Laura “Stephen, please,” I asked the boy who was scrolling at the cell phone screen in the middle of breakfast, my voice half gentle and half authoritative. "No electronic devices at the table." The fight over the chips had already been resolved, thank God. Now the two of them were at the table, e
Laura “What did you just say?” Jason asked while still driving the car along the wide roads of Manhattan. “Did Anne meet that boy again?” He was looking at me confused, almost not believing my words. “At least that’s what Amber Morton told me on the call,” I replied, nodding. “What nonsense is th
Annie “If you don't want your parents to separate us again, then let's run away,” Peter was saying to me as he looked at me with expression. I gasped inaudibly, feeling my heart pounding in my rib cage. "R-run away…?" I stammered as I felt the weight of those words, my eyes fixed on his. He took
Annie Peter pressed his index finger to his lips in a gesture of silence, and then we squatted closer against the kitchen pillar. My parents were going up the stairs to the top floor together with Amber, while the younger woman kept talking to hide her embarrassment. But my parents were stiff as th
Laura I saw Jason approaching where I was there in front of the building where Amber Morton's apartment was right after Annie left with Nancy's child. “Are you okay, darling?” I asked, my face scrunched up in an expression of concern. I approached him, linking my arms with his. He was panting af
Laura “Oh my God, Jason and Laura. We are very sorry for all the embarrassment you are going through right now,” was Nancy's voice coming from the other end of the line. She looked apprehensive and worried. Jason and I were already in the car at this point. “I usually work out, and my wife always
Anne “Holly crap! Why is this car so painful to drive?” Peter complained while still behind the wheel of my car, driving down the road. "Because it's a car made just for a girl?” I replied with a mocking tone. “The problem isn’t the car, it’s you. You're too tall, honey,” I said, as I was fixing m
Annie The plan was to go to Denver by car, and for that, we had to settle for about 26 hours on the road. That trip had everything to be a great bore, but incredibly, there was nothing boring when Peter was around me. He and I simply had no reason to turn around and obey our parents for what they
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