A/N: Already 40 chapters! :D Once again, if you have any ideas for a cast feel free to let me know!

There was nothing worse than having the boy you cared about hang up on you. Absolutely nothing worse.

A week later, he sent me another letter.

He apologized, and I accepted it.

I wrote back.

And that was it.

Months later, nothing changed. My mother was still devastated, and so was I. We even had a funeral for both my father and Mason. I had gone to the therapy sessions with Ms. Campbell, but she didn't really seem to help much. I'd still have nightmares, flashbacks, and memories. She said they would disappear soon, but the same question floated around in my mind every once in a while when life just seemed to be getting increasingly depressing. How long was soon?

One day, I found myself sitting in class next to Nolan, Piper's boyfriend's best friend. He turned to me, staring for a while. I tensed. "What?"

"Uh," he mumbled. "Piper's pretty mad at Colton, huh?"

"Yeah," I shrugged, "but knowing her, she'll forgive him."

"Yeah, probably." He chuckled.

I forced on a tight-lipped smile when the teacher called my name. "Ava, could you give us your answer, please?"

"Um," I hesitated, quickly glancing at my paper. Nolan tapped my shoulder, scribbling down the answer on his sheet of paper. I said it out loud, and the teacher smiled. "Very good."

I glanced at Nolan and offered him a real smile, mouthing the words 'thank you,' to which he replied with a wink, and after that day Piper forgave Colton and Nolan and I became good friends.

Thus, here's what happened: I entered the cafeteria. Chatter, laughter, noise. I walked over to the table I usually sat at, finding Piper and a few other people. "Hey Piper, you know Colton's friend?" I began, taking a seat.

"Which one? He's got tons." She replied, taking a bite out of her ham sandwich.

"You know, the tall kid with brown hair, sits next to me in Math and--"

"Nolan?"

"Yeah, Nolan."

"What about him?"

"He mentioned you--"

"Saying what?"

"He was talking about you and Colton-"

"That little..." she trailed off, her hands balling into fists.

"Don't worry about it. I'm sure he was just curious if you were going to forgive Colton."

"Oh, really?"

"Yep."

"Oh."

"So, are you?"

"Well, eventually, I guess." She said, glancing over at the table across the room. The table Colton sat at.

She looked away quickly and suddenly switched the topic, catching me off guard. "Whatever. You heard from Isaac lately?"

I hesitated. "Actually, yes."

And then we spoke about Isaac, and I got all tense because of the last time I'd heard from him, but I managed to talk.

Then Nolan came along, and he told Piper about Colton, and she sighed and said that she was cool now, and that she forgave him, and that everything could return to normal. I wished I could say the same -- just sigh and say, "Alright, emotions. Calm down. And flashbacks? Out. I forgive myself." And then everything would be over, and everything would go back to normal.

Unfortunately things were never that easy.