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the entire evening. I haven’t been taking his calls,” I said dryly. “I don’t know why he’s here, but I’m going to find out.”
    Without another word or even a glance in Brandon’s direction, I marched up to the steps. Trey noticed me approaching and stood up, finally revealing just how terrible he looked. He was wearing his suit for the prom, but I’d wager from the looks of it that he never made it there.
    “What do you want?” I demanded, trying not to let his obvious sadness lessen my anger. I could feel Brandon’s presence lingering somewhere behind me, but still far enough away to not be crowding me.
    I dropped my voice to a low, stern whisper. “Trey, you need to go.”
    “Babe, no. Please hear me out,” he begged miserably, running his fingers into his hair and shaking his head back and forth. “Look, maybe my intentions were fucked up at the start, but I really like you, Vanessa. More than I ever expected to.”
    He sounded sincere and it was making me incredibly uncomfortable. I was still acutely aware of Brandon a few yards behind me, waiting in silence for me to get rid of Trey.
    The reminder of him made my heart hurt. My thoughts went back to the kiss—to all the kisses that we had ever shared even though we knew we shouldn’t—then to painful separation after them and the subsequent yearning for more .
    Trey had fucked up and I couldn’t bring myself to trust him, but I also couldn’t allow my heart to get any more involved with Brandon. Doing so would only lead to bad things. I turned my head back and tried to harden my resolve.
    “Brandon, can you give us some privacy?”
    He looked taken aback and I fought the urge to turn away, this feeling eerily similar to the last time we stood on this lawn and I told him I was ditching him for Trey. He seemed to feel the same way—his eyes torn between betrayal and resignation. It was just so familiar.
    “Vanessa, just tell him to go,” he pleaded, more with his eyes than his tone.
    I locked down my heart and shook my head, keeping the movement slow so the tears wouldn’t fall.
    “Go inside, Brandon.”
    For a moment, I thought he was going to argue with me. But he seemed to change his mind, straightening his spine and clenching his jaw tightly before he said, “This is it. I’ll go inside, but you better be right behind me. Otherwise, I’m done. Just... done. With all of this.”
    His gesture was around the entire yard, but I knew what he was really referring to was whatever was going on between the two of us. Trey watched with a confused frown as Brandon pushed past him, slamming his shoulder into his and earning a surprised grunt for his effort. My heart screamed for me to follow, but by sheer force of will, I kept my feet glued to the ground.
    He twisted the doorknob and pushed it open, waiting for a split second before he turned over his shoulder and regarded me with finality.
    “Have it your way.”
    Brandon stepped inside and slammed the door. I felt like breaking down, somehow instinctively knowing that he wasn’t bluffing. This was is.
    Whatever this thing between us was, or whatever it could have been, was over. Completely.
    I should have been happy, but I wasn’t. I was only vaguely aware of Trey’s hand patting my back lightly after I covered my face with my hands and cried.
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    February 2015

    T he letter was making a fool out of me. It wasn’t actually doing anything besides lying atop the pile of my other mail, but it was still making me insane.
    I was afraid to open it. My fear warred with my desperation but soon enough, I found myself searching through my old desk for the letter opener I knew I kept somewhere. I didn’t want to risk damaging the envelope or whatever was inside by just tearing it open. After going through three drawers, I finally found it and took it back to the table.
    I gently worked the flap of the envelope open and felt my breath catch when I saw the folded paper inside. The ink from his pen