Jade come onnnnn
Did you DIE???
ok RUDE.
I roll my eyes and hit call back.
He picks up on the first ring.
“YO, homegirl, you’ve been dissing me!”
I sit on the bed, still trembling a little. “Yeah, well… some date you were at homecoming.”
He grunts. “You’re the one who ran off like Cinderella.”
A snort escapes me—harsh. “Cinderella leaves a slipper. I left in ashes and came back the villain.”
“You are hardly a villain, Jade.” His tone shifts, softer but still Tristan-sarcastic. “You’re, like… anti-hero maybe. Very Harley Quinn vibes right now.”
I shake my head. “Shut up.”
“Anyway,” he says, “let’s meet for lunch. My treat.”
“I can’t,” I say. “I have an appointment.”
“With who?”
I inhale.
“A shrink.”
There’s a beat of startled silence.
Then I bark, “If you tell anyone, I’ll cut you. I swear to , Tristan.”
“Whoa, hey, relax, Lara Croft.” He laughs. “Your secrets are safe with me. I don’t need the smoke from your new era.”
I rub the heel of my hand over my eyes.
“Fine,” he says, “after your appointment. Text me when you’re done. My publicist is in town anyway—she wants to see if we can prep a narrative cleanup before the semester implodes.”
My stomach twists.
“A narrative cleanup?”
“Yeah,” he says cheerfully. “You know—spin control. Damage mitigation. All the fun PR shit that says ‘we didn’t bully the scholarship girl, it was all a big misunderstanding.’”
He pauses. “Come on, Jade. Meet me. Let us help you.”
I swallow.
“Yeah,” I say quietly. “Maybe.”
We hang up.
I stare at the ceiling for a long moment, letting everything settle into a cold, hard knot in my chest.
A therapist.
