Laura “Mommy, can I tell you something?” She asked after a while. I lifted my head to look at her face. “Of course you can, my angel,” I said, and my brow automatically furrowed. “Is something wrong going on?” It was my concern as a mother speaking louder. She giggled. "No, no. It's okay, relax
Laura There was something magical about talking about intimate and personal containment with a daughter, it was as if we had given birth to our best friend, a part of us that would never judge us for anything, and on top of that, we would find all our stories from the past so exciting and adventuro
Laura When I left my daughter's room, I returned to my room feeling a little sleepy and tired. I loved taking care of my babies, but this routine kind of became a bit demanding, not that I was complaining about anything. “Look whose back,” Jason said as soon as he saw me walking into the room. He
Laura Jason was still complaining about Anne saying that she didn't actually love her boyfriend because she didn't want to have this intimate moment with him, so I was a little confused by that. He and I were still in bed, talking about our kids, and the day had barely started, really. “Do you rea
Anne I was in front of the mirror while sitting at my makeup table while, all concentrated, I tried to get my eyeliner over my eye, but my younger brother's annoying voice threw me off when he suddenly entered my closet, shouting and calling my attention. I ended up with a black streak of mascara o
Anne Since the boys were already mad at me, one of them no longer responded to the things I said when I tried to communicate with him, and the other was trying his best to make me feel stressed, tapping his foot behind my seat over and over again and making me feel uncomfortable, calling me a spoil
Anne “I want to break up with you, Caleb.” When those words finally left my mouth, I almost couldn't believe it. I had been wanting to say it for so long that I was actually thinking that now it was another one of the times I imagined myself saying that. But this time, it was really real. I could
Anne When I got back to the car and looked in the rearview mirror as I drove toward my school's entrance, I could see Caleb with his hand on his head and his shoulders slumped, looking sad about what had just happened. I sighed resignedly and decided to look ahead and get on with my life, it was th
Annie POV Peter Morton’s face was just inches from mine, staring at me. The electric blue of his eyes was so close I could see his irises dilating and contracting. “You okay, Lady Ann?” he asked. I sighed with a small smile, half in delight. “It’s been a while since anyone called me that.” Actual
Annie POV The masked boy—who I didn’t want to admit was Peter—took me to an upscale, comfortable hotel where I could spend the night safely, away from everything, and try to regain my composure and figure out what to do next. “You can stay here,” he said calmly, though his voice still carried a hi
Annie POV The masked boy led me through the dark campus, his hand firm in mine as we ran away from the ballroom. My legs trembled, the blue dress swishing with each step, and tears still streamed down my face, hot and relentless. The sound of the shouts, the judgments, still echoed in my head, bu
“No choice?” He cut me off, his tone incredulous. “Are you serious? You chose to help Madison make that video. You chose to plug it into the projector. And now Annie’s out there, broken, while you try to run from the responsibility. This doesn’t fix anything, Abby. It wasn’t supposed to end like thi
Abby POV I was there, tucked away in the shadows of the ballroom’s corner, my heart still racing as I watched the chaos I’d helped create unfold. The giant screen kept playing that horrible video, distorted and manipulated clips of Annie echoing through the room like a final verdict. People poin
Annie POV I was still on the dance floor, the warmth of the masked boy’s body against mine, my head resting on his chest as the slow music guided us. The sound of his heartbeat against my ear was almost hypnotic, and I let myself get lost in that feeling I couldn’t quite explain. He’d just said s
I swallowed hard, Caleb’s words coming back to haunt me. “Have you ever stopped to think that maybe we’ve gone too far?” He’d said that at the mall, and I’d hung up on him, but now they echoed in my head. Annie had hurt me, yes. The fight in the dorm, the way she called me fake, like I was trash she
Abby POV I was leaning against the wall of the ballroom, the cup of punch in my hand already warm and forgotten, as I watched Annie dance with that masked boy. The soft lights of the ball cast shadows over them, and even from so far away, you could feel something in the air—a chemistry almost tangi
Anne POV I was there, trying to at least pretend I was enjoying the party with Summer, letting the loud music and spinning lights distract me from the weight pressing on my chest. Summer danced beside me, throwing her arms up with that endless energy of hers, and I tried to keep up, forcing a smile