There was definitely something up but she couldn't quite put her finger on it. Maddox was ignoring her and she had a feeling it had something with the message he had sent her night before.

He hadn't replied to any of her messages asking what was wrong. She had no idea what she had done for him to stop talking to her.

She had to work so she couldn't go by his house to try to see him. Maybe it would be best to give him space until Monday and then she could approach him. She had never been faced with the side of Maddox that had just shut her down and she felt an apprehension of what it could mean.

But she kept telling herself that once she spoke to him face to face they would be able to sort out any misunderstanding easily.

Her current mood made it difficult to concentrate on anything. She messed up some orders and Jerry had yelled at her. When her shift finally ended she was relieved.

Her back was still stiff and sore. The painkillers she had taken before her shift had started had worn off and she just wanted to go home.

She didn't feel like company so she avoided calling Diane and Sally. The only person she wanted to talk to wasn't answering her calls.

When his phone clicked over to voicemail she sighed. "It's me. Please call me."

Then she ended the call and threw her phone on the bed.

Her thoughts returned to his cryptic message the night before. Was there something she needed to tell him? It made no sense.

She had gone around in circles and she hadn't come up with any reason for him to be acting this way.

That night she didn't sleep well. Her current situation with Maddox had made her anxious and despite their shared night it felt like they were more apart than ever.

She was tired and grumpy when she got to school. There was no sign of Maddox or his friends. Any hope of sorting it out before school evaporated. She trudged inside and found Diane and Sally.

"Hey," Diane greeted when she joined them by Diane's locker.

"Hey," Ashley greeted, her eyes were scanning the hallways for any sign of Maddox or his friends.

"You looking for Loverboy?" Sally asked with a smile.

"Yeah, something like that." She had not breathed a word that for some unknown reason Maddox wasn't talking to her.

"So how was the rest of the party?" she asked, hoping that would keep them too busy to see there was something wrong.

Then she saw a glimpse of Maddox and he stared right through her. She searched his features but there was no softening of his features. Jasper and Rob walked either side of him. It didn't seem like he wanted to talk at all and she was hesitant to make a scene to talk to him.

Whatever was going on would have to wait until after school.

It was lunch time before Diane and Sally finally noticed there was something off.

"What's going on with Maddox?" Sally asked.

Maddox was sitting with his group. He hadn't looked in her direction once and after all they had shared it felt like someone had cut her heart from her chest. She had a big gaping hole where her heart should be.

"I don't know," she whispered, her voice filled emotion. She had been holding herself up all morning and she was feeling raw inside and still sore on the outside.

Diane frowned and reached for her hand to give it a reassuring squeeze.

Ashley swallowed and tried to regain her composure. "He messaged me after he dropped me off asking me if there was something I needed to tell him?"

Her shoulders slumped. "I messaged him no and since then it's been radio silence. He wont return my messages or my calls. I don't know what I did."

It was hard not to cry but she let out an emotional breath.

"That doesn't make much sense," Sally said.

"I know. But if he wont talk to me how am I supposed to figure out what I did wrong?"

"It's okay," Diane reassured her, putting a supportive arm around her. "It's probably some stupid misunderstanding and once you talk to him it will be all sorted out."

She wanted to believe that because she didn't want to think about what would happen if it was something they couldn't figure out.

She didn't know how she managed to get through the rest of the day. At one point she stopped looking for Maddox, it hurt too much to see him when he was flatly ignoring her like she meant nothing to him. It hit her confidence in how she felt about him and it made her question everything.

At the end of the day she took her time at her locker hoping most people had left by the time she left school. She couldn't take any more and just wanted to go home.

When she left the school and made her way to her car she stopped. Jasper was leaning against her car with his arms crossed. He was clearly waiting for her but she wasn't sure she wanted to talk to him.

"It's about time." He straightened up.

"What do you want Jasper?" she asked, hitching her bag more tightly over her shoulder despite the pain in the back.

"The truth." He studied her.

"I don't know what you're talking about and I'm done dealing with riddles. Ask me out right what you want to know and I'll tell you?"

"Okay." He gave a brief nod. "Did something happen between you and Jim at the party?"

She pressed her lips together tightly. She had promised not to breathe a word of what had happened for fear what Maddox would do.

At her response he frowned. "No way. I don't believe it."

Did he not believe Jim would do what he did? Clearly he didn't know Jim well enough.

"Look, I'm tired. I just want to go home. Okay?"

"I know you Ash. I know this isn't you. Tell me it didn't happen and I'll talk some sense into Mad."

Nothing he was saying was making any sense.

"What are you talking about?"

"Someone saw you and Jim under the stairs kissing."

Her mouth fell open for a moment and she snapped it shut. It explained so much.

"Tell me it didn't happen." His eyes implored her but she couldn't. Her gaze dropped to the floor and she couldn't look him the eye.

If she told him the truth Maddox would do something stupid and she couldn't be responsible for that no matter how angry she was with him.

"No way. There is no way I believe it."

This time she lifted her eyes to meet his and refused to say a word.

"I don't know why you are doing this but I will figure it out. Make no mistake about that." With that he stormed off and she watched him leave.

She didn't understand why he didn't believe what Maddox had so easily accepted without any confirmation from her. Now her heart hurt as much as the rest of her body.

She went home and tried to get through some homework but she couldn't concentrate on anything. Her life felt like someone had spun it out of control and nothing was what it was before. Her home life was changing. Her father had moved out and was staying in a nearby hotel until his new job started. She hadn't seen much of him and she missed him.

Although she didn't miss the fighting the silence was defening some days.

And somewhere along the way with Maddox she had fallen hard, so hard it hurt to even think about him or the night they had shared. He had so easily believed the worst of her, did he really deserve her protection.

Even though she was angry and hurt she couldn't bring herself to think about taking revenge. It would be so easy and no one would blame her. But she couldn't do that to him.

She looked over the to the window and she remembered the night he had shown up at her house. It reminded of her when he had found her by her spot in the forest trying to feel alive. For the time she had shared with him, she had never felt more alive and without him she felt like a shadow of the person.