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Ashley went to her rooht and cheerful as ever, a funky cos weren't the problem; the hole inside her was She had lost her purpose too suddenly for her to understand as supposed to happen next

Jonny's clai with the pain that didn't come from his bite The part of her that resented hi her uncertain what else there was in the world if not revenge and vaed the project due the week before that sat untouched on her desk Her grades were e that Her obsession had been with training rather than studying, but her latest confrontation with Jonny left her … deflated

Ashley sat down at her desk and drew a deep breath She still had the urge to cry, and the sting of Jonny's bite hadn't faded She touched the light scars at her neck and winced He'd been trying to hurt her, to drive her off

He didn't want her around What he felt for her four years ago wasn't enough for hi re ever hurt this much?

"No more vaht, she flipped off her lights and climbed into bed to cry herself to sleep

She slept deeply and awoke long past her norht, she didn't feel like starting her day at the boxing gym and instead, wrapped a blanket around herself and shuffled into the kitchen

Brandon's workstation and laptop were both off and the apartment quiet He often slept in until noon on a Saturday Ashley s and toast and sat in front of the television She scrolled through her phone to findmore than an alert from one of his apps Whenever he left the apartment, his phone texted her, and vice versa

She leaned over the ar to their bedrooms His door was opened She'd been too sleepy to notice when she went to the kitchen

"He's up early for once and I slept in," shea quick shower and getting dressed

And then sitting back down on the couch and realizing she didn't have any clue what to do if she didn't spend the day in the gy Jonny's downfall Sheto theJessi with her kids, fixing up the apartment