Sienna

Two weeks.

That was how long I had gone without a single call, text, or message to Jaxon outside school hours.

Two weeks of pretending nothing existed between us whenever I was home.

Two weeks of acting “normal,” of keeping my head down, of letting the tension with my dad slowly fade until the house finally felt livable again.

He relaxed.

I pretended.

We coexisted.

And I hated every second of it.

But then — three days before Jaxon’s birthday — my phone buzzed with a notification that snapped my heart awake.

A new group chat.

“Operation King Jax 🎉🔥”

Members:

Caleb, Ezra, Kendra, Me.

I blinked.

Kendra leaned...