Once she got to Wisconsin, she was too busy to talk or even text. And I was swamped with football camp. Before I knew it, weeks had flown by with only a few sporadic messages between us. Unable to stand the separation, I got in my car and drove the seventeen hours to Camp whatever-the-hell-its-name-was. Instead of being happy to see me, Skye dropped the bomb that she was staying in Wisconsin to attend college. Her mother had pulled some strings and got her accepted at UW-Madison.I thought she was joking.Who the fuck wants to live in Wisconsin?She wasn't.Then she unceremoniously dumped my ass. Something about our lives moving in different directions and us growing apart-blah, blah, blah. My brain clicked off, and I stopped listening to the bullshit excuses since that was what they were. None of it made sense.How could she throw away our relationship?I'm not proud of myself, but in a moment of weakness, I told her that if being closer to her mother was so important, I'd tra

"I'm so glad we could get together and do this!" Brandi gushes from across the table at Poco Loco, a local restaurant with the best Mexican food in town.Brandi wanted to go somewhere more upscale, but I convinced her to dine here instead. I love the food and haven't had a chance to stop in since I've returned. If I'm being forced to endure her company, I should at least get a good meal out of it. "Yeah," I enthuse, "me, too." Dad owes me big time for this. Unexpectedly, she reaches across the table and lays a perfectly manicured hand over mine. I glance down at her slim fingers and fight the urge to pull away."Now that you've moved back home, we have a real opportunity to strengthen our bond. I want us to be close, Skye. Especially with everything that's going on with your dad." Emotion gathers in her baby blues as she blinks back the moisture. "Family is the most important thing, and we need to stick together and support one another. Whatever you're feeling, you can sh

"Catch you back at the house." I fist bump Sam Henderson on the way out of Poco Loco before heading to my '69 Ford Mustang parked in the lot. Mason bought it off one of his customers dirt cheap. At the time, it had to be towed to the house because we couldn't get the engine to turn over. We spent the summer before my senior year of high school fixing it up and getting it to run. My brother's friend did a custom paint job on it in exchange for some repair work, and it's been purring like a kitten ever since. No matter how much money I make, this car is my baby, and I'll never get rid of it. I slide onto the butter-soft black leather and start it up. It's music to my ears when the engine growls to life. "Damn, Price, that Shelby gives me major wood every time I see it," Eric Wixom shouts as he jumps into the pickup truck parked next to me. "Sure you don't want to sell her?""The answer hasn't changed from last week, Wixom. You can stop asking."I pull out of the lot and into

I hear a knock on the door before Lanie pokes her head inside my room. "Please, tell me you're not still studying."It's clear from the books and papers spread out on the bed that I'm knee-deep in homework.My gaze stays locked on my computer screen as I finish typing the last sentence of a paragraph. "What gave it away?""Come on, girl!" she snaps with annoyance. "You can't study your life away. That's no fun.""When did I ever say I was interested in fun?"Fun. As if that's anywhere on my radar.How can I focus on something so frivolous when Dad's treatments aren't knocking out the cancer? We keep waiting for him to turn a corner, but that has yet to happen. The chemo makes him sick, and he has a hard time keeping anything down. More importantly, the medicine hasn't lowered his numbers. I'm losing hope, and it feels like time is running out. Most days, I walk around with a sick knot at the bottom of my belly."Yeah, that's part of the problem. You've become a real stick-in

What am I still doing here?I should have taken off hours ago, but I didn't want to give Hunter the satisfaction of driving me away.A high-pitched giggle erupts from across the bonfire. I focus more intently on the label I'm trying to peel off the beer bottle in my hand. I don't have to glance over there to know that it's the same girl who attached herself to Hunter like a barnacle before crawling onto his lap.The last time I looked in their direction, her arms were twined around his neck as if she was afraid he might try to make a run for it. Although, that doesn't seem likely. As far as I can tell, he's enjoying the fawning attention.A thick lump of nausea has taken up residence at the bottom of my belly. It hasn't budged since Hunter called Josh over. No matter how hard I try to banish it, the tension refuses to dissipate. Whatever Hunter said to Josh was enough to scare him away.For a few fleeting moments, I had considered marching over to Hunter and demanding why he did