登入LEON'S POV“Come here, come sit closer to me,” Rose said, waving me over.I remained rooted to the spot, my spine stiff. I could feel her watching me, her gaze tracing the line of my shoulder with an intensity that made the air in my bedroom feel thin.My eyes flickered toward her, and the breath stalled in my throat. Underneath the blanket she'd now discarded, she had on a silk nightdress, the fabric impossibly thin.And under the warm, golden glow of the bedside lamp, the material shifted, revealing the dark, round outlines of her nipples pushing against the sheer fabric.I felt a surge of heat hit my face, a violent, embarrassing, guilty blush that burned down to my collarbone.I looked away, staring hard at my textbook, but I could still see her in my peripheral vision, waiting.“Rose,” I started, my voice tight, straining against the knot in my throat. “Your nightdress... it’s a bit sheer.”She didn't move to cover herself. Instead, she leaned back, propping herself up on her elb
LEON'S POVThe doorbell chimed, a bright, intrusive sound that sliced through the quiet of our house. I rushed to open it, pulled the door open, and for a second, I simply just stared.First at the familiar round, cherub face, pouty lips and big, hazel eyes framed by softly arched eyebrows.Then my eyes dropped to the long graceful neck, collarbones, the pretty, light-blue, knee-length dress and the shiny, black mary-janes with frilly socks that matched the colour of the shirtwaist dress.“Rose?” I breathed, feeling my brow furrow as I began to do the math in my head.But the mention of her name had already drawn my mother's attention.“Rose Graham!” Mom hollered as she hurried towards us, her face lighting up in a way I hadn't seen in months.Rose stood on the porch, a duffel bag slung over her shoulder, still looking exactly like the girl who used to chase me through the sprinkler system, just grown now.“Hi Leon,” she beamed, not waiting for an invite. She surged forward, wrapping
AARON'S POV“I'm a coward. I keep telling myself it's because it hurts to see you like this, but the truth is, I’m terrified that you wouldn't want me to be here, after everything.”I blinked back tears, gently caressing the veins at the back of her hand. “I stole everything from you, right from conception,” I murmured. “I'm sorry.”I took a shaky breath, looking down at our joined hands. The weight of my emotions felt like it was crushing my lungs.“Oh God,” I gasped, my heart lurching painfully against my chest as I felt my mom's fingers twitch inside my palm.“Mom?” I called out in a quiet, desperate voice. “Mom can you hear me??” I looked at her calm face, at the tube hanging out of one side of her mouth. “If you can hear and understand me, twitch your fingers again…”I almost held my breath, my eyes watering as I waited. And then a gush of relieved, excited breath whooshed out of me when her fingers twitched again, lighter this time.“If…” I took a deep breath, my voice breaking.
AARON'S POVI felt like I was being scorched by the relentless, silent judgement on aunt Sarah's face.She stood by the counter, her arms crossed, watching me with a pointed expectation that made my throat feel tight.It was a suffocating look, one that suggested she knew exactly what I was hiding, the guilt, the rage, and the terrifying void where my conscience should have been.“It’s been months, Aaron. She doesn’t have that many people left,” my aunt said, her voice soft in a way that made my eyes burn.“You’re punishing yourself, and you’re punishing her. You can't keep running away from her for good.”I gently placed my glass down on the granite island, my hand shaking ever so slightly as I turned my back to her.“Trust me, aunt, you don’t want to talk about how long I'm willing to keep ‘running’”“Aaron! Just stop, okay?!! It wasn't your…”“Please don't,” I murmured, spinning on my heel to face her again. My blood was beginning to boil, a familiar, toxic heat that I’d been carry
LEON'S POVThe clatter of silverware against porcelain sounded was almost too much in the unnatural quiet around the dining table.Usually, we didn't talk while eating but there was just something heavier about this silence.My dad was at the head of the table as usual, his posture as rigid as the starched white collar he still wore even at home.Suddenly he cleared his throat and I promptly sat up straight.“I’ve already spoken to the admissions office at Princeton, Leon,” he began, not looking up from his roast chicken. “They have a legacy program that, combined with your GPA, practically guarantees you a seat. It is the only sensible path forward.”I set my fork down, my appetite long gone. “I don’t want to go to Princeton, Dad. I’ve told you this already. It’s not about the ranking or…or the legacy.”He looked up then, his eyes narrowing behind his glasses. “And what, pray tell, is it about? Or are you just determined to be difficult for the sake of it?”“It’s about what I want t
LEON'S POVThe afternoon light filtered through the stained-glass windows of the church building, casting long, broken patches of crimson and violet across the floorboards.I was in the middle of correcting a twelve-year-old’s posture, my fingers aching from hours of repetitively playing the keyboard, when I felt the air in the room shift.I looked up, expecting to see a parent or perhaps the janitor. Instead, my heart dropped to the floor as I saw Aaron.At first, I blinked hard to make sure I wasn't seeing things. I wasn't. Aaron was sitting in the very back row, his long legs stretched out into the aisle, leaning against the polished wood as if he owned the pew.Perhaps the second most surprising thing about his presence there was that he didn’t look out of place at all. He looked like he belonged there, even with his apparent arrogance which was practically seeping out of his pores.His handsome face slowly split into a smile that I would've mistaken as ‘warm’ if it wasn't from







