Page 54 of What Goes Around

She kept talking. Something about the slopes. The food. Her dad falling off a lift.

I nodded in the right places, but it all blurred together.

All I could think about was how different our friendship felt now.

I wasn’t angry.

Not anymore.

Just… changed.

The version of Ashley she had loved didn’t exist anymore.

At some point she mentioned, “Oh, Nick’s already back at college. He left last night.”

My heart clenched.

Tight. Painful.

Nick.

My first love.

My deepest heartbreak.

The man who didn’t believe me either. The man who hadn’t believed the baby was his. The man who turned away from me when I shattered, then slept with Apple.

A faint nausea curled through me.

“Cool,” I said quietly. “Good for him.”

At least I wouldn’t have to see him. His campus was three hours away, and he only came home for holidays.

I had time to breathe.

Chapter 16: Something Doesn’t Add Up

The rest of the morning passed in a blur.

Familiar faces, familiar teachers, familiar lessons I had already lived once.

A strange déjà vu clung to everything, thick as fog.

During lunch, Anton crossed my path in the hallway.

He froze when he saw me. Hands in pockets, hair mussed like he’d raked his fingers through it too many times.

He had always been attractive. Warm eyes. Easy charm. The kind he didn’t even seem aware of.

Now he looked like he wanted the floor to open up and swallow him.

“Hey, Ash. Uh… about Friday—”

I said nothing.

Just watched him.

He swallowed hard, shifting his weight..