Chapter 61 Chapter 61
Saturday arrived quietly, like it was afraid to wake the damage Friday had left behind.
Cass woke later than usual, sunlight spilling across her room, her phone buzzing nonstop on the nightstand. Group chats were on fire. Clips from the game were everywhere. Screenshots. Slow motion replays. People arguing in comment sections like it was a national event.
She didn’t open any of them.
Instead, she reached for her diary.
The cover felt familiar in her hands now, less like a stranger, more like a confession waiting to happen. She sat cross legged on her bed and opened to a blank page.
Everything feels louder after yesterday.
Not just the rink. My head too.
I keep seeing the way Jace didn’t flinch.
The way he stood his ground without turning cruel.
She paused, chewing on the pen.
I hate that it made me feel safe.
That admission made her chest tighten. Safety was dangerous. It made you careless. It made you hope.
Downstairs, her mom was already awake, moving around the kitchen with purpose. When Cass joined her, she noticed it again. The glow. The softness in her eyes. The quiet strength in her posture.
“Morning,” her mom said, handing her a mug. “Sleep okay?”
Cass nodded. “Yeah.”
Her mom studied her for a moment, then spoke gently. “You don’t have to carry everything alone, you know.”
Cass swallowed. “I know.”
But she didn’t say more.
Later that afternoon, Lena showed up unannounced, hair in a messy bun, energy turned up like always.
“So,” Lena said, flopping onto Cass’s bed. “Our quiet hero just shattered the school’s collective jaw.”
Cass groaned and threw a pillow at her. “Stop.”
Lena caught it easily. “I’m serious. People are rewriting their opinions in real time.”
Cass sighed, sitting beside her. “That scares me.”
“Why?”
“Because attention never stays kind.”
Lena softened. “You okay?”
Cass hesitated, then nodded. “I think so.”
That night, across town, Jace sat alone in his room, replaying everything he hadn’t said. The win hadn’t settled anything at home. If anything, it had made things worse.
His father barely looked at him. Marvin hadn’t spoken a word. The silence was heavier than any argument.
Jace stared at his ceiling, Cass’s face slipping into his thoughts uninvited. The way she’d looked in the stands. The way her eyes had softened.
He didn’t trust himself with feelings. They complicated everything.
But this one refused to be ignored.
Sunday came with gray skies and restless energy.
Cass went for a drive just to clear her head, music low, thoughts loud. At a red light, she spotted Jace across the street, walking alone, hands shoved into his jacket pockets.
Her heart jumped.
She almost didn’t stop.
Almost.
But something inside her insisted.
She pulled over.
“Hey,” she called softly.
He turned, surprise flickering across his face before he smiled. A real one. Small. Unguarded.
“Hey.”
They stood there awkwardly for a second, like neither of them knew how to step into this new space.
“I just wanted to say thank you,” Cass said finally. “For Friday. For… not backing down.”
Jace shrugged lightly. “I didn’t do it for applause.”
“I know,” she said. “That’s why it mattered.”
Silence stretched, but it wasn’t uncomfortable.
“I’m not good at this,” Jace admitted quietly. “Talking. Explaining.”
“I know,” Cass said again. “You don’t have to.”
That seemed to ease something in him.
From a distance, Lena watched from Cass’s car, pretending very badly not to. She smiled to herself.
By the time Sunday evening rolled in, the calm felt temporary.
The school week loomed. Marvin was still out there. Zayelle was building her own empire. Rumors never stayed dead.
Cass wrote one last line in her diary before bed.
I don’t know what tomorrow will bring.
But I know I won’t shrink anymore.
And somewhere across town, Jace stared at his phone, rereading the same message Cass had sent him hours ago.
Thank you for seeing me.
Monday was coming.
And nothing would ever be the same again.