GABRIEL *** It was Saturday so I was in no hurry to get up. I took my time because this was the first day of many days to come that would require my bravery. I would have to meet Emily, either by accident or because I was with Harry and I would have to look her in the face and act like I didn't love her. The mere thought made my heart ache. I wished I could stay inside forever. More than that, I wished I'd moved somewhere else, where I wouldn't have to worry about Emily. But I was here, this was my life and I had no choice but to face it. I slept in a little bit more before I got up and decided to have breakfast. I also needed to meet Harry. He had told me that I didn't need to worry about what he wanted me to do, but he had not told me what had happened between him and Emily that had made it that way. He didn’t owe me the information but I wanted to know regardless. I was hopeful that things hadn’t gone well and I was delusional that that meant I had a chance. But above all, I kn

GABRIEL *** How did things go? I don’t know, man. We didn’t come to a conclusion and I texted her after to tell her she didn’t have to worry about Tiffany anymore but she hasn’t responded. She probably needs time, but things will work out, I promise you. I sure hope so. What are you up to? I’m going on a blind date later. Really? That’s great. Tell me if you need anything. Sure. I’ll tell you how it goes. Okay. I had texted Harry to tell him about the blind date so that I couldn’t go back on it. I had gone back and forth from deciding I would move on from Emily and not even telling her how I felt to wanting to confess how I felt to her, Harry and everyone else is damned. I was swinging back and forth, going up and down on this rollercoaster of emotions, and I was a mess. I couldn’t go back, this I knew. I had already picked a side when I told Harry to be confident that he would get her back. It was a side I clearly needed to keep picking because my feelings weren’t cat

EMILY *** What happened to you was hard. It’s okay that you still haven’t gotten over it. Take all the time you need. I had been thinking about this part of Juliel’s text since she sent it. It was hard to accept because I had hoped I was over what had happened. But maybe she was right. Maybe it had been too hard for me to get over as quickly as I'd hoped. I had moved from my desk to my bed because I had been bouncing my knee and tapping on my books with my pen and I feared that I was irritating Nila. But what did that mean? Did it mean that I was supposed to stay single until I had completely healed from the incident? What if I never got over it? What if it was something I was supposed to live with, not get over? Her advice was good, undisputable even, but how was I supposed to apply it to the conversation that was undoubtedly about to happen between Harry and i? It was hanging over our heads. It was bound to happen sooner if not later. I wanted to break up for good, but what if

GABRIEL *** “Can we go now? It’s getting pretty late,” Harper said. She was seated next to Emily. They’d taken the time that Harry and I were using to play to get to know each other. They’d pretty much-exhausted everything, but Harry and I were still playing. Harper and Emily had tapped out about four rounds ago, but Harry and I were still going. There needed to be a clear winner. We weren’t leaving until one of us lost, and it wasn’t going to be me. He had accused me of cheating and had gone ahead to cheat, so fairness was off the table. We had played round after round but our egos wouldn’t let one of us relent to the other. “I’ll pay,” Harper said, “I'll pay for everything, so can we please just go?” I looked over at Harry.He had no thoughts of stopping. If he didn’t, then neither did i. I looked over at Harper, though, and I felt sorry for her. I decided to stop the game. She looked exhausted. Harper was the girl Earl had set me up with. I’d met up with her the very next day

BAKERSVILLE MIDDLE SCHOOL, 2005*** “Good night,” Louise said to Emily as she closed her bedroom door behind her. "Good night Mom," she said.  They had just come from the party, and Emily had told her mother that she wasn’t hungry, that she just wanted to sleep. It was a lie. She wasn’t sleepy. She was anything but. Her heart had been pounding like crazy ever since she kissed Gabriel.It was her first kiss and it was exactly what she’d expected it to be.