The Story Of Us Novels & Stories

Food, clothes, secrets—we had shared everything. Aside from Luke, she was the second person I was closest to. During our freshman year, I introduced Luke to her. Never did I expect myself to bring a snake into my life. I forced myself to calm down, logged out, then logged back in with an alternate account no one knew about. Then, I searched her username again. This time, her profile opened. Countless feeds flooded me as if they had been anticipating me. One photo showed a man's hand resting on a swollen belly. The caption read, 'The baby is kicking! He put his hand on my belly, and his eyes turned red when he said this was the fruit of our love.'

No inappropriate implications, no suggestive subtext, no messy drama—only an ordinary family encountering trouble, solving it rationally, protecting each other, and living well. This is the most real, decent, and precious life.

I'm pretty sure the universe hates me. --- Dinner, at least, was a welcomed distraction. Jenna and Matt were ridiculously cute together—joking, laughing, stealing kisses like teenagers. I smiled through it all, even laughed when Matt dropped the mashed potatoes on his shirt. As much as I enjoyed watching them, I couldn’t help but wonder if I’d ever have that. The Real Love. The kind that looked messy and mundane but felt like home. I wasn't sure my parents had that and I didn't want to end up like them.

We survived. But the story isn’t over yet. ***

As long as he held his last breath and was able to speak, that was enough. She even pondered how to torture him to make him spill every secret about Vanessa. But to her surprise, Zirion offered no resistance. Before she could even bring out her instruments, he confessed everything he knew. According to Vanessa, the world they lived in was actually a world in a fantasy storybook. Vanessa was someone from another world, so she knew everything that would happen in this one. Because of that, Selene had assumed she had some kind of "foresight" ability.

" He said nothing. “She cried when I accused her," I said bitterly. "Said she did it for us. For our future. As if I could have a future built on the corpses of children." The memory struck me hard. Flashback — Eight years ago. We were in Paris, hiding in a safehouse after an arms deal had gone sour. The windows were slick with water from the rain. She'd made coffee, and walked barefoot in one of my shirts, her dark hair tied in a knot at the back of her neck.

"Goodness me! Anna listed Sylvie up on eBay for 99 dollars per round! That's hilarious." "99 dollars? That's too much! A doormat like Sylvie is only worth 9.90 dollars at best." "Sylvie never would've gotten a chance if Anna hadn't gone abroad to study a few years ago. Just wait. Connor is going to divorce her soon enough. I bet it'll happen in three months." "I say a month!" "I say two weeks!" "Dude, this is the wrong group. Sylvie's in this one." Immediately, the chat group went silent. Soon afterward, Sylvie got a call from Connor.

Before she ran. She hadn’t told Kennedy about him yet. Not about how he betrayed her, not about how everyone turned on her when she spoke the truth. Not about the panic attacks or the weeks she couldn’t leave her bed. Not about how her mom finally said, “Maybe we should leave.” And she didn’t argue. “I needed a restart,” Maya said instead. Kennedy nodded, not pressing. “Sometimes the restart is worse than the original story.” Maya stared across the cafeteria where Zane sat, laughing quietly at something a friend said. Amaya stood near him like a queen guarding her throne. Everyone looked at them like a legend in motion. And now, Maya was tangled in their pages.

“Threw me out.” His jaw tightened. I kept talking. “I lived with a friend for a few months. Then with her brother. Slept in his bed for a while. Then another guy. Then another.” He nodded once. “That’s when it started.” “Yeah,” I said. “That’s when I realized sex could get me anything. A bed. A ride. A hug. Something that felt like love.” “And you’ve been chasing that same hit ever since.” I nodded. “And no one’s ever told you it wasn’t your fault?”