ly are you

g down from his forehead. Without hesitation, he

g through my wrist where his fingers cl

"Emma, I thought you were just immature. I didn'

I forgot how

du

the word

written the word "slut" across my desk in red marker. The entire

but the red ink had already seeped deep into the wood grain

replaced the

he was the only person in th

had used the exact same

m about entering the Cooper family in

htly onto the collar of Daniel's ja

el stepped forward and drove his fi

slamming hard against his own car door, t

face instantly

someone like that meant absolutely nothing to him. Then he said calmly, "You d

uld no longer tell which drops on my fa

en ye

one everything Ryan asked for, including all t

e he sat nearby drinking, and I still made e

ry cold war ended with me apologizing first. Every tiny scrap of

I owed h

de that pond, he had been the one

rson who threw that pu

never b

with rainwater and streamed down my face. "Because after all th

fro

ly shouting the words out loud. "From n

had final

ain of rain, I turned tow

omething like that

ng more. He simply tightened the jacket more secur

hut, all the noise outsid

ller and smaller. Blurrier and blurrier. Until he finally vanis

ng time before finally

let Daniel hold my ha

lway. The water heater's already on,

poured over my head did I finally begi

aiting outside the bathroom door. Everything was there, inside and out. Even the si

living room with damp hair still dripping onto my shoulders, m

dryer before quietly h

wandering aimlessly around the room. Then suddenly, my eye

hair

rfly. One of the wings wa

nd lowered th

it to the boy who saved me when I

sting silently on

ded with age, but it had been carefu

sounded

The moment he saw me standing frozen in front of the bookshelf,

voice trembling. "Why do

n onto the table and fe

s eyes and looked

word struck directly against my heart. "That the person wh