{WATTYS 2021/2022 SHORTLIST}{Editor's Pick} {Featured Story}
One girl. Two boys. An impossible choice.
Stella LaFever, a theatre student from California, can't wait to spend a summer in Newport, Rhode Island, with her best friend. She is in despera...
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Chapter Song: 2 Become 1 by The Spice Girls
Like an invisible sliver of glass, the shard of West's heart left a sharp pain behind, and every time I thought of his face as he walked away, it cut a little deeper.
I tried to ignore the pain on the short drive back to Middletown. West would be fine. He had a plan and countless hearts to break on Broadway. He was born to perform on stage.
I was having trouble planning my life past a date in August circled on my calendar.
In a daze of thoughts, I pulled into the gravel drive at my grandparent's RV park and was surprised to find Spencer sitting on the hood of a shiny black BMW hatchback. His chin on his fist. Gaze trailing the dirt. He glanced up at me when the truck rolled by.
I barely threw it in park when I was out the door and running to him. His warm arms and the familiar scent of leather and vanilla wrapped around me
"Hey, you," Spencer whispered into my hair.
I didn't take the time to respond. I kissed him like we were under the waterfall. Diving into his ocean and knowing I'd float. Drifting along in his steady tide. My hands fisting sections of his curls as I pulled his face to mine.
But, Spencer's mouth didn't open for me, and I felt tension sitting in his muscles. I leaned back, studying him with the same intensity he always studied me.
"What's wrong?"
Spencer shook his head. Reluctant to meet my eye.
"Hey, it's okay. Look at me." I took his face between my hands. "Tell me what's wrong."
But, I knew by the look cradled in his green eyes what had happened. Spencer was simply unable to hide his feelings, each truth etched into the lines of his face and held in the set of his jaw.
"I got in."
Those weren't the three words I'd wanted to hear, and even though I knew they were coming, the admission still took me by surprise.
"That's—that's amazing," I forced out. "Congratulations."
Spencer's hands floated to my face, fingers knotting through my hair. "Come with me."
My lips were trembling with an unexpressed sob. With the pain in my chest. Reverberating in the echo of West's invitation.
"Come with me to Oxfordshire. I won't go without you."
