Team travel was a legal obligation. They couldn’t just let players disappear mid-bowl weekend. Especially in an entirely different state.
So Dylan sat stiff and hollow on the charter bus all night, replaying the scene on a torturous loop.
Ali, wild-eyed and humiliated. Her expression cracking into something he would never forget— panic, betrayal, despair— as she turned and ran.
And him, frozen.
Frozen like a coward.
Not because he didn’t care.
Because he cared so damn much.
He had never seen cruelty like that, not even from Daisy. Not until that moment.
And Ali thought he was ashamed of her.
When he finally made it back to Peach Cove, he drove like a madman the final hour home. Called. Texted. Called again.
But Ali never answered.
Her phone started going straight to voicemail sometime around sunrise.
His stomach churned. He’d been praying she just needed space. That she was at home. Maybe crying, maybe angry— but safe.
But the Presley house was empty.
The porch light was off. The curtains were drawn. No cars in the drive.
It felt… wrong.
Panic clawed its way up his throat.
He drove to her aunt and uncle’s house next, nearly blowing through a red light to get there. They might know where the Presleys were.
Ashley answered the door in sweatpants and a dark green Georgia University hoodie, eyes rimmed with red. She shouldn’t be here. Should be in Macon at school.
He didn’t even have to ask.
She just shook her head, and her voice cracked when she said, “She’s at the hospital, Dylan.”
He staggered back a step, like her words had slapped him.
“She came home last night. Aunt Heather heard the alarm go off and figured she just needed space, unsure of what was going on. But when they didn’t hear from her after a while…” Ashley swallowed hard. “They found her in the bathroom. Pills. A lot of them.”
His lungs locked up. He bent over, palms on his knees, trying to stop the world from spinning.
“She’s alive,” Ashley added quickly. “Stable. But in bad shape. She’s not… she’s not okay, Dylan. She’s scared. Ashamed. She hasn’t said much, but they’re going to transfer her to a mental health facility in Savannah. Probably today or tomorrow. She’s not in a place where she’s safe to be alone.”
He closed his eyes.
And the sob hit him so hard he nearly fell.
He’d never felt more helpless than when they told himno.
No, you can’t go back there.
No, she’s not taking visitors.
