All Chapters of To my Romeo, I am dying: Chapter 21 - Chapter 28

By Thursday morning, the story had changed. Nobody remembered Emma seeing Marcus and me carrying prop boxes anymore. Now she'd apparently seen us "sneaking off together." Funny how fast people improved a story. I found out because I walked into the girls' bathroom at exactly the wrong time. "...I'm telling you." "I thought she liked Gray." "I did too." "Maybe she got tired of waiting." I stopped outside the last cubicle. One voice lowered. "I mean...Marcus is actually nice." The other girl laughed. "So was Gray." Water ran. A hand dryer roared to life. By the time they walked out, still talking, I'd locked myself inside the nearest stall. Neither of them noticed. I counted to thirty before opening the door again. By then they'd gone. I looked at myself in the mirror while washing my hands. Same face. Same hoodie. Same girl. Apparently everyone else was seeing somebody different. --- Drama club usually settled down once rehearsal star

By Monday morning, the rain had finally stopped. The puddles were still there though, spread across Maple Avenue like pieces of broken sky. I stepped around the biggest one on my way to school, more out of habit than anything else. Across the street, the Carter house was already quiet. Gray had left early again. A month ago, that would've annoyed me. I'd have texted him something dramatic. Wow. Replaced me already? He would've answered with something equally stupid. Couldn't risk being seen with you. Then I'd have walked into first period pretending I was offended while he tried not to laugh. Now there wasn't even a message to ignore. Just another morning where we left the same street at different times. I hated how quickly silence became normal. --- The first person to speak to me wasn't Dana.

Tuesday started the way it always did.Mom knocked once before opening my bedroom door."You awake?""I am now.""You've got twenty minutes.""I know."She didn't remind me where we were going.She never did anymore.She simply left the door half open and headed downstairs.That was our routine.The less we said about Tuesdays, the easier they were to survive.I sat on the edge of the bed for a while, staring at the hoodie hanging over my desk chair.Gray had left it at my house last winter after helping Dad shovel snow. I'd washed it twice since then. It still smelled faintly like the detergent his mum always bought.I almost folded it into my wardrobe.Instead, I pulled it on.It was easier than thinking.---School looked exactly the same.The brick walls.The flag moving lazily above the entrance.Mrs. Dawson directing traffic in the drop-off lane like she did every morning.Funny how places stayed the same while everything inside them changed.I reached my locker just as the warn

By Friday morning, people had stopped asking.Not because they weren't curious but because they'd already decided something had happened.I heard my name twice before first period. Not from people talking to me but talking about me."...they don't even walk together anymore.""I heard they had some huge fight.""No, Emma said nobody knows."I kept my eyes on my locker until the voices drifted away. The combination had lived in my fingers for years.Twenty-three.Nine.Eleven.I spun the dial too fast and had to start over. Someone reached past me."You skipped."I looked up.Dana."What?""Breakfast.""I wasn't hungry.""You said that yesterday.""Guess I'm consistent."She folded her arms."You're also a terrible liar."I smiled because that usually ended the conversation. It didn't. She waited."You know," she said, "it's annoying.""What is?""That smile.""My smile?""The one you put on whenever you don't want anyone asking questions."I looked back inside my locker."There it is