JACE
Monday morning hit like a punch in the chest. The sun was barely up, pale and weak, and somehow it felt like even the light was tired of the week we’d just survived. I didn’t feel like moving. I lay in bed staring at the ceiling, my diary still on the desk from last night, the words I’d written feeling heavier in the daylight. I didn’t want to read them again. I didn’t want to think about Jace or Marvin or the way everyone seemed to be watching me like I was a storm waiting to break.
But Lena’s texts were already blowing up my phone. “Cass, move! We are surviving Monday together. Coffee or I’ll murder you with sarcasm.” I couldn’t help it I smiled. She made everything slightly bearable, and without her, this week would have been unbearable.
By the time I stumbled out of the house,
