The Boy Who Died

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door. My clothes stare back at me, no more helpful than the last twelve

ay I'm really looki

head, even though I already know I'll probably never change his name in my contacts-has been texting me all week, and my stomach fills wit

ut him tonight. I open mystery man an

gon of lameness for both of us

or if I just sound too ridiculous to go on a date with and he's going to cancel. Texting him has just been easy, like talking to him that night. Or what I remember of

ng of emojis. The blushing face, a sword, a dragon, a

open doorway. "Hey! To

t getting d

Everett and I were like that. Don't get me wrong, I'm still beyond happy, bu

ress so short she made me watch her bend over before she left to make sure she wasn't showing her whole ass. Apparently, a little bit of ass was fine. Since my mystery man and I have already done the drunken, ha

h.

o go do homework. Let me know if you nee

Blending into the background clothes. Tonight, I want to be myself, but I want to be Lancival too. I want to be the fe

end. We went into this last tiny boutique, and a rack in the corner labeled "Tall Girls" caught my eye. I'm no basketball player, but I'm tall enough that most shorts and skirts are uncomfortably short or just awkward. While Heather browsed, I drifted over and pulled a

k like I have boobs worth noticing, and the shorts don't pinch or hit at the dreaded mom-short lengt

I pull a comfortable brown cardigan from my sweater shelf, grab my ancient pair of canvas sneakers, and feel a little more lik

the living room, tapping away

res. "Can I just do o

lf an hour. It'll take me five minutes to walk to Bean and

e,"

oom. When she returns, she holds a bulky, to

en pins it with the clip. With a small hum, she pulls a couple strands of hair out from t

Way better than m

u," I say

t text if you need the living room clear when y

es. "It's a

oor, put my keys in my purse, and stop myself from checki

walk quickly, I rushed. I duck behind a tree and flap my cardiga

ts 6:45. I hope he doesn't think I'm lame for arriving so early, but part of me already knows he won't. If I was going to scare him off with how excited I am, I would have by now. I sip my coffee then pull out my phone and text

nd my lungs shriv