Chapter 61

Ashleigh spent the rest of the weekend deep in thought. By Monday, she was still torn between reaching out to Alexander for help with Adrian or deciding if contacting Adrian was even worth the trouble. For now, her midterms were her primary concern, so she got ready to meet Damien, Arthur and Oliver. Just as she was about to leave, her phone rang. Seeing Fiona’s name flash on the screen, she winced, remembering she hadn’t spoken to Fiona or James since the office party.

“Hi, Fiona! How are you?” she answered, trying to sound cheerful, but a loud male voice boomed in the background, nearly deafening her.

“I told you she was alive, Fiona! She just didn’t want to call us. And her phone’s working fine, too,” James voice boomed in the background, his footsteps growing louder as he neared the phone.

“James, don’t talk like that! I’ve just been busy settling into college,” Ashleigh replied, her voice tinged with guilt for neglecting her friends.

At first she had been preoccupied with her arg