For example, I was taking a long time trying to decide which of my daughter's shoes would go best with the look she was going to wear today, and I was getting stressed out because Annie wouldn't stop crying, but Jason saw that, and was still on his damn cell phone. Maybe I shouldn't blame him; aft
Laura "I promise to be a better man for you and Annie. I promise to give more and more to you two because you are everything to me. I know that this may take a while and that sometimes my arrogance and my prepotency will want to overcome the love I have for you two, but I promise to fight with claw
Laura So in the days that followed, eventually Jason and I started to become closer and closer to each other. It was gratifying to see the way he was trying hard to please me, he made me coffee, opened the car door for me, and was always kind to me. Much to my pleasure, he also started to help me t
Laura The days that followed after the holidays were very relaxing and comfortable for me. We were still in Chicago, with Jason encouraging me to stay a little longer and enjoy that feeling of the beginning of the year with him, which was wonderful. Forgiving him and taking him back was like havi
But today he was here reading Infernal Devices with me, although he was getting upset every minute because of the fantasy content of the book. “Ugh, wizards and vampires? That doesn’t even exist, this book must be for children, that’s all,” he said, which made me laugh at his reaction. "What'll I
Laura I watched as Jason, with the help of the instructor, put Annie's life jacket on and prepared her to get into the boat. When they were inside the boat, they both waved to me, and Jason paddled out while Rosanne and I waved back. “Good heavens. They're so cute, I've never seen Jason as radian
Laura "So, what is the solution?" I asked Jason while we were in the room alone, and he was standing with his back to me, staring at the window with a tired look. As soon as he and Annie returned from the canoe trip beaming because they had managed to catch some fish on the banks of the lake, Ros
Ava “So, what was the result?” Terrence asked as he saw me leave the bathroom and head towards the bedroom. He was sitting on the bed with an apprehensive look as he looked at me expectantly. I shook my head briefly in the negative. “There’s nothing,” I said, and I saw him sighing, looking defeat
Caleb, Abby, Madison, Nadia—they all spun through my head like a broken carousel. I wanted to tell my parents everything, collapse and ask for help, but the thought of seeing disappointment in their eyes—or worse, them trying to intervene at Oxwell to “save” me—made me swallow the words. I had to fi
Annie POV It was the weekend, and I was at home, trying to take deep breaths and pretend everything was okay. The Oxwell campus was a few hours away, giving me temporary relief from the chaos my life had become. Here, with my parents and the twins, I could at least try to be the old Annie—the exc
Max POV Walking beside someone who’d once meant so much to me felt strange. I couldn’t stop thinking that our breakup had been a waste, couldn’t stop remembering how happy I’d been with this guy, only to ruin it all because of my ego, because of a toxic fixation I had on Albert. Conrad Adams walke
Max POV was stunned when Albert told me that, my mouth even went dry because I wasn’t expecting to hear it. Conrad Adams was back. He was my boyfriend in my early twenties. I met him through Albert, who was close friends with him during the dark days of his family’s company. Conrad was a good guy
Max POV I was driving through the city with the radio on low, just a background murmur to keep the silence from swallowing me whole, when my phone buzzed on the dashboard. Zoey. Of course it was her. The girl had already wormed her way into my house like a high-heeled parasite, and now, apparently,
Annie POV After the moment at the mall, I returned to the dorm with a tight chest, carrying the bags with the blue dress Summer had insisted I buy. The plan was to distract myself, but Madison’s words—“racist,” “canceled piece of trash”—spun in my head like a broken record, mingling with Nadia’s re
When I met her last week at a council meeting, I could tell she’d be a challenge—confident, charismatic, the type who knew how to play the game. “Ugh, Madison Goodwin is here too. What a rotten day,” I grumbled, rolling my eyes. Of course Abby would get close to Madison—she was her adopted cousin.
Annie POV I was still trying to process everything that had happened at the square. Caleb’s words—“I hope you suffer”—mixed with Nadia’s ultimatum about my revoked candidacy had left me in pieces. My dream of leading the student council, something I saw as the first step toward following in my mom’
Annie POV I was still sitting on the bench in the square, the echo of Caleb’s words reverberating in my head like thunder that wouldn’t fade. "I hope you suffer." He had shoved the bouquet of pink flowers against my chest and stormed off, leaving me with a mix of shock, anger, and something that