Breanne didn’t return to their room that night, leaving Sarah and Nyla alone. Nyla didn’t say much, and Sarah took her lead. Exiting their bedroom the next morning, they almost ran into Eason, who was waiting outside the door for them.“I’m pretty sure boys aren’t allowed over here,” huffed Sarah playfully. “Your room is on the complete opposite side of the building.”Eason grinned cheekily. “My daddy’s the Governor I can do what I want,” he said in an imitation of Mason so good they all burst into laughter. Linking arms so Nyla was in the middle, they began working their way outside. The hallways were wide enough that they didn’t have to move out of the way as they passed other students.“Ready to have some fun?” Sarah whooped, excited.“For the hike, yes. And then I’ll stay as far away from the water as possible.” Nyla shuddered at the thought of the cl

The next morning Nyla rose in a haze. She hadn’t gotten any sleep, memories of Eason holding her tight interrupting any peace she might have found.“Are you okay?” Breanne asked as Nyla tried to put her shoe on the wrong foot for the fourth time.“Yea,” mumbled Nyla, trying her hardest to finish getting dressed.Coyly Sarah asked, “Does this have anything to do with the walk you took with Eason last night?”Nyla dropped the shoe completely. “I knew it!” squealed Sarah and Breanne, exchanging excited looks.Playing dumb, Nyla asked, “Knew what?”“Well, Eason has been head over heels for you for as long as I’ve been friends with you,” Sarah informed her, doing a little jig out of happiness. “I thought he would never tell you!”“And I suspected he liked you, he was always around,” Breanne added. “Sarah filled me in with the r

The door opening behind her altered Nyla to another person’s presence on the patio. The weather was so lovely, one of the few days of transition between the too cold of winter and the too hot of summer, she had moved to one of the tables outdoors to study. From the stomping of the feet, Nyla knew it was Mason approaching her, and inwardly she sighed. She didn’t want to deal with the girl right now. She just wanted to finish her history reading.“I see my brother’s not hanging onto you. Did you finally scare him off, or did he just come to the conclusion you aren’t worth it?” Mason sneered, stopping next to Nyla.Carefully, Nyla marked her page in her holopad. Turning to Mason, anger sparked in Nyla’s chest. It was unfair she had to be subject to this type of attitude in her own home. Unable to control her anger at the injustice of the situation, Nyla snapped, “What’s your problem, Mason? What did I ever do to you? I

Lunches had been awkward since Nyla had stopped speaking to Eason. To her own surprise Nyla found she as painful as her silence was, she couldn’t bring herself to forgive Eason yet. Sarah pulled Nyla aside the day after Veronica had given her tentative permission. “Nyla, when are you going to out Eason out of his misery?” Nyla blinked slowly at her. “What do you mean?” “Either tell him you never want to see him again and break off whatever you had, or talk it out with him. It’s not fair to him to keep him in limbo, and it’s not good for you, either. You’re both hot messes. I don’t know how his parents haven’t noticed.” Blushing, Nyla glanced over to where Eason sat chatting with Breanne looking forlorn and lost. “But Sarah, he kept something from me that hurt me.” Sarah shook her head. “Sometimes people make mistakes they can’t take back. The people around them have to learn to let the person go or let the mistake go. You’re at that point now.

Halfway through dinner, something happened that shocked and astounded the family – Roger dropped Nyla’s plate while attempting to set it down. No one could ever remember Roger performing his duties less than perfectly. “Roger!” snapped Edmond, banging his fist on the table. “It slipped, sir. I’ll go grab her a new one. I’m very sorry, Miss Nyla.” He scurried off to the kitchen to procure a replacement, leaving an uncomfortable silence in his wake. When he returned, Nyla had twice as much food as everyone else, a silent apology. Sometime during the last course, Nyla started feeling different than she ever had before. The room was going in and out of focus. She rubbed her eyes. No improvement. Forcing herself to take one bite after another, she began missing the food and hitting the plate with soft clicks of metal on porcelain. Mason leaned over to her. “Are you okay?” Nyla was surprised to find genuine concern lacing her voice. She saw Edmond g