“Well. No going back now.”
But none of it matters.
Not really.
Because all I care about is one girl.
One screen.
One pair of eyes somewhere out there.
Jade’s phone.
And when the views hit ten million…
I know for a fact that someone, somewhere, is tagging her nonstop.
And eventually, inevitably?—
she’s going to see it.
Chapter 19
JADE
The suitcase wheels click softlyagainst the wooden slats of the rental cottage’s porch as my parents drag their bags out. The afternoon Cape Cod light is gold and quiet, catching on the frost forming along the dune grass. My little brother and sister are chasing each other around the gravel driveway, laughing, totally oblivious to the knot forming in my stomach.
Mom squeezes me one more time, brushing hair away from my face the way she’s done since I was five.
“You call me when you get home tonight, okay?” she says.
And that word—home—just hangs there.
Ohio.
My old room.
My old school district.
My old life.
It feels… foreign now. A movie I watched too many times and can quote but never want to rewatch again.
Dad asks casually, lightheartedly, “So, sweetheart… we’re thinking of doing a big Christmas at the house. Are you planning on coming home?”
The question hits me like cold water.
I freeze.
Home.
I don’t answer at first. Seconds pass. Too many. I see Mom’s smile falter just a little, and guilt spikes in me until it burns under my ribs.
But then I exhale.
Small. Shaky. Real.
“Mom… Dad…”
