Seeing Joey Granger

"Um, actually, Aynsley, Madison is way better now than the way she used to be. In fact, you should treat her better. She's your best friend, and she's right about everything!"

And then...

Something happened.

Aynsley didn’t know exactly what had happened. There was no dramatic flash of light, no eerie shiver down her spine. Just—one second, she was ready to tear into him, and the next, his words were lodged in her brain, as if they’d always been there.

"Madison is way better now than the way she used to be."

Aynsley had spent years perfecting Madison.

She had polished her, honed her social instincts, refined her taste. She had advised her on everything—clothes, friends, dating, which guys were worth their time, which weren’t. She had helped Madison climb to the top. She had made Madison into someone every girl envied and every guy wanted.

And now Joey Granger, Joey freaking Granger, was unraveling all of it!

Or…

Was he?

Aynsley frowned, unease crawling up her spine. Because when she looked at Madison now, really looked at her, she didn’t see someone unraveling.

She saw someone who was happy, self-assured, not striving for perfection, but satisfied with finding their place in the world.

Madison had always been confident, but this was different. She radiated something new. Something deeper. It wasn’t just that she looked good, she always looked good, it was that she carried herself like she knew something Aynsley didn’t.

But that was insane. Right? Right?!

And yet, she couldn’t shake the feeling.

It was like a puzzle piece sliding into place, like something Aynsley hadn’t even realized was missing before this moment.

Had Madison… actually been less than perfect before Joey? Was it Joey, not Aynsley, that made Madison better?

The thought made Aynsley’s stomach turn. It was wrong. It had to be. But she couldn’t unthink it now.

Madison was better. Way better.

And if she was way better now, then Aynsley had been way wrong before. She had been pushing Madison into something that wasn't good for her, something that would have ultimately led her to a less-than-ideal life. The thought landed with a hollow thud in her chest. The sense of absolute confidence that Aynsley had lived her life, had built her relationships, all of it seemed suddenly shaky, like she'd built her house on a fault-line and the ground was beginning to quake.

"You should treat her better."

Aynsley could feel Madison’s eyes fixed on her.

Tear-filled. Hurting.

Because of her.

The thought sent a cold shiver through her.

Aynsley had always been a good friend. She was sure of it! The kind of friend who told the truth, even when it wasn’t what people wanted to hear. Who kept it real, who didn’t let her friends make dumb choices, who knew better than they did what was good for them. That was why she and Madison had worked so well together for so long. Aynsley had kept her in check.

But now, with Madison’s hand clinging to Joey’s arm, her lip trembling, her whole body taut like she was waiting for another blow…

It suddenly didn’t feel like she had been keeping her in check.

It felt more like she had been tearing her down.

A sick, uneasy knot began forming deep inside Aynsley's stomach, the feeling when cresting the peak of a roller coaster, about to plunge back to the Earth.

Her mother’s voice surfaced in her mind, "You don’t drag down the people you love. You lift them up."

She had always believed that. Always tried to live by it. Every decision she'd made to push Madison into the great person she had become, it had all been because she could see greatness in her. But if Madison was actually happier now, if it had actually been Joey that had made her better, then what had Aynsley been doing this whole time?

Oh God.

She had been the one dragging Madison down.

"She’s your best friend."

That should not have hit as hard as it did.

Of course Madison was her best friend. Aynsley had never doubted that. They had been inseparable for years. The kind of friendship other girls envied, the kind built on loyalty, trust, and an unspoken understanding that they would always have each other’s backs.

But suddenly, the words didn’t feel like a given. They felt like a reminder. Joey was the teacher and he had just handed her a failing grade.

Memories flickered through her mind like snapshots:

Madison clutching her arm at sleepovers when they were kids, whispering about boys and dreams and stupid middle school drama.

Madison hyping her up before every big date, before every important event, swearing she looked amazing.

Madison sticking by her after that huge fight with Olivia Yang last year, even when Olivia had tried to pull their whole friend group against her.

Madison had always been there for her. Always.

And what had Aynsley done?

Mocked her. Dismissed her. Made her feel stupid for being happy.

Her throat tightened. She had never even thought about it that way before. But now it was glaringly obvious. She was supposed to have Madison’s back, not undermine her, not tear her down.

Madison was her best friend, but what kind of friend had Aynsley been?

"She’s right about everything."

Aynsley inhaled sharply.

The second the thought took root, everything shifted.

Because if Madison was right about everything, if her judgment was flawless, her instincts were perfect, if she had always known best, then that meant Madison had been right about Joey.

And Aynsley had been wrong.

Slowly, almost unwillingly, Aynsley turned to look at him. She expected to see the same loser she had always seen, the walking worn-out hoodie who had spent years at school only being noticed for being unnoticeable. The awkward, scrawny, unremarkable nobody.

But that wasn't who Aynsley saw.

She saw the guy Madison had chosen.

The guy who had somehow made Madison—Madison—better.

Aynsley’s pulse skipped. If he could make Madison Ashford better, what could he do for someone like Aynsley?

That kind of guy wasn’t just anyone. That kind of guy wasn’t random. That kind of guy wasn’t a mistake.

She had spent her entire life being careful about who she surrounded herself with. Her father had told her, over and over: "Your circle determines your future, Aynsley. You keep company with the best, and you become the best."

Aynsley had painstakingly curated her social circles, taking her father's advice to heart. People she had deemed below her had to be trimmed. People who would elevate her, give her some advantage, improve her outlook, those were the people she had chosen.

And Madison had chosen Joey.

Which meant…

Oh my God.

Joey Granger was exactly who Madison was supposed to be with.

But it was more than that! Madison had explained it all to her just the night before, but Aynsley had been too dumb to catch it. Why hadn't she listened? All morning she'd been acting like a bitch, when she should have clued in to what was right in front of her.

Aynsley would be lucky to have a guy like Joey Granger! He was literally the best thing that could ever happen to a girl! How had she been so dumb that she hadn't figured it out before?

She wouldn’t be surprised if he became the most wanted guy in school!

Her heart thumped.

She wet her lips, suddenly hyper-aware of how close he was, how his jaw was sharper than she remembered, how his lips were parted just slightly, like he was about to speak again. She saw the way Madison clung to him, **** for his affection, needing his affirmation. For the first time in her life, Aynsley wished she had a man who could give that to her.

No. That was wrong.

She wished that Joey could give that to her.

And she began to wonder if her best friend would be willing to share.