PERCIE   “So, how did it go?” Hailey asked over the phone. I’d been watching her window from the street where I parked my car. The lights were still on.  “You should have seen their faces.” I was not proud of what I did, of how I left. Everything didn’t go as I planned, the moment my mother did not even show a little remorse to me. “It didn’t go well, I see.” There was sadness in the tone of her voice. I sighed.  “I take that as a yes.” “Can I see you?” “Percie—” “All you have to do is walk out of your house, Lee. I wanna see you.” I wanted to see her. I wanted to get rid of this unsettling emotion in the pit of my stomach. I knew only Hailey could help me. “Wait a sec.” She must be studying. The surprise in her voice made my heart flutter. Then her shadow appeared on the curtain of her room. “You’re here.” “Yup. Can I come? Or up to you, you come down. I just wanna talk to you.” I

PERCIE   “You don’t have a plan to get drunk, do you?” Grandma added before I walked out of the library. “No promises,” I sang. “Percie?” “I said no promises.” I went back to Hailey. She was already sitting on the ottoman. One thing I noticed was the lit candles in every corner of the place. “Hey, you’re back. Are we gonna sleep in your car?” I smiled. “Not tonight. How did these candles get here?” “I don’t know. One of the staff, her name is Donna. She just started lighting candles. The smell is incredible. I thought this is your idea.” “Nope, but I’ll thank her and Grands later.” I uncorked the wine, poured two glasses, and I offered a glass to Hailey. I sat beside her and wrapped my arm around her. I raised my glass. “Happy two months, Lee.” She looked beyond shock as she stared at me. I leaned over to kiss her lips. “Happy two months.” She sipped her wine. “Don’t

PERCIE   “Remy!” I shouted as I rushed towards the wrecked car. Terror closed around my throat as I watched the aftermath, broken glasses, smoked, crumpled metal. I was suddenly brought back to that accident, making me fall to the ground.  Shell-shocked, I felt my life was sucked out of me.  Everything blurred around me. Rushes pushed through me here in there, yet I was still kneeling on the ground as my gaze fixed to Remy.  I couldn’t take it anymore. I couldn’t handle another loss. Jesus, not again. “Percie! Percie!” Someone was nudging me, but I couldn’t respond. I couldn’t move. It felt like I would fall apart if I did.  “Percie, come back to me, please? Come back to me.” That voice was so familiar, that touch, those eyes. “Percie, please?” Hailey. My emotions wreaked havoc in my heart.  “You need to get up.” “Get up?” I asked in confu

PERCIE   Call me coward, an idiot, but after watching Remy’s lifeless body, fighting for his life for the choice he made, I couldn’t take it anymore. I had to go away.  Since the doctor said that Remy would pull it through, I was beyond relieved that I didn’t have to carry the guilt with me for the rest of my life. It hurt as fuck as I walked out of his room while he was still unconscious. I just wished I could say something to him before I left, but on the other thought, it would just make it difficult for me. When someone said to me right now that everything happened for a reason, I already punched him in the face. If the reason for losing Emma was finding Remy, it was bullshit—a fucking cruel twist of fate. Why the fuck they both had to suffer? Why did I have to watch them suffer? It felt like a deja vu, all over again. I couldn’t think about them without that horrible image of Emma and Remy lying in the hospital bed. “Percie?” I

PERCIE I snatched another sandwich on the plate and apple on the fruit basket before I dashed out of the kitchen.“Finish your breakfast, Percie!” Mom called out. “Gonna be late!”“You need to call your Grandpa, Percie.” Mom followed me outside the house.My car was already in the driveway. Mom’s driver gave me my car key. “I will. Thanks, Elliot.”“Percival!” Mom’s annoying voice made me stop.I groaned. “Fine. I’m gonna be late for my class.”“You’re coming home tonight, right?” I watched her eyes light up with hope.“Sure. Can I go now?”“Drive safe, honey.”I looked at her again. I had not heard the word honey in a long time. I still felt cynical about a sudden change of heart. At this moment, I needed them and a room to stay. My