I asked the question like I wanted the truth.
The truth was, I was praying she'd say no.
Standing in the dim, concrete corridor of the arena, the heavy silence between us felt like a physical weight crushing my chest. The glowing screen of her phone was a brutal beacon right between us, displaying that viral photo of her and Blake looking like absolute goals.
Violet looked up at me, her wide, breathless eyes swirling with a chaotic mix of stubborn anger and raw, emotional exhaustion. She took a slow, deliberate step back, pulling out of my immediate space, though the air between us remained suffocatingly charged.
"Ethan is just a friend, Jace," Violet whispered, her voice trembling slightly on the crisp air. She tightened her grip on her backpack strap, her chin tilting up with a quiet
