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“You were out of town. I thought it would be a fun surprise.”

“I didn’t get to say goodbye.” I turned to face Asher, my eyes welling up with tears. “Nobody thought I’d want to say goodbye?”

He cursed under his breath. “I wasn’t thinking. Of course youwould.”

The first tear was hot as it slid down my cheek. I wiped at it angrily with the back of my hand. But it didn’t matter; more followed fast. Asher took a step forward, his arms extended as though he was going to pull me into a hug. I put up both hands, blocking him. “Don’t touch me.”

“Wren, we can go see him. I’ll get the info. It was Maggie. Remember Maggie from the rec center pool, that sweet little girl who loved him? I’m sure the fam—”

“Stop talking. Please. Just.” I couldn’t do this anymore. “I saw the TikTok videos.”

Asher’s mouth fell open, but nothing came out.

“That’s your account.”

He swallowed. “Dale’s…and mine.”

“You edit the videos. Does that make you a total sociopath or just in on the scam?” I said, reciting the post’s most-liked comment, the one nobody had had the decency to delete.

He flinched, but said nothing.

“You edited them, right?” I wanted so badly for him to deny it. For him to tell me this was all a big misunderstanding and explain it all away.

Instead, he nodded.

“We’re done.” I stepped around him and left.

Rule:Don’t give a boy the power to blow you up.

I wasn’t even sure how I got to Kamala’s house. I’d never cried so much in my life. And crying made everything blurry and snotty and stupid. But I made it and she pulled me inside and onto her big bed and handed me one of her squishy stuffed animals that I’d always made fun of. I hugged it to my chest.

“Do you want to talk or just cry?” she asked.

“I don’t know,” I said.

“I’m sorry your mom is awful.”

“No, this isn’t about my mom. Bean is gone.”

The bed shifted as Kamala sat down beside me and put a hand on my arm. “I thought you’d be happy about that.”

“I didn’t get to say goodbye.”

“I’m so sorry. I know you loved him.”

“I hate Asher so much.”

“Whoa, what?” Kamala looked taken aback. “He was just trying to help. He thought it’s what you wanted.”

“No.” I took out my phone and pulled up TikTok. When I found the video, I passed my phone over.

Kamala watched without comment, my sniffles providing background noise. After she scrolled through the series of videos, she looked up. “Tell me he told you he was posting these.”

“He didn’t. You hadn’t seen them?”

“No! I would’ve told you.” She gasped. “This is what Becky and Meredith were talking about that day they came into the café. They had seenthis,not the Bean Games footage.”

I closed my eyes. “I’m so embarrassed for letting him use me like this. Did you see the comments?”