant. She looks at Chase, convinced that the baby was his.

Noah is overwhelmed by sadness. He realizes that the baby was his. However, Arianna has amnesia and doesn’t seem to remember him. Realizing that she thinks she’s still in love with Chase, Noah flees the hospital.

Arianna lies in bed, coming in and out of consciousness. She can’t make out what’s happening around her.

Mason and Brady repeatedly call Noah after he leaves the hospital, but he ignores them. He sits on the field, drinking and wishing that he was Chase.

Arianna wakes up to find her friends by her bedside. Cameron comforts and reassures Arianna, promising that she’ll never abandon her. Arianna realizes that she might be “[s]tuck in the past” forever (384).

Noah wakes up with a hangover. He thinks about everything he’s experienced and lost. Unable to return home, he rents a hotel room for the next two days, ignoring his friends’ calls. Finally, Mason finds him. He encourages Noah to come back to the hospital because Arianna chose him before the accident. Noah is doubtful that she’ll remember him and fears that she wants Chase. Mason tries to be understanding.

Noah visits Lori and gives her updates on Arianna’s condition. Lori comforts him, but Noah feels entirely alone.

At the hospital, Arianna and Mason talk to the doctors about Arianna’s amnesia. The last thing she remembers is their last night at the beach house. She wants her friends to tell her what she experienced in the time since, but the doctors worry that other people’s memories will “be triggering or traumatic” and might distort her memories (392). The doctors also guess that the amnesia happened because her brain associated the trauma of the accident with another traumatic experience from the summer.

With Mason’s help, Arianna realizes that Chase wasn’t the baby’s father. However, she can’t remember what happened between them and decides that she doesn’t want anyone to tell her anything else about the past months.

Noah returns to the hospital but ends up leaving again when he realizes that Arianna still doesn’t remember him. Mason chases after him, confronting him for abandoning his family. They get into an argument about how Noah should handle the situation. Finally, Noah agrees to try again, although he still feels hopeless.

Arianna is released from the hospital. Her parents give her a dinner that Noah made for her. Arianna specifically asked for the dinner but doesn’t remember her evenings cooking with Noah.

Over the following days, Arianna tells her family that she’s okay. However, she’s afraid to sleep at night, terrified that she’ll lose more of her memories. Then, one night, Noah brings her an iPod with music that might help her sleep. Arianna is moved but wakes up the next morning thinking about Chase.

Arianna’s physical condition improves. She and her friends decide to spend the rest of winter break at the beach house, and Arianna invites Noah to come. Hopeful, he agrees.

A week passes, and Arianna’s memory still hasn’t returned. One day, Arianna’s dad, Evan, takes Noah aside to talk about his and Arianna’s relationship. He knows that they love each other and encourages Noah not to give up on Arianna. Noah runs into Mason afterward, and Mason also assures him that Arianna loves him even if she can’t remember him right now. When Noah sees Arianna afterward, his heart breaks. She still doesn’t remember him, and he wishes that he could get back the future they dreamed about.