ASHLEY’S POV
I woke up the next morning feeling like someone had dropped a pile of bricks onto my chest. My body felt heavy, my eyes were puffy from crying the night before, and the last thing I wanted to do was walk into school and face Lucas… or Jason… or anyone.
For a few minutes, I just lay there, staring at the ceiling, replaying yesterday over and over again until my stomach twisted. Jason’s face. Lucas walking away without looking at me. The silence between all of us. It felt like everything in my world had snapped in half at the same time.
My phone buzzed beside me. Mom.
I forced myself to sit up and answered.
“Hi, sweetheart,” she said warmly.
Her voice sounded a little too bright for how drained I felt.
“Hey, Mom.” I tried to sound normal, even though guilt and sadness we
