'd never felt before, pouring all the pain and relief of my rebirth into the music. When I finished, the three judges

"that was... exceptio

weight of my past life, of Nicole, of Ryan, had been

It was from the admissions office. I

us offered their congratulations. I felt a pure, uncomplicated joy that

hometown, my phone buzze

nna believe this. Tur

interstate, the very road Nicole would have taken to get to Ryan'

es later, M

ement. "I just heard from Jenny, who's friends with one of the cheerleaders.

ing?" I asked, though I

ssed the championship game. The team had to play with their backup quarterback. They

action, not exactly. It was more like the quiet

d Matt, finally explaining the scene in t

d of the line. "Wow. So this is a

window at my familiar street. "It