ANMELDENWestfield High’s library has never been this full.Every table is occupied and every chair taken. Even the floor between the bookshelves has become prime real estate for desperate seniors clutching textbooks and energy drinks against their chests.Final exams have officially taken over the school.Normally, I’d love this atmosphere. There’s something comforting about everyone being equally overwhelmed. But today, it just feels too loud with the thoughts in my head.“I’m going to fail calculus.” Alex drops his forehead onto the table with enough force to make Maya wince.“For the seventeenth time,” she says patiently, “you are not going to fail calculus.”“I just forgot what sine means.”“You remembered five minutes ago.”“Well, I forgot it again.”Tyler doesn’t even look up from the novel he’s annotating. “It still means the same thing it meant five minutes ago.”Alex groans. “I hate derivatives so much.”Maya uncaps yet another highlighter and smiles without looking up. “Stop being s
Tyler’s POV“It smells weird,” Lucas says, wrinkling his nose the second we step out of the elevator.“That’s because it’s a hospital,” Sophie replies, rolling her eyes.“It smells like old people.”Mom snorts from inside her room. “I can hear you; you know.”Lucas grins sheepishly before darting through the doorway first. “Mommy!”Mom is sitting upright in bed with a book resting in her lap. She looks much better than she did yesterday. Color has returned to her cheeks, or maybe I’m just seeing what I want to see.She smiles the moment she sees us, her arms outstretched for the twins to launch into them. “My favorite people.”“Dad’s downstairs getting coffee,” I tell her as I walk in carrying a bouquet of white lilies. “He said not to let you bully the nurses while he’s gone.”“I would never.”The nurse attending to her laughs. “She already tried bribing us with your homemade cookies,” she tells me.Mom shrugs unapologetically. “He makes excellent cookies.”“I absolutely do not.”She
I don’t remember my walk home; I just remember crying a lot on the way.All I can think about is Mabel as tears burn behind my eyes. If I didn’t know better, I’d believe she was only taken to the hospital because her flu got worse, just like Tyler and the twins. But I know now that every smile, laugh, and hug are all numbered.The thought makes me feel sick as I head inside.“Lila?” Mom looks up from the dining table where she’s sorting through bills. “You’re back already?”I nod. “Mhm.”“How’s Mrs. Brooks?”The question catches me so off guard that I nearly burst into tears right there. “She’s…” I force myself to swallow. “…still at the hospital.”“Oh, poor thing.” Mom sighs sympathetically. “I hope it’s nothing serious.”I grip the strap of my bag tighter. “So do I.”She studies my face for a second, then smiles knowingly. “You and Tyler had a fight?”I blink. “What?”“You’ve got the typical ‘I just fought with my boyfriend’ face that all you teenagers get.”Despite everything, I al
Tyler’s POVI never imagined balloons could feel depressing.Blue and silver ones still float lazily against the ceiling from where Lila, the twins, and Mom decorated yesterday. The handmade banner hangs slightly crooked over the fireplace because Sophie insisted it looked “more artistic” that way, and the birthday cake is still sitting untouched in the refrigerator.Everything is ready, except for the birthday girl.We’d all woken up this morning, ready to wish Mom a happy birthday, only for her to be rushed to the hospital when Dad tried to wake her and she wouldn’t budge. It was a scary ordeal, but she’s stable now, according to Dad.Speaking of, he rushes back into the living room with his car keys and a duffel bag. “They’re admitting her overnight.”I look up from the couch. “Seriously? It’s just the flu.”His jaw tightens for the briefest second before he forces a smile – something I still find strange even though he’s been doing it a lot more lately. “They just want to keep an
CHAPTER 120The Brooks’ house has felt warmer these past few days, and that probably has to do with Tyler’s Dad being less of a… well, jerk… since the accident.It isn’t just the “formal” family photos displayed anymore. Finger-painted masterpieces from Sophie and Lucas are now proudly stuck to the refrigerator with colorful magnets. One of Tyler’s old football trophies sits crookedly on a shelf because, according to Mabel, “life is too short to care if things are perfectly straight.”It’s slowly becoming one of my favorite places in the world.Which is probably why Tyler’s text this afternoon makes me smile.Tyler: Mom’s really serious about throwing a party for her birthday. She says she wants you to come over and help with decorating. But I think she really just wants to gossip about me.Me: Your mother and I have better things to talk about.Tyler: Ha ha, very funny.Me: Enjoy practice.Tyler: Whatever.I laugh as I pocket my phone and rin
The strange thing about life is that it never stops.No matter how earth-shattering something feels in the moment, the world somehow finds a way to keep turning.A few weeks ago, I was sitting outside an operating room, wondering if Tyler was going to survive. Now, I’m sitting in Calculus pretending to understand derivatives while Maya doodles little hearts around Alex’s name in the margin of her notebook.Life is weird like that.“Mr. Holland.”I blink, turning around with the rest of the class just in time to see Jake throwing a ball of paper at Tyler. An exasperated sigh leaves my mouth as I roll my eyes. Honestly, I don’t know which I prefer, those two as antagonizing enemies or chaotic friends.Mr. Larry glares at Jake, who looks completely unbothered. “Since you have nothing better to do than disrupt my class. Would you care to solve the problem on the board?”“…No?”The class bursts into laughter.Mr. Harrison pinches the bridge of his
Tyler’s POV“Again.”Alex groans from across the yard. “Dude. This is so not what I had in mind when I asked if I could come hang.”I toss the football at him anyway. “Again.”He catches it automatically, but doesn’t throw it back. Instead, he stares at me like I’ve completel
Walking into school the next day feels like maneuvering my way through a minefield.Every hallway feels too narrow, every conversation too loud, and although the feeling isn’t new, it feels like every pair of eyes are watching me.The rumors about Tyler and me haven’t exactly died down, but after t
“This is a bad idea,” I mutter from the passenger seat, while keeping an eye out for any teacher that might see us.After the rest of the school dispersed once the show was over, she’d simply walked over to Alex and stretched her hand out wordlessly. In the blink of an eye, his car keys appeared in
The late afternoon sun glints off the hood of Tyler’s car as I help him into the passenger seat.After two days, the hospital finally decided to discharge him. And apart from the twins, Alex, and Maya, no one else visited. Not even his parents. “Careful,” I murmur, keeping my hand on his good arm







