It all started upside down. I took a breath, and he was gone. Away, finally out of my life. —

“How could you?” My sister had asked, her hands on the wheel of the Pick-up truck. I hadn’t thought of her being in charge of my life. But now, as we swerved along the road, I felt a deep depriving moment of faith.

I sighed. “I didn’t do anything, Meryl. I only talked to the boy.”

“The boy!?” I thought she was going to crash, and kill us both. Instead she calmly turned off the road and into a freeway. “He’s not just a boy. He’s a man.”

I had never thought of my next door neighbor, Ronnie, being a man. He was just a kid to me. We had always been friends, while my sister’s baby crush turned into true love. Slowly, I felt a little cold. “Well.. I hadn’t-”

“You hadn’t known. He was flirting with you. He likes you, Bree.”

I sighed. “He likes me? That’s nice to know. But I can’t have him. You want him.”