Justhere_toread

Jasmine Woods has always felt invisible at school-but online, she's known as Emia. Despite sharing classrooms with the notorious Ashton Tyler since preschool, Jasmin has quietly observed his reckless charm: dining and dashing, skipping classes, getting into fights, and leaving a trail of broken hearts. His reputation as a serial heartbreaker is well earned.

Yet beneath his damaging persona lies a surprising connection between them. In one fateful moment, old feelings are reignited, and Ashton finds himself drawn to the girl he never expected to see. Now, as he pursues Jasmin, the question remains: can he truly win over someone who has spent years hiding in the shadows?

I wish he never noticed

This chapter contains mentioning of suicide so proceed with caution.

I couldn't help but wonder—how many more to go?

I felt like a wolf, stalking, hunting, waiting for the perfect moment to end my prey. Except this time, the prey had fallen harder than I anticipated.

The school should be buzzing about Mel's cheating scandal, but something was different. I expected to hear whispers in the hallways, gasps of disbelief, and see her once-loyal friends abandon her. The air was heavy, thick with something I couldn't quite place.

As I walked past her locker, I noticed something that made my steps falter. I saw the flowers first. Then the picture. Candles flickering beneath it. Students gathered in silence, some with red-rimmed eyes, others murmuring under their breath.

She wasn't dead. She just might not be going to Princeton. That's all. She could still go somewhere else. Community college, maybe. Work her way up. It wasn't that big of a deal.

People acted like her dream had died along with her. Like a rejection from a university was the end of the world.

I turned to walk away. Then I heard it.

"I can't believe she committed—"

The words rang in my ears. My steps faltered. The hallway blurred.

"She did what?" I muttered.

"I mean, no one knows for sure," another voice whispered. "But she was found in her pool last night. Her dad hasn't been seen all day, and no one from her family is talking. It's gotta be true, right?"

She took her own life… over something so trivial?

I felt my stomach drop. My hands clenched into fists at my sides. A strange feeling settled in my chest.

I didn't mean for it to go that far…I wanted justice. I wanted her exposed for the fraud she was. Not this.

But I supposed it was the price I had to pay for setting things right.

I forced my feet to move, slipping past the mourning crowd. I needed space. I needed air.

She burst into my room, breathless and glowing, shoving an envelope in my face.

Her smile stretched wide, nearly splitting her face in two like the Joker.. She twirled around my room, giddy, light as air.

"Congratulations, I guess." I sat up weakly. "So, where?"

"Have you told Mom and Dad yet?"

"No, I'm waiting until after dinner. I'm baking a cake, Princeton-themed. I want to surprise them."

"You're baking again?" I raised an eyebrow. "What flavor?"

"Does it matter?" She waved me off. "Oh! I haven't even told you the best part. Niko got in too! He's coming over this weekend."

Niko this, Niko that. Ever since Tonton introduced them two years ago, they had been inseparable.

"That's the cake!" she sang, skipping out of the room, leaving behind her light, her warmth.

That was the last time I saw that smile. The last time my world had color.

I should have never covered for her that day.

I couldn't forgive them. Not any of them.

I couldn't waver. Not now. Not ever.

The school was mourning a girl who wasn't even dead. The irony was almost laughable. Almost.

I slipped through the crowd and into the library—my safe haven. The one place where the world didn't feel so suffocating. Sitting in my usual corner, I pulled out my notebook. Another truth needed to be revealed. Another lie needed to be destroyed.

Mel might have been the latest to fall, but she wouldn't be the last.

I opened my notebook, gripping my pen tighter than necessary.

I exhaled sharply, tapping my pen against the paper. Circling the name of my next target.

Mel's world may have come crashing down, but there are still more lies waiting to be revealed. More people who think they're untouchable. More secrets rotting beneath their perfect facades.

Chapter 7