There was also Jessi. Once Lilly's closest friend, she had drifted away. Jessi and Ashlin never got along, long before Jessi and Lilly fell apart. Jessi saw Ashlin as someone always looking for validation, someone who bent too easily. And maybe, in a cruel way, she was right.
Ashlin wasn't just another student.
She was favored. Protected. Backed by the most powerful students in the class—the ones everyone else wanted to please or at least avoid angering.
With this shield around her, Ashlin could have walked freely with confidence. Instead, she chose to kneel to Aisha and Rosie, letting them dictate her words and silence her true self.