The next day at school Ashley was nervous about what people would be saying or more importantly would be getting more horrible messages stuffed into her locker. Each time she opened her locker she built herself up to deal with whatever she found and each she sighed with relief when there wasn't a single note. It seemed to confirm that the whole situation with Logan was blowing over and hopefully things would get back to normal.

Logan kept his head down when we passed in the hallways and she was fine with that. She didn't want anything to do with him. Any guilt that she had harboured over her treatment of him was gone and now she felt nothing for him so it was easy to treat him like someone she hadn't dated at all.

When she found Diane teary eyed just after lunch she pulled her aside.

"What's wrong?" she said in a hushed tone as she scanned the immediate area to ensure no one could see them.

"He has someone new." Her bottom lip trembled as she tried to hold it together.

"Who?" Ashley asked still trying to figure out who was talking about.

"Noah." Understanding hit her. Asshole. "He's dating Caitlyn."

Ashley hugged her friend. It was difficult to find the words to ease her heartache and it made her angry at the guy who had played her for a fool. He had done everything to get her to date him and soon as she had put out he had discarded her. Ashley firmly believed that what came around went around but she wanted to see the payback now, not down the line.

"I know it's hard," she whispered as she released her friend. She brushed the tears from Diane's cheeks.

Ashley had no idea what she was going through. She had never felt the same urge to sleep with a guy. Maybe it was her inability to trust them that had ensured she had never gone that far.

"He had lost something so special and when he realises that it'll be too late."

Diane swallowed. "It's so hard."

"I know." Ashley empathised. "But you keep your head high and don't let him see you upset."

Diane nodded in agreement before she let out an emotional breath. Ashley made a point of walking her friend to her next class before she made a dash to hers. She was lucky the teacher was running late so no one noticed she was late.

For that entire lesson she plotted revenge against the asshole who had thought nothing of hurting her friend. She wanted to get back at him for his treatment of her. Honestly she had believed he had genuinely been into her but she must have been wrong. Maybe he was just that good at lying.

Her thoughts led her to the night she had egged his car with Maddox. Throwing the eggs had made her feel better and it had given her a thrill she had only been able to replicant with being close to Maddox.

As the day progressed she began to think about ways to get back at Noah. She could do something to his car again but what? She searched some car pranks online to see if there was something else she could do but she didn't want to damage the paintwork. The last thing she needed was to get caught vandalising someones property.

She had only Maddox to blame for introducing her to this and it was impossible to think about doing something to Noah's car without thinking of the boy she didn't want to be thinking about.

"Hey," Jasper greeted when he stepped in to walk beside her.

"Hi," she replied, hating how his presence reminded me of Maddox. Was there no getting away from it?

"You get any other notes in your locker?" he asked as they walked side by side.

"No." She shrugged. "I'm old news already."

"Good," he murmured. "Let me know if anyone needs any sorting out."

She stopped and faced him. "I'm good Jasper. Thank you for keeping an eye on me but I really don't need it."

He gave a shoulder shrug. "I'm doing it for Mad."

That annoyed her and she frowned. "Tell him I'm fine and I don't need anyone to keep an eye on me."

All the feelings she had been suppressing up to that point were freely flowing and it was difficult to reign them in.

Jasper studied me with a raised eyebrow. "Did something happen?"

She shook her head, refusing to even consider telling him about yesterday and the other girls. "No." He was Maddox's friend, not hers. His concern for her was fed by his friendship with the guy she had thing for, they weren't friends. In fact, in the beginning, he hadn't been able to hide his disdain for her.

He gave her a doubtful look which made her walk away before she lost her cool and ended up revealing more than she wanted to.

She lifted her head high refusing to show the turmoil inside. It made her concentrate on the prank she was going to play on Noah with renewed conviction. It would make her feel better and she would be getting back at him. It was a win win.

By the end of the day she had come up with the best prank to play on Noah's car. She giggled with glee each time she thought about it.

She was still smiling through cheer leading practice even though Claire, the head cheerleader, had crapped her out for missing practice. Nothing was going to get her down so she refused to get upset. Instead she had agreed with her it had been irresponsible and it wouldn't happen again.

She was like a kid at Christmas when she got home. She went straight to the garage to find the large plastic wrap her father used for work. It was perfect. He had a whole box full of them so he wouldn't miss a couple going missing. She picked up on roll. It wasn't too heavy but she knew it wasn't going to be easy.

It wouldn't damage the car and it wouldn't be easily removed. She smiled thinking about how long it would take the asshole to get it off his car. It was pay back and she was going to enjoy every moment of it.

The only hiccup was it was going to take time and that meant the odds of getting caught were higher but that wasn't enough to scare her off the idea. She carried two of the rolls and put them into the trunk of her car. She still remembered where Noah lived so she had everything she needed to pull of her prank.

She decided to wait until after midnight to carry out her plan. It was the best time to ensure she wasn't disturbed. She went about her usual routine ignoring the fact that she was supposed to be taking notes to Maddox. At about six her she got a message from him.

U still coming over?

As if. She didn't respond. She was still so angry and hurt but she refused to allow herself to think about it.

An hour later her phone started to ring. She wasn't surprised to see it was Maddox and she ignored it. She wasn't going to be one of those girls that followed him around like a love sick puppy. And any weakness she may have felt evaporated with the knowledge of the other girls.

That was the thing, he was always going to have girls interested in him whether he returned the interest or not. There was just something about him that pulled a person in and before they knew what had happened feelings were stronger than just a passing attraction. It had happened to her without her realising it.

She shook her head. She didn't want to analyse how she felt about him. Whatever she was feeling was unwanted.

That night instead of putting her headphones to block out her parents' yelling she listened to them feeling the pain she had see in her father the day before.

There was no way to know this was where they would end up when they had started their love story. Granted it had lasted eighteen years. Sometimes she believed they had only stayed together for her sake but they had no idea the real damage they were doing to her day in day out.

"Who were you with?" It was her father yelling.

"None of ..."

Her father's insecurities led him to be possessive and controlling of her every move. It was stifling any emotion her mother still held for him.

"It is my business..."

She closed her eyes and lay on her bed wondering it marriage counselling might help them see what they were doing to each other.