Aaliyah was the popular one. She hung out with all the cool kids, she was good at sports, and her teachers adored her—some of them too much. It was her personality that did it, that separated her from her shy, introverted nerd of a sister. There was no ot...
Five days later I find myself in a supermarket. What more do I need? It feels like I have forgotten something. I hate that feeling when being in the supermarket. Kind of knowing that I must have forgotten something, but not being sure. I hate to use groce...
Whatever Morgan and I had planned to do that night, it was thrown away. Swiftly, it was replaced with the both of us gathered around Morgan’s phone, FaceTiming with a blubbering, panicked Taylor. “I don’t know what he’s going to do,” Taylor cried over the...
We decided to skip the photo lab after class. It was just too hot, and the idea of a dip in the lake sounded good. Claudia, Christoph, and I met up by the shore. He with his bike, me with my proudest possession, an old Mercedes. Just another guy who had a...
"Not quite the Orient Express," I think as I gaze out onto the busy platform. Instead of truffles and filet mignon, I see the railway staff loading sandwiches, poutine and donuts. I had arrived early to secure a window seat, but this is not air travel, so...
It took me a few minutes after Morgan rushed out to even think of doing something other than sitting there. Eventually, I had stood up, wondering if I should search for them like Morgan was doing for Taylor. And yet, another part of me realized – or at le...
I thought I made a lot of progress when it comes to being able to talk to people and talking with confidence and speaking in full sentences. There was no bigger reality check for me than having to ask Taylor’s mom for a ride home that night. Credit where...
Whatever it was that Milo had to tell me, he clearly felt as awkward as I did discussing it in the middle of a hallway, even though the halls were mostly empty by this point. Class was about to start, and I wasn’t one for skipping, but curiosity won over...
It definitely wasn’t just wishful thinking, nor a coincidence – Taylor and I were seeing each other more and more. We went from seeing each other once a week and maybe doing something sexually at the end of the study session, to seeing each other once eve...
Kathryn and I walk out of the bathroom into the bedroom, still naked from our post-shower sex. I find my clothes while she digs into a drawer and puts on fresh panties and a bra. She steps into a pair of pants and rummages through her closet for a shirt w...
Mother could hold a grudge. “What are you gonna tell Taylor?” Kevin asked as we walked together towards the front doors of the school. “You’re gonna need to think of a good way to put it. Saying, ‘Hey Taylor, sorry, can’t study with you this week, my momm...
“What do you want from Taylor?” It wasn’t a question I was expecting. I stared at Crystal for a second before sighing. “Look, Morgan already gave me the whole spiel, so I’d appreciate it if we could-” “Oh, I know,” Crystal replied firmly, folding her arms...
The test was pretty simple. Not only did I know the subject matter pretty well, I had hours of practice teaching someone else about it, so it wasn’t a shock to see the “100%” on my page. Mrs. Li gave me a congratulatory smile as she gave me the test, and...
Taylor sighed in resignation. “Can we go back to factorials?” she asked, her voice strained. She wasn’t understanding permutations at all. We were hitting a bit of a roadblock - while we hit it off well in our first week, all things considered, there was...
I would have traded anything in the world for another life, one where I wasn’t known by everyone as nothing but a nerd. People kept telling me there were going to be all these benefits later on in life - “think of how easily you’ll get a job,” “you’ll get...
