d on in a tense,

lting. She' d drop by unannounced, expecting me to fix her laptop or listen to her latest drama about Ma

he local hardware store. They loved me, but they also adored Nicole. They'

watching Nicole walk back to her house. "A bit

the irony a bitter

ysician, and they saw me as a stabilizing force for their charismatic but emotionally erratic

day my dad came into my room, his

what i

to. Nicole and Matthew, wrapped in a

to me, but my dad had

mark his territory and humiliate me. In my past life, I had deleted it i

fate had

that?" I asked, f

my dad said, his voice tight with anger. "

to the Andersons' house. The explosion was immediate. I heard shouting, th

r house, her face a mask of fury. Her

er at me. "You showed them that pict

"Ethan, we are so, so sorry. We h

disgust. "After everything, we've decided. The engagement needs to be forma

round me. In my past life, this confrontation never happened so publicly. The pressure had been

her angry parents and me. She saw me as the cause

s of rage streaming down her face

plead, to persuade, to play the part

eatrical despair, and felt no

my voice cutting

one f

oking directly at her. "We should cal

opped. This was

ou say?" sh

, the words clear and final. "I don't have f

ned. And Nicole... she looked utterly, completely bewildered, as if the world had just tilt