When 17-year-old Rune returns to Blossom Grove, he’s desperate to know why Poppy—the girl he loved and who promised to wait—suddenly stopped talking to him. Her silence broke his heart. But when he finally learns the truth, Rune realizes the pain he’s felt is nothing compared to what’s coming next. What secret could hurt more than goodbye?
“We have el D?a de los Muertos, or the Day of the Dead in English,” Jade said. “I’m Mexican, and this is one of our main traditions. It’s a joyful celebration of those we have lost. We remember them fondly and celebrate the life they lived. It’s meant to be uplifting. And it is. It…
Blackness. Black swirls laced with red. Red for blood and anger. Black for the loss and the state I’d been left in. Ice trickled down my spine, picking up speed until a thought came to mind—was this painting how Cillian had been feeling that night to do what he did? Nothing inside of his heart…
I linked my hands together in my lap and stared at the cherry blossom grove, at the beauty and the uplifting colors and said, “I don’t know how to talk about that night.” Savannah reached out and linked her arm through mine. “I’m here whenever you’re ready.” “You have enough to deal with, Peaches. You…
I curled myself over Cael and I let the floodgates open. My sternum ached as my chest racked with sadness. I didn’t think I had ever cried that much in my life before. I had always held it back, controlled it. But seeing Cael break, hearing the story of Cillian, and Cael finding him— seeing…
I kept my face neutral. I didn’t want Savannah to see just how troubled I was. “This leg of the trip,” Leo said, “is about confronting mortality.” In our one-on-one sessions, Leo had gently pushed me to open up about Cillian. But I’d given him nothing. I liked how it had felt in Norway when…
Maybe I wasn’t quite as broken as I believed. “We have to start talking soon, Cael,” Leo said, but my body was rigid, and I just couldn’t bring myself to do it. I wanted to be better. I wanted to have Leo and Mia help me, but I just didn’t know how to start. Leo…
Cael’s long legs ate up the distance we were covering, trampling snow under our feet. My breath came quicker the faster we ran, my chest burning with the cold. I grew warmer and warmer, sporadic laughter still sailing freely from my heart. Then we turned a corner, and I came to a dead stop. I…
Some things should never be pushed away when they are ready to be shared. I knelt between his legs and placed my hand on his cheek. I searched his desolate gaze. “I can’t speak on your brother’s behalf. But sometimes we keep things to ourselves, so soul destroying that they can tear us apart inside.”…
It didn’t surprise me that Savannah had found me. She had been talking to her parents and sister in her room when I saw the rink was empty and decided to come outside. I couldn’t believe she was on the ice with me now. Stopping us in the center of the rink, I took a…
“I will,” I said. I glanced at the others in the lobby. Cael held out his hand, signaling to me that it was time to go. “I’ll speak to y’all tomorrow. Love y’all!” “Love you too!” they shouted back in unison, and I hung up, feeling lighter. As I walked up to Cael, he wrapped…