Page 55 of Casualties

The ride to our small-town airport is quiet.Nerves wrack through my body at the thought of something being seriously wrong, while Ace seems lost in thought.I move to exit his car when he reaches for my arm to stop me.

“Ainsley, wait.”I pause to listen to what he has to say.“Just be careful, okay?I know everyone is on board with Jackson, but I’m not convinced.I’m not only telling you this because of how I feel about you, I'm telling you because the dude gives me a bad feeling.I don’t want to see you get hurt.”The concern shining in his eyes melts my heart.This isn't typical alpha-hole Ace lashing out in jealousy, he is genuinely looking out for me.

“I'll be okay, but if there is ever a day I'm not, you will be my first call.”I wink to reassure him.“Bye.”I close the door to his car before he can say anything else.He waits until I’ve made it through the doors before taking off.

On the plane, I press my head back against the headrest, hoping to relax.That’s not happening, so I pull my notebook out of my carryon bag and start to write.The words flow out of me.While I appreciate the momentum of my pen, I dislike that my muse is always him… Ace.Flipping the page, I begin to write something else.I need to focus on my boyfriend Jackson, and be there for him in whatever way he needs.

He is my priority.

THIRTY

ACE

Back at my house, I watch our parents sing horrible karaoke by the fireplace.I hope they don’t do this at bars; this shit is embarrassing.At least they’re having fun.Morgan is sitting at the corner of the sectional glued to his phone, so I go have a seat next to him.Mrs.Copeland and my mom shout into their mics for me to get up and join them, but I shake my head.That will never happen.

Morgan looks up from his phone, eyes wide with amusement, as our parents belt out a loud rendition of “Holy Diver” by Dio.

“They must have opened another bottle of wine since I left,” I bellow in his ear so he can hear me.

“Nah bro, this is good ol’ Pappy Van Winkle.”He rolls his eyes as he tells me our parents popped the top on a bourbon that cost well over a grand.My dad has a lot of wealthy clients that tend to give him the good stuff.

“Goddamn dude, that shit is expensive.No wonder our moms think they can belt out notes like Ronnie James Dio.”I shake my head, laughing at the ear-piercing concert we have to listen to.All jokes aside, I love the bond our parents have.They are one cohesive unit and always seem to be on the same page with one another.In a perfect world, this would be my future with Ainsley, and Morgan’s future with Cassie.But we aren’t living in a perfect world.

“Ha, seriously!But as much fun as this is, I'm going to dip.I will catch up with you tomorrow.”He slaps my back with his departure.I nod my goodbye to him, and head up to bed.

* * *

I spend the next hour in my room keeping my mind busy on work, instead of Ainsley leaving to be with Jackson.It pisses me off she did that, but she wouldn’t be Ainsley if she wasn’t supporting the people she cared about.

I hear a knock at my door, and assume it’s one of our parents attempting to persuade me to participate in drunk karaoke again.But when the door opens, it’s Cassie with a look of worry on her face.

“Cass?What’s going on?”She runs her hand through her blonde hair, pacing back and forth in front of me.I jump up and grab her by the shoulders to calm her down, and stop her incessant fidgeting.

“I am totally breaking girl code right now, but I don’t know what else to do.Ainsley texted me that she was flying back to Boise because of some accident Jackson got into.”Her scoff when she says Jackson’s name doesn’t go unnoticed.

“Yeah, I dropped her off at the airport.Why is that a problem?I thought you were Team Jackson?”I can’t help the sarcasm seeping into my words.

“I was, until I saw their text thread.It was bad, Ace.”What the fuck is she talking about?What does she mean it was bad?Ainsley hasn’t given anyone the slightest hint to there being trouble in paradise.

“Why is it bad, Cassie?Stop talking in riddles and tell me.”I’m not trying to be a dick when she's obviously upset, but she needs to get to the point.

“She's been distant lately, and not just with you and Morgan.I barely see her, and when I do, she's grabbing her things to go back to his house.Jordan has blown up her phone multiple times, and either gets one-word responses from her, or nothing at all.”She blows out a breath after talking a mile a minute.I stay silent, and let her continue.

“Her phone lit up with a text from Jackson.I peeked at it just out of habit, and it was bad.I unlocked her phone to read more.I know it's an invasion of privacy, and normally I wouldn’t, but I was worried.”She takes another breath before continuing.

“A lot of the texts were sweet, but some conversations they had were horrible.He was yelling at her for skipping his practice.When she explained she had class, he told her that’s not a good enough reason to miss it.A lot of it was him freaking out on her for not spending enough time with him.I don’t know how he could even say that!She's with him all the time!”I let her catch her breath.

“What else did you read, Cass?”I try my best to keep my voice calm.On the inside, I’m raging with anger.Jackson is even worse than I thought.

“The texts were a lot of gaslighting.He would freak out on her, but then say sorry, begging her to forgive him.Only the apology was laced with reasons as to whyshecaused him to behave like that.And…there was mostly one cause for a lot of their fights.”Her shoulders relax a bit, but I can still feel the tension radiating off of her.

“What?”I ask.What could this prick doctor up to fight with her about?

“You.”

“When did this happen, Cassie?When did you see the texts, and why are you telling me and not Morgan?”This is turning into an interrogation, but I need answers.Ainsley may have been meek in high school, but now she's fierce.She doesn’t take anyone’s shit, so why the fuck is she cowering down to him?

“She was at my house earlier today, that's when I saw the messages.I didn’t tell Morgan, because I didn’t want him to freak out and tell their parents.She would never forgive me.I know you will do anything to protect her.When she told me she was heading back to Boise, I freaked and rushed over, hoping I didn't miss her.”My hand goes to my forehead, pinching my eyebrows together tight.I need to think.Cassie stares at me, waiting for a plan.

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