Chapter Twenty-One: Rooftops// Change
"The leaves floated down from their branches and we talked through the nights to spring.
He stopped wearing his glasses as much. I teased him for that. His eyesight didn't get better, he just stopped liking the way they looked. I told him he was being self-conscious. That they were cute on him. He started wearing them only when he needed to.
I think change is gradual. That's why we barely notice it. It takes an outsider's glance to see what's really happened over time. " She laughed. "Summer holidays that year were his time for transformation. Ever seen someone who seems to finish puberty during the summer, and they come back completely different? He was like that."
Her soft smile faltered.
"He'd spent that summer at his dad's house. Came back...changed. Broader shoulders, light brown hair swept up off his forehead, deeper tan. He joined the football team and our meetings became few and far between. Tried keeping up with him through texting, until my dad couldn't afford the bills anymore and I lost my phone. I got frustrated with him. It seemed like he'd jumped out of my world and moved on in leaps and bounds, leaving me behind to choke on the dust alone."
She laughed, though it was hollow. "Though I guess we all look back eventually."
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The Moth
Teen FictionNoel Lane is a worn-out college student, spending nights on his rooftop looking for answers in the silence and sky. When a strange girl with broken eyes and a soft smile appears one night, he's intrigued. She claims she's a "moth," drawn to other...