1 prologue

"everyone has a chapter they don't read out loud"

J A Z L Y N - 06/24

As she sits down at her go-to coffee house with a chai tea latte in her hands, glancing out of the window at the bustling streets of London, her mind is racing as usual.

Ever since they were kids, they've always had each other's back.

Ever since they were kids, they did everything together.

But that all changed in the 12th grade.

"Can't wait to meet at the garden later" and "be right there" turned into "sorry I'm working" or just plain "busy".

The group chat went inactivate, the space where they once hung out became empty and deserted, the barista at their favourite cafe had forgotten their names and usuals, the memories shared between four friends were forgotten as each had moved on with their separate lives.

They graduated secondary school and went off to higher education, but never once did any of them think; "it's been a while, let's hang out like old times," which honestly isn't surprising to Jazlyn.

A part of her would give anything to go back in time to try and fix the mistakes and make everything go back to how it was, but of course, there is the other part of her that believes it happened for a reason. Life just goes on, it's fast-paced, always moving, always changing— never for a split second can you take a breather or you'll be left in the dust.

In high school, she was always interpreted as the good girl. The girl who was adored by every teacher. The honest, always-handed-her-work-in-on-time girl, the one who was never afraid to ask questions if she needed help (which happened rarely, but that's beside the point), the smart, helpful one. But it was just a facade, a charade, a scam. And only one person— her best friend, knew the truth about what kind of person she really was.

But then betrayal and jealousy swooped in like an eagle and ruined everything.

-

And Jazlyn Rose Parker vowed never to speak to Kayla Mckenzie Corbyn again.