I spent the morning a week before campus move-in in church, and it wasn't to pray away my sins of the summer.

Those vacation venialities were nothing. They couldn't condemn me to any hell worse than the one I was experiencing, whether I would admit it to myself or not.

I was still invincible, despite my falls.

But God must have had other plans. He didn't like that I was never one to take guidance from anyone, besides my mother and myself.

And occasionally Viktor. But I'd never let him know that.

***

"Hm, no fives. Go fish," I said to Natalie.

"I think you're lying again," she replied as she eyed me suspiciously.

I shook my head. "I don't cheat, Natalie. Only Matt does."

"But we're all related, so that's kind of fishy. You have some cheating DNA in you somewhere."

Leah laughed. "Ha! I get it. Fishy. Like go fishy."

"Sometimes I wonder what it's like inside your head. I guess I'm just the smartest out of all of us," Natalie said.

"Amanda's starting college in a week. I think she's smarter than you," Melissa spoke up.

I spent most of the summer before my freshman year of college with my nine-year-old triplet sisters, Natalie, Melissa, and Leah, as well as my older brother Matt, my best friend Arti, and my boyfriend-like person Blaine.

It was great, but it wasn't the same without Viktor. But I'd see him again soon, and that was enough to keep me going.

I hated to admit it, but I missed listening to his stupid thoughts and ideas and endless positivity.

"She's more educated. Not smarter," Natalie replied.

I set my cards down on the table in front of me. "Test me."

"What? You're nine years older than me. That's not fair," Natalie said.

"Test me, you baby. Unless you're afraid to lose."

"Fine. I know you don't like Spanish, so what's the Spanish word for play?"

I chuckled. "You're going to have to try harder than that if you want to beat me. It's jugar. Viktor drilled that one into my head."

Natalie rolled her eyes. "I meant play, like 'Abraham Lincoln got assassinated at a play.'"

Well shit.

Viktor never taught me that.

I activated my bullshit mode. "Do you know who assassinated him?"

Natalie smirked. "John Wilkes Booth. I know my assassins and serial killers, Amanda."

I laughed. "You seriously need to stop watching the History Channel."

"Well, I tried to watch National Geographic, but sometimes the animals are kind of inappropriate," Natalie replied.

Leah laughed, then turned deadpan. "It's true. I'll never un-see it."

"That happens in nature, so get used to it," I said.

"I don't like living things like animals, plants, and people, so I'm going to be a chemist," Natalie said.

"Didn't you like Hoppy?" Leah asked.

Hoppy was a toad that they found at the park one day, brought her home, and took care of her until she "escaped" from her bucket. I set the poor toad free a few days after they caught her.

But they didn't need to know that.

Natalie nodded. "Of course, I did. But then, like all stupid living stuff, she ran away. But chemicals and elements can't run away, so they're better."

"Living stuff isn't stupid. It's what makes life fun," Melissa said.

Leah looked over at me. "Is life even real, though?"

"Feels pretty real, don't you think?" I replied.

"I guess so, but—" Leah was interrupted by my phone ringing.

I looked down to see who was calling. Arti.

"Just give me a quick second, okay girls?" I asked, and when they each gave me a nod, I picked up. "This is the International House of Arti's Broken Hearts. How may I help you?"

"Did Eleanor suddenly call you up and tell you you're cute?" she asked.

"Nope. I'm sticking to the ones who were mercilessly played by you. You know, Blaine and Viktor."

"I only played Viktor. Blaine knew damn well he never had a shot with me."

I heard Blaine's voice from the phone. "It's not my fault I'm too good for you."

It was stupid that just the sound of it could make me smile.

"Or too male for me. But whatever. You're still a fucking idiot," Arti said to him, then directed her attention back to me. "Can you come get your boyfriend? He's irritating the piss out of me."

"Where are you guys?" I asked.

"We're in your driveway. We're about to go shopping for him, so he can get something to wear to his mom's wedding. And he apparently values your opinion over mine."

"I don't value hers more than yours. It's just she's less of a—" I heard Blaine's voice again.

Arti interrupted him. "Finish that thought and you're fucking dead."

"Fill in the blanks as you please, then. Only me and Jesus will know what I was going to say now," Blaine said with a chuckle.

"That's how you should keep most of your thoughts. Between you and Jesus."

"You're the second meanest person I know."

Arti gasped. "Second? I'm about to kill the bitch in first."

"You'll have your chance when she comes out here like we asked her to." He rose his voice at the end of the sentence, making sure I'd get the idea.

"I hear you. Chill out, dude. I'm in the middle of something," I said, gesturing to the triplets, even though Blaine and Arti couldn't see that.

"Like what? Theft? Murder? Yoga?" Arti asked.

"I'm not really into yoga." I laughed.

"What the fuck?" Blaine said.

"I'm playing Go Fish with my sisters, and they would greatly appreciate it if you would let me take my turn."

"Go ahead. We'll wait," Arti said.

"Thank you for your understanding." I set my phone down on the table, but I could still hear Blaine and Arti conversing if I listened closely. "Okay, Melissa, do you have any sixes?"

She searched through her cards, then handed over one to me.

I smiled. "Gracias, chica. Leah, do you have any sixes?"

"Go fish," Leah said.

I drew a card from the deck, then put my phone back up to my ear. "Okay, now what did you idiots want again?"

"Dude, just give it back," I heard Blaine say.

Arti laughed, then suddenly she stopped. "Oh shit."

"Wow. You cannot be fucking serious."

"I didn't mean to—"

"It's taking every ounce of strength I have not to strangle you right now." He paused. "Stop smiling. That's not going to work this time. Fuck you."

"Don't kill each other. I'll be right out there," I said, biting my cheek. I turned to the triplets. "I have to go."

"We're used to this by now," Natalie said as I stood up.

"Let Amanda be happy with them. They don't have much time left together," Melissa said quietly.

Blaine wanted to go back to his roots in Texas for college. He tried to make a case for me to go with him, but I wasn't going to leave Minnesota, since I knew that Winterview would accept me despite my disciplinary record. Arti took my advice from a year ago and was heading to California.

But we had a little more time together, and we were determined to make the most of it.

I sighed. "Thanks, Melissa. You guys can finish the game without me."

As I was leaving, the three divided my cards among themselves.

Blaine's car was sitting in the driveway, and I noticed something on the ground right outside the passenger door.

Arti looked at me with sunglasses covering her eyes. "Before you ask any questions, I want you to know the truth from me. Blaine threw his phone out the window."

Blaine shook his head. "Because what else would I do with my brand-new phone?"

I grimaced. "That shit's toast." I picked up the phone, and pressed the on button. Nothing happened. "Arti, that's the third time you've broken his phone."

"He probably deserves it," Arti mumbled.

I opened up the door to the passenger side. "I'm separating you two. Move."

"You two need separated. Blaine's always like, 'Oh my god, you're too cute, Amanda. I would marry you right now if I could.'"

"It's true, though," Blaine said.

I smiled. "No, it's not, you liar."

"Well, there're several problems with that idea, but in theory, I would."

"You're too young. I mean, how did that work out for your parents?" Arti asked.

"Ha, joke's on you. They were never married."

"Speaking of marriage," I said, giving up and sitting in the back seat, "how's your mother's wedding coming along?"

His car was clean like always, unlike his room. My car was always way messier than his, since I couldn't be bothered to tidy it up most of the time, but neither one of us minded. It was just a difference in the way our minds worked: both a little dirty and filled with pointless shit, but Blaine was a little fake about it, where I just didn't give a fuck.

"Well, I still hate Mark, but Mom seems happier, so I can live with it," Blaine said as he backed out of the driveway.

"At least you'll be gone right after they get married," Arti said.

"It's not that Mark's a bad guy. I just don't want to like him. He doesn't deserve a second of her attention. Only I do."

I laughed. "Trust me, if there's one person who gets that, it's me."

Blaine smiled. "I guess you would, Miss I Hate Everyone Until They Prove They're Worth My Time."

"It's a good policy to have, since I wasn't blessed with the excellent judge of character that you were."

"It's called 'not judging until they do something problematic, then dropping them.'"

"If that was entirely true, you wouldn't be here," I said with a laugh.

"Considering Arti's broken three of my phones, I'm going to agree with you on that one."

"Y'all act like I do this shit on purpose," Arti said, crossing her arms.

Blaine turned to her. "You threw it out the window."

"And I apologized, didn't I?"

"You said that I deserved it."

"I said you probably deserved it."

"Amanda, will you punch her for me?"

"I talk shit without punching people," I said.

Arti laughed. "What about Lukas?"

"That bitch deserved it."

Blaine smiled. "I'm so in love." He drew out the "so", and winked at me in the rearview mirror.

"Stop it. You're so stupid," I said, mocking the "so".

"I'm surprised you two made it to this point, honestly. I thought for sure that Blaine would say something stupid, and Amanda would get pissed, putting me in an awkward position where I would definitely take Amanda's side, and then our entire friendship would be ruined," Arti said.

"Honestly, same," I said.

Blaine laughed. "You two need to have some faith. I'm a fantastic person."

"But what's going to happen now?" Arti asked.

I looked at Blaine. He looked back at me.

He smiled. "That's a problem for the future."

"What? You haven't even talked about the future of your relationship? You're going to be hundreds of miles apart," Arti said.

"As I said, that's a problem for the future."

"The future is now, dude. We can't keep avoiding it," I said.

"Yes, we can."

I rolled my eyes. "Later, okay?"

"I'm unavailable all day today, but I think I can fit this conversation into my schedule in approximately never."

I bit my cheek and rose my eyebrows, just as my phone rang.

I looked at the screen, and it was Dad. He didn't usually call me, since he was always so busy with work, so I shushed Blaine and Arti and picked up.

"Hi Dad," I said with a smile he couldn't see.

"Where are you?" he asked.

"With Blaine and Arti. I think we're going shopping so Blaine can have something to wear to his mom's wedding, but I'm not entirely sure."

"Where are you?" he repeated.

"About two minutes from the mall. Why?"

"You're needed at the hospital."

-----------------------------------------

Hello again, my dear readers! I'm super excited to have you back again for a new story. How have y'all been??

So we're jumping right into this story. What could possibly be going on?