Read Something About Love: A YA contemporary romance in verse for Free Online Page B

Harris means to accomplish by that.
    If anything, that makes me less of a slut, right?
    Or does it make me a bad girlfriend?
    Maybe a loser who doesn’t want to put out for her hot boyfriend?
    I have no idea, because
    The rules of high school relationships have suddenly shifted.

“COME WITH ME,”
    Vice Principal Archibald insists, and
    I rip my tear-filled eyes from the red spray paint and follow him.
    But I’ll never get those words out of my head.
    I’ve seen them, and
    I can’t unsee them
    Just like I’ve kissed Trevor, and
    I can’t unkiss him,
    Can’t unwant him,
    Can’t unlove him.

IS THIS HOW HARRIS FEELS?
    I wonder as I navigate the clearing halls.
    The warning bell rang a minute ago, and
    Everyone’s ducking into classrooms
    As VP Archibald, Trevor, and
    I pass.
    Does Harris feel like the earth beneath his feet will suddenly vanish?
    Without me, is the surface too perilous to hold his weight?
    Does Harris feel as though the sky will fall?
    Does he welcome it, because then the crushing hole in his chest will shrink?
    Without me, does the atmosphere surrounding Harris change?
    He said he loved me.
    Maybe his message stems from the pain he feels
    At not being able to unlove me.
    I understand this pain as I have shouldered it for eighteen months.
    It’s hard to describe to someone who has never truly longed for something,
    Who has never truly experienced the endurance needed to inhale one more time
    Without this thing.
    This thing they need.
    Humans need oxygen;
    Fish need water;
    Harris needs me, and
    I need Trevor.
    I suck at the air, and
    Find him at my side.
    Suddenly I can breathe.

“I DON’T KNOW,”
    I say for what feels like the millionth time.
    Along with,
    “Yes, we broke up.”
    And, “Yesterday.”
    And, “He seemed fine.”
    And, “Okay, yeah, mad. Hurt, probably.”
    And, “Still. I can’t believe he would do something like this.”
    And, “No, I don’t want to call my parents.”
    And, “No, he hasn’t contacted me.”
    And, “No, I don’t want to see him.
    No! I don’t want to press charges.”
    And, “Please, let Trevor stay.”

“CALL ME LATER, WINGS.”
    Trevor finally relinquishes my hand as my father pulls up to the curb.
    Vice Principal Archibald hurries around to the driver’s side window, and
    Begins talking earnestly.
    I get in the front seat,
    Feeling the tears pooling.
    I stare straight ahead, because
    I do not want Trevor to see me cry.

“YOU OKAY, LIVVY?”
    Dad asks when we get home.
    He hasn’t spoken since bidding VP Archibald good-bye in the pick-up lane.
    I’d let my tears overflow as soon as we were on the street, but
    I did not sob.
    I am not a sobber.
    I do not let things devastate me.
    I compartmentalize them until I can deal with them from behind
    Locked doors, with
    Loud music.
    I shake my head as my tears fall.
    Dad scoops me into a tight hug, and
    Holds on.
    He strokes my hair, and says,
    “It’s okay, Livvy. It’s going to be okay.”
    He held me like this after Mom left too.
    He said the same words, but
    Back then I didn’t know if he was saying them for me, or
    For him.
    Now, I just grip him with the fierceness of someone who’s drowning, and
    Cry.

“LIV?”
    Rose peeks her head through the crack in the door
    Only minutes after she gets home from school.
    “Dad said you weren’t feeling well.
    Can I come in?”
    I’ve refused phone calls,
    Ignored texts,
    Eaten nothing, and
    Said little.
    But I can’t refuse Rose.

“CLIMB IN, BUDDY.”
    I hold the blankets aside so Rose can snuggle in close.
    She’s always warm.
    I call her my little furnace.
    I can’t seem to get warm no matter how hard I try.
    Voices murmur outside my closed door, and
    Though she hasn’t lived here for over a year,
    I recognize my mom’s tone.
    She sounds worried.
    If anything, the chasm inside me widens,
    A fissure deeper than it is broad
    That fills with a longing that only a mother can soothe.
    “Livvy, Mom’s here.”
    Rose’s voice shakes with