Eighty Seven

Asher’s POV

Taking a deep breath to steady my nerves, I dialed my mother's number, staring down at the screen of my phone to see when my mother picked it up.

The phone rang briefly before she answered, her tone light and carefree. I pressed the phone to my ear, and then I cleared my throat, so that my voice won’t come out croaky.

"Hey, Mom," I started, trying to mask the tension in my voice. "Brent just told me something about the auction... that May is on the guest list and she's being auctioned off for a date. That's not true, is it?"

I just wanted her to say that we had got things wrong, that that wasn’t the case. I wanted her to laugh at my question and tell me that I was saying nonsense, but she didn’t.

There was a brief silence on the line, and then my mother's voice came through, confirming what I dreaded to hear. "Oh, yes, it's true. May called a little while ago to confirm her attendance, so I've added her name to the list. Isn't that wonderful?"

“Isn’t that wonderful?” Reall