Chapter 23
The sound of lockers slamming and chatter echoing off the walls did little to distract Lily from the pounding in her ears. She stood by the vending machine in the nearly empty hallway, arms crossed tightly over her chest as she replayed the conversation—*no,* the fight—with Dean over and over.
He had barely looked at her.
And when he did, it wasn’t the same.
Not like before.
He’d seemed… cold. Distant. Like something had snapped inside him. The sarcasm in his voice had stung, but it was the way he’d said Lena’s name—like it mattered more than she ever had—that truly cut.
She clenched her jaw, the memory of it burning hot in her throat.
*Lena.*
Always her. Quiet, pathetic, soft-eyed Lena Atler who didn’t belong. Who didn’t understand the world she was stepping into. Who D
