Chapter 24. Beneath the Surface

My eyes fluttered open at the sound of someone’s hushed voice speaking next to me.

“Yeah. I won’t leave her until you get here. She’s waking up right now.” A pause. “Okay, I’ll see you soon.”

I sat up slowly, noticing it was dark out. Also, I was freezing. I rubbed my eyes, feeling thoroughly disoriented.

Where the hell am I? And why does my back hurt so much?

It came back to me all at once. Ace rejecting me. Clara telling me they had a date.

Madoc confessing I wasn’t going to be the only girl in Ace’s life anymore. Running away. Crying. Crying some more.

The last thing I remembered was finding a bench on the hiking trail and curling up on it. I must have been asleep for a few hours—it was basically pitch black.

A familiar face was looking down at me.

“M-Madoc? What…?” I was still groggy from just waking up.

Or was it because it was the first time since meeting Ace that I had been able to fall asleep without him next to me? I mus