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

Ashton found himself in the familiar setting of the library. The faint scent of old books and ink filled the air as he sat at the table with Parker, Luke, and Milo. Brownie crumbs littered the pages of an open textbook, and Parker was grinning as he pulled out his phone.

"Dude, you remember those pictures I had of Jessica and Alex?" Parker said, leaning in like he was sharing a secret.

Ashton, in the dream, responded the same way he had that day: "Yeah, what about them?"

Parker's expression turned uneasy. "Well… the photos that I have? The ones I took? And the ones Emia posted? They're the exact same."

A chill ran down Ashton's spine. In the dream, he saw himself brushing Parker off. "You're just imagining things, dude. Get some sleep." The words left his mouth again, but now, reliving it, they tasted like a mistake.

Parker hesitated, staring at his phone. "Yeah… maybe it's just a coincidence."

The dream shifted. The library melted away. Suddenly, Ashton was standing alone in front of a shattered mirror—his own reflection staring back, fractured into a thousand pieces.

Then, a sharp knock on the door snapped him awake.

"It's 11. Time to get up," Milo's voice called from outside the door.

Ashton sat up, drenched in cold sweat. He stared at the cracked mirror across the room, the eerie feeling from his dream lingering. Shaking it off, he forced himself out of bed and went through his morning routine.

By the time he got downstairs, the smell of pancakes and bacon filled the air. Milo stood at the stove, flipping pancakes onto a massive plate, while Luke sat at the counter, picking at his food.

Ashton slid onto a barstool. "So what's the occasion?" he asked, eyeing the feast.

Milo shrugged. "No occasion. You guys look like skin and bones. Figured you needed real food."

Luke muttered, "I stopped seeing real food on Monday."

Milo shot him a look before shoving the plate in his direction. "Eat. And bigger bites, not nibbles."

They ate mostly in silence. Every time Ashton or Luke only took small bites, Milo would stare at them until they ate more.

Halfway through, Ashton set down his fork. "I remembered something."

"Remember when we were in the library? Parker told us he had pictures of Jessica and Alex. He planned to leave them in David's locker." Ashton exhaled. "Later that day, he called me. Said the pictures he had and the ones Emia posted were the same exact ones."

Luke rubbed his temple. "Yeah, I remember now. But what are you saying?"

Ashton sat forward. "Only we knew about those photos. If Emia got them, either they were in the library with us that day, or they heard everything through Parker's tracking app."

Milo tensed. "So you're saying Emia was spying on Parker's phone… and they knew what he was planning before he could even act on it?"

Before they could process it further, their phones buzzed—one after another.

Chapter 20