Rallentando

When Darlene Hathaway is discharged from the hospital, the first thing she does is go to her dance studio. Sure, she might not be taking ballet classes anymore, but it's better than being alone.

The first person she meets there is Hope McKaye, an up-and-coming comic book illustrator, the only student at her high school to graduate at sixteen...and Darlene's childhood best friend, whom she drifted away from in ninth grade. Hope's happy to see her again, and she's even willing to let her stay at her apartment for as long as she needs, despite Darlene's hesitance about letting her back into her life.

But her entire life can't be made up of late night walks on the cold beach and following Hope around her various jobs. Darlene has to come to terms with why she's here--why she's freeloading off of someone who used to be so close to her instead of forging her own way in life---in order to move forward.