Life pretty much sucked. Ashley felt so low and couldn't seem to pull herself together. She went to school and endured the indifference of Maddox. He didn't even look at her, it was like she no longer existed to him. She hadn't expected it to be easy but never had she believed it would be this difficult to carry on knowing she had been the one to end things.

And that was the hardest part was when she remembered how he made her feel. It was someone had taken away the sun from her life and all that was left was a darkness. The rush he had brought to her life he had taken with him.

She wished for the numbness she had felt before but there was only pain and it was constant with each breath she took.

She seemed to be the one struggling to piece her life back together, Maddox seemed to be fine, like he had bounced back to the person he had been before meeting her in a heartbeat. It did nothing for her fragile state of mind.

It made her doubt everything they shared but one thing she couldn't doubt was how she had felt, still felt.

And the upcoming senior prom was making things worse.

How could she even consider going to prom when her heart was broken? Her mother had already dragged her to every dress store and she had finally relented and chosen a dress. It was expensive but beautiful and had made Ashley feel a little better when she had seen her reflection. She had lost some weight as her appetite had been pretty non existent since her split with Maddox but the bonus even she could see the dress looked so good on her.

And right now she needed that.

Jasper hadn't pulled her aside and demanded to know what the hell had happened.

She had shrugged. "It was never going to go anywhere. What was the point in any of it when our futures couldn't be more different?"

"Lots of couples make it work. It's no excuse Ash." He had studied her intensely, convinced there was something she wasn't telling him but she had refused to reveal that Mrs. Larson had been behind it.

She could tell her mom about Maddox and then Mrs. Larson wouldn't have any leverage but what did it really change. Maddox would find out his mother was manipulative and scheming but it wouldn't change the fact that they had no future together. She also didn't want to be the one to reveal to Maddox what a nasty piece of work his mom was.

It had been immature to believe love conquered all and it was the only thing that mattered. In reality it was only a small part. Her parents were a prime example of this.

"I just get the feeling that something else played a part in this and for some reason you aren't being totally truthful. Like what happened with Jim." Jasper had been far too perceptive but she had just shrugged his observation off.

"I know you care about Mad but I'm not hiding anything. I was truthful and sometimes the truth hurts." Even she didn't believe what she had told him but it was the only excuse she could think of.

In truth, as much as she had worried about their futures, if it hadn't been for Mrs. Larson ultimatum she would have held onto Maddox and taken whatever he had offered.

Whether he believed her or not he had left it at that, much to her relief. If he had kept digging she wasn't sure she would have been able to hide what had pushed her to break up with Maddox.

"We don't need boys to have fun," Diane said when the three of them decided to go to prom without dates.

It wasn't like anyone had actually asked any of them but it was probably for the best.

When the night of the prom finally arrived she felt sick to her stomach and had a mini panic attack but with the support of her two friends she got dressed, got her hair and make done. She smiled, even though she had no reason to and stood while their parents took pictures. Her father came especially to witness the important milestone.

At the prom they sat at their table, and she couldn't stop herself from watching every couple arrive and get their photos taken. She was looking for Maddox.

The moment he arrived her heart fluttered. He was dressed in a tux and he looked devastatingly handsome. The sight of him stole her breath and she stared unable to look away.

Then she saw Sasha with him, looking perfect and beautiful and her heart crashed. It hit her like a brick wall and there was no recovering from it.

They smiled and had their photos taken, Ashley couldn't look away.

There was a familiarity in their body language and she couldn't help wondering if they had become closer in the last couple of weeks.

She bet his mom was happy with the way things had worked out. It looked like everything was going the way she had planned. Ashley was out of the picture and he was with the girl she believed was a perfect match for her son.

"You okay?" Sally asked, her eyes also on the stunning couple as they made their way to their table which luckily was on the other side of the hall.

She swallowed the emotion and nodded.

She had never revealed the real reason she had broken things off with Maddox. No one, not even her close friends, knew the truth and she planned on keeping it that way.

"It is what it is." She let out a heavy breath and smiled. It hurt to smile when her heart felt like it was split in two.

It hadn't taken him long to move on. Could he really have truly loved her if he could move on this quickly? And that left her feeling worse than before.

Carson came to ask her to dance and at first she was tempted to refuse but then she decided she wasn't going to spend the whole evening mopping around. She wanted to be able to dance a little and spend some time with her friends.

"You look beautiful," he murmured as he led her onto the dance floor. It was a slow dance so in on hand he held hers and rested his other hand on her hip.

"Thanks Carson. You look very handsome in your tux."

He smiled.

She made a concerted effort not to look in the direction of Maddox's table, not sure she would be able to watch him with Sasha. It would devastate her and she was barely hanging on by a thread.

It was now she wished she had blown the whole event off, it would have hurt less.

Then unexpectedly Logan appeared at her table and asked her to dance. She had not expected that since he had arrived with a date.

It was more than awkward when he pulled her close and they moved together to the song.

"You look beautiful tonight," he said.

"Thanks. All it took was an expensive dress and lots of make up and hair spray."

He laughed and shook his head.

"That's the most beautiful thing about you."

"What?" She had no idea what he was talking about.

"You have no idea how stunning you are. When you walked in here tonight there wasn't a guy who didn't stop to look."

"Are you trying to work yourself into my good books?" She narrowed her gaze.

He shook his head. "See you have no idea."

"Well I can think of one that probably didn't," she said, finding it difficult to keep the hurt from her voice.

"I heard the two of you split and I have to admit I was surprised."

"Yeah well I don't really want to talk about it." There was no way she was going to open up to him about something she wasn't ready to share with anyone.

"I should be happy that it didn't last but I want you to be happy Ash. No matter what happened I still want you to be happy."

"Really?" she asked, finding it difficult to believe after everything that had happened.

"You were right. We weren't well suited and at the time I didn't see it but you did. You did right Ash and I can appreciate it now."

She felt blown away by his words.