Page 156 of Stuck with my Mountain Daddies

I had no idea how long I sat there. Could’ve been minutes. Could’ve been hours. Grief bends time that way.

At some point, I picked up my phone again, not to doomscroll, not to watch Ava gloat or see the wolves circle in the comments, but to finally do the thing I’d been avoiding.

I went to Lucy’s contact and stared at her name like it might bite me.

I pressed “call.”

One ring. Two.

Straight to voicemail.

Her voice came through, cheerful and familiar in a way that cracked me open all over again:“Hey, it’s Lucy. You know what to do. I may or may not listen to the message and call you back. Don’t hate me if I don’t.”

My laugh broke on a sob.

The beep came too fast.

I opened my mouth. Nothing came out.

Then I started talking.

“Hey, Lucy,” I said, voice hoarse and small. “I know you probably don’t want to hear from me right now. I wouldn’t blame you if you never did again.”

I swallowed hard. Tried to breathe.

“I messed up. Not by falling in love with your brothers, I need you to know that wasn’t some stunt or some sick fantasy. I didn’tplanany of it. It just happened. They were there when everything else fell apart. They saw me. Theyseeme. I didn’t think that was something I could ever have again, not after what happened in LA.”

A pause.

A shudder.

I closed my eyes. The words were pouring out now, raw and unfiltered.

“But I should’ve told you. I should’ve said something the minute I realized it was real. You were always more than a best friend, Lucy. You werehome. And now I don’t know if I broke that forever.”

I curled the blanket tighter around my shoulders. The silence on the other end felt like a scream.

“Ava’s video is everywhere. I guess you saw it. Maybe you think I deserve it. I don’t even know anymore. All I know is, this isn’t what I wanted. I didn’t want the spotlight back. I didn’t want the clicks or the gossip or the chaos. I wanted a quiet life. I wantedpeace. But I forgot how loud the Internet gets when it decides you’re worth tearing down.”

I laughed bitterly.

“Damn, why did I everwantthis? Why did I spend so many years chasing the approval of people who don’t even know me? Who would eat me alive the second I stopped being shiny enough for them to care?”

My throat burned.

“I’m tired, Lucy. I’m so tired of pretending to be okay. Of being branded:the hot mess, the comeback girl, the scandal.That’s not who I am anymore. Maybe I never was.”

I looked at the window. Snow still drifted past like ash.

“I miss you. Not because I need you, but because you’reyou. Because you’re the one person who saw me before all of this. The real me. Please call me back. Or text. Or scream at me. Just don’t shut me out forever.”

The voicemail cut off, cutting me off with it.

I stared at the phone, wondering if she’d listen.

Wondering if she’d care.

The fame, the followers, the brand deals, they all felt like a sick joke now. A glittering trap I’d run toward willingly, only to learn too late that the glow was just the fuse burning down.

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