After the Fire

or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.

This is a work of fiction. All characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either

an addiction, the same as all the others. Just less honest, perhaps.

People love you more when you’re successful. More people love you when you’re successful, too.

Everything feels wrong. She’s trying to tell herself that things are the way they should be, that in the long run this will be a good thing, bringing everything to a head so that they can move on. But it doesn’t feel good. It doesn’t feel right. Nothing about any of this feels right.

She sees it all unfurling ahead of her: a life that will begin and end with this boy. This stupid, frustrating boy who somehow, without her even noticing, has buried himself deep within her, and from whom she will never be able to separate herself completely, no matter how long she lives, or how hard she tries, or how many Justins put their arms around her and tell her she’s special.

around the corner.

around the corner.

just around the corner.

stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise