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Wednesday morning started the same way the last few days had–me awake long before my alarm, staring at the ceiling like it had the answers I couldn’t find.
Sleep wasn’t happening. Not with everything that’d been running through my head since Tuesday.
Jessa and I had talked–really talked–for the first time since the game. It hadn’t fixed anything, not completely, but it had cracked something open inside me that I couldn’t shove back down.
The worst part was that it didn’t feel like closure. It felt like the beginning of something I’d already messed up.
I left for school earlier than usual, the cold morning air biting at my face as I walked to my truck. I used to pick Jackson up every day. That was our thing. But now, his truck was already in the Ridgeville lot by the time I pulled in.
He didn’t wait for me anymore. Didn’t even text.
Couldn’t blame him. But that didn’t make it sting less.
When I stepped out of the truck, everything around me felt a little off–like the whole world had shifted a few inches to the left, and I was the only one who noticed. Kids laughed by the entrance, couples leaned against lockers, same scene as always, but I couldn’t shake the feeling that I didn’t fit into it anymore.
And then I saw her.
Jessa was standing by her locker with Mariah, head tilted as she listened to her friend, a soft laugh escaping her lips. She looked more at ease today. Not happy exactly, but lighter.
For half a second, I thought about walking over. But something stopped me. Maybe the fear that if I said the wrong thing again, I’d ruin whatever small progress we’d made yesterday.
So I just kept walking, pretending not to notice the way she looked up right as I passed.
By the time lunch rolled around, Jackson still hadn’t said two words to me. The tension between us was thick enough to choke on.
When I spotted Jessa walking into the cafeteria with Mariah, I stood automatically. She hesitated for only a second before heading straight toward me.
“Hey,” she said softly.
“Hey,” I said back. My throat suddenly felt dry.
“You still up for that talk?”
18:36 Mon, Oct 13
Chapter 86
I nodded. “Yeah. Let’s go.”
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Before we could move, Daniel leaned back in his chair, smirking like the jerk he was. “What is this, Ridgeville’s new scandal? I thought the Lombardi girl only dated her textbooks.”
The table snickered.
But Jackson’s voice cut through the noise, low and sharp. “Daniel, shut the fuck up.”
It went dead quiet. Even Daniel froze.
Jessa didn’t say anything–just turned and walked toward the doors. I followed her out into the hall, my pulse. pounding harder than it should’ve been.
We didn’t stop until we reached the benches behind the gym, the same spot we used to hang around after Jackson’s practices back when things were simpler.
She didn’t sit at first, just stood there with her arms crossed, eyes fixed on the cracked pavement.
“This would be a lot easier if people would mind their own business,” she muttered.
I gave a small, humorless laugh. “Yeah. Ridgeville doesn’t really know how to do that.”
That earned the faintest smile from her, before she sat down and exhaled slowly. “So… what is it you to say?”
I sat too, keeping some distance between us. “I wanted to be honest. About everything.”
Her brow lifted slightly, like she wasn’t sure she believed me yet.
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“I know I messed up,” I said. “Not just that night, but before that too. I didn’t stand up for you when Daniel and everyone else made those jokes. I thought if I ignored it, it’d go away. But I was wrong. You didn’t deserve that, Jessa.”
Her eyes softened a little, but she didn’t say anything.
“I thought I was protecting you by not saying anything. But all I did was make it worse.”
She looked down, her fingers fidgeting with the hem of her sleeve. “You did hurt me,” she said finally. “More than I thought you could.”
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