At the end of the period, as Alex waited for Genevieve to get her stuff together, the boy came up to her. His beautiful face stretched into a smirk, and Genevieve felt an unexplainable surge of annoyance when she saw it.
"Hey, Baby," he cooed, a thick Spanish accent coating his words.
She stared at him, both disgusted by him and drawn to him at the same time. She pulled her face into a similar smirk in imitation, and stared intimidatingly back at him. "My name's not Baby."
He weighed what she said in his mind, and then responded matter of factly, "Minor detail."
At this, Genevieve let out a snort. "Major asshole," she called, walking away.
What she didn't see upon leaving was the genuine smile that spread across his face. He would have said the same thing.
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When Genevieve transfers to a music school half way into the first semester of junior year, she is just expecting to find a place where she can finally express herself. Instead, she finds that and so much more.
Elliot's partner was his whole world, but after Allan's death, his ghost haunts Elliot's dreams. Everyone tells Elliot to move on, but he isn't sure he can.
*****
It's been a year since the love of Elliot's life, Allan, passed away. Everyone thinks he should have recovered after that much time, but Allan still haunts Elliot every night. He struggles to maintain relationships with his family, and despite a coworkers interest he can't summon up the courage to date. Elliot is living for the past, because to live for the present means he'll have to live with a hole in his heart. But the question Elliot has to face chases him through his monotonous days: is mourning Allan with everything he has truly living?
[[word count: 40,000-50,000 words]]