Chapter 34

Chapter 34

January 1st

Dear Me,

We’re sad.

Bennett has been gone two months now. He’s only a few hours away at UCLA, but it might as well be halfway around the world. We miss him. A lot. He has a new girlfriend. Again. He said this one’s a marketing major, too, and they hang out all the time like we used to.

We’re still dating Ryan Langley, but sometimes when we’re kissing him, we think about Bennett. It’s really weird. I mean, he’s Bennett, right? Our best friend. But we can’t seem to stop it.

College isn’t so great. I thought it would be different. But it feels like just another year of high school when you live at home—only without Bennett here. There’s even a bunch of kids in my classes who were in my classes back at RFK High.

Everything is the same, yet so different.

We got a job at a hair salon answering the phones. The people there are really nice, and it pays pretty good. We’re hoping to save money and get our own place. Mom’s new boyfriend Aaron is a jerk and is always home.

This month’s poem is dedicated to no one.

She glances backward,

afraid to move forward now.

Why aren’t you here?

This letter will self-destruct in ten minutes.

Anonymously,

Sophie