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?
But then it flared again, only this time it had grown in strength, like it was stretching its arms and legs after a long sleep. Green neon began to shimmer and drop across the black sky like a glittering curtain. Before long, the entire sky was filled with green light, the flares reflecting off the…
She was teaching me more on this trip than anyone ever had. She was teaching me that happiness didn’t have to be big gestures and life-changing moments. It could be just this. Witnessing someone seeing snow for the first time. Hearing someone laugh, true and honest. I didn’t know something so simple could hit me…
I glanced down at Savannah and saw nervousness wash over her face. Mia told the others where to get dinner, then came over to us. “We just want to have a chat with you both,” Leo said, gesturing for us to follow him into a private room just off the lobby. We followed, and Savannah’s…
When Mia asked me, I didn’t have an answer. At least not one I could speak out loud. Because when Savannah held my hand and squeezed it twice, seeing me stay silent, I wanted to tell everyone it was her. Savannah. Right now, she was the only thing to bring any form of happiness to…
“We’ll head to our accommodation now,” Leo said and pointed behind him. A large wooden hotel was dressed from ground to top in days old snow. In fact, every part of the city was covered in the remnants of snow. The roofs of the buildings and the mountains. The only things that weren’t were the…
Cael shook his head. “Sometimes I wish I could rip out my heart and the part of my brain that keeps memories and just throw them away. If only for a little bit. Just to remember what fun felt like, what life was like when I was carefree. I just don’t want to wake up…
My chest tightened, and I stared back down at the busy square, the smell of the food trucks drifting up to the hotel’s window I was sitting at. Rune was right. Poppy would be proud of me. She always was. Any little achievement I made in school, she acted like I’d just changed the world.…
I wasn’t sure why. But it was an urge I couldn’t ignore. We decided on the cabin filled with sweet treats. We ordered a bunch of items—butter cookies, almond cookies, and cinnamon-type buns, all things traditionally from Norway. I handed a cookie to Cael. His troubled eyes softened when he took a bite. Color seeped…
His head whipped to the side when I knelt beside him. Tears washed his face with pent-up pain, and, without thought, and needing to embrace the person I had opened my heart to, I wrapped my arms around him. At first, he stilled, and I worried he was mad at me for approaching him. That…
Savannah gave my finger two soft squeezes. I noticed she did this when she wanted to give me comfort but clearly lacked the words. And as simple as a gesture it was, it was a healing balm over an open wound. It stopped the pain for enough time to help me catch my breath. After…