Afterlife Riot
On my birthday, my fiance, Jacob Dixon, takes our group of five to an amusement park.
When we reach the log flume, each row seats four people. As soon as it's our turn, the other four brush past me and fill every seat in the front row.
I stand there for a beat, then quietly take a seat behind them.
As the boat plunges down the first drop, the guys shout Leah Wolfe's name and immediately crowd around her, shielding her from the spray. I grip the safety bar and tell myself it isn't worth getting upset over.
Then, without warning, all three guys pull out umbrellas and hold them over the front row.
Before I can react, the boat shoots beneath the ride's massive waterfall. The water tears my poncho open and soaks me from head to toe, turning my white T-shirt almost sheer.
Leah twists around and gasps. "Astrid, why don't you have an umbrella?"
Jacob and my two childhood friends, Caleb Mercer and Lucas Ford, exchange glances, but none of them answers.
I already know what happened. Once again, they forgot about me.
Once, on a hiking trip, they left me stranded deep in the mountains, where a wolf nearly mauled me. During an overseas vacation, they left me on a train, and I ended up lost in a foreign country.
This time, even when they bought umbrellas, I'm still the one person they overlooked.
A few minutes later, I stand in the restroom, studying my drenched body and pale face in the mirror.
At that moment, a bitter smile crosses my lips.
If I wasn't a piece of the puzzle in their lives, I should've stopped trying to fit in a long time ago.