MY CONFESSIONS NEVER AGAIN WOULD I DOUBT Charlotte and her knowledge. I’d been back to school for three days and found I had a whole lot of new friends.“Wren! Hey, Wren! Wait up!” a voice called out from across the parking lot of my school.I shook my head and attempted to run away.“Hi, Wren!” A random girl popped up in front of me, a frightening smile on her face.“Hi,” I replied, stepping around her.“I was wondering if you wanted to hang out this afternoon?” she asked, stepping up to walk beside me.“Who are you?” I asked.“I’m Kim! We have Physics together.”“Sorry, there are so many people in that class,” I said, picking up my pace.“So, what do you think about tonight? We could hang at your place.”I groaned and rolled my eyes. It’d been like that ever since I got back from the flu. Charlotte wasn’t kidding when she said everyone would be talking about my “brothers.” As soon as I returned, everyone knew who I was, that I wasn’t just any old Lockwood, and I ha

OUR LANCE AND THE DIVA IN THE WEEKS FOLLOWING THANKSGIVING there was a shift. Weston wasn’t home much, which wasn’t a surprise, but what was a surprise was the change in him. It was barely noticeable at first, but after two weeks of waning affection, I began to feel like a guest who’d overstayed their welcome.The stress on Weston grew worse with each passing day. One of his project timelines had practically derailed, and others were on the verge. Add in the stress of Natalie’s continuous presence, and a rift began to divide us.His mood soured with each day, leaking into our home life, infecting it. Constantly pissed, he would snap at me for no apparent reason, sometimes apologizing, sometimes not. It seemed like we were barely communicating at all. When I did call him, it either went to voicemail, or a quick “Wren, I can’t talk, call you back,” and then no call. Texts were answered, but short, three or four words. Loneliness settled in, and I didn’t know when or if it woul

OUR DOWNFALL LITTLE HAD CHANGED IN THE week since our blowout, but our carefree days were over. I returned to the bedroom the next night, but the following morning he left for a week, out of town on a filming location.The semester was over, and the Christmas bash that my classmates had been so excited about was upon us. Char had come over the day before, bringing with her about a dozen dresses for me to choose from since I had no idea how to dress up for the occasion. All of my dresses from Sophie were much too elegant for a high school party, and I didn’t want to bother her. We ended up choosing one that had a sleeveless top that was filled with silver sequins, a white, flirty skirt below a satin belt, and silver sequined peep-toe heels to match.I was dressed and waiting, the house empty of all but me, as it had been all week without Weston. It was odd that in all the time I’d been in the house, I’d never been as lonely as I was in that moment, waiting for Charlotte to pi

HIS LONELINESS—WESTON SILENCE. I COULDN’T REMEMBER A time my house had ever felt so empty. Even in all the years I lived alone. My gaze was locked on the spot she’d been standing. The sheets on the bed—our bed—were tangled on her side. I didn’t even get to sleep beneath them with her the night before, to breathe in her sweetness, feel her warmth.I hadn’t slept the previous night, haunted by what she had said to me and wondering when things had become so fucked up. I crawled onto the bed, lying down on her pillow, in hopes of getting a little bit of Wren’s lingering scent. It was calming and gave the illusion she was still there, that she hadn’t walked out and left me. My aching heart was soothed by the falsity of it all.How had it all gone so terribly wrong? My recent behavior had been deplorable, so I couldn’t really blame her for leaving me. The realization I’d fucked up so bad that it gave her no other choice but to leave for her own peace of mind, was like poison. Acid

OUR NEW BEGINNING MY MOM WAS GRINNING LIKE the Cheshire cat when we entered the kitchen, while Daniel was stuck between smiling and bitch slapping. Weston’s eyes lit up like a kid at Christmas as he surveyed the bounty, and I repeatedly had to smack his hand from picking up a cookie on the cooling rack. However, Mom fed his addiction by opening up one of the multiple canisters she’d received over the last few days and hoisting it into his chest, which he began munching away at.“Better?” Daniel asked in a whisper once Weston’s attention was diverted.“We’re getting there.” I gave him a smile.His eyes lit up. “Are you going home with him?”I nodded. “After Christmas sometime.”He smiled back and wrapped his frosting covered hands around me. “I’ll miss you.”“Miss you, too. And it’s only a few months till summer,” I said to reassure him, but it didn’t do much to lift the sadness that swallowed him.“Yeah, but every day without you sucks monkey balls.”I laughed and nudg