Katie
I wake up on Monday morning with swollen eyes and a puffy face.

Logan looks at me and jumps onto me to lick my face.

I giggle and push him away. I check my clock and notice it's 8:30.

"Crap! I'm so late for school." I leap out of bed but as soon as reach the bathroom I remember something.

Today is a teacher's work day, I don't have school.

At least I didn't have to go to school today and see Wyatt. I can lay in bed and watch movies while stuffing my face with ice cream.

I take a shower and go downstairs to eat breakfast.

My dad left a note saying he wouldn't be home till late. He doesn't know about the breakup.
Hopefully, I won't have to tell him.

"Hey Gracie, how are you doing?" Derek asks.

"Good."

"Any fun plans?" Derek asks with milk dripping down his chin.

"Nope, just a lot of wallowing in self-pity."

"Well, I only have one class today so if you need a partner I am always available," Derek says smiling.

I pat his shoulder as I walk out. "Thanks, but I'm okay."

I want to watch my comfort movies so I start with Twilight New Moon. (My favorite Twilight movie.)

Mostly because it was more about Jacob than Edward.

As the credits roll the door to my room opens.

Izzy walks in holding a bad while sporting a frown.

When she sees the Tv she grins. "Good, I didn't miss anything."

I throw a pillow at her. "How dare you mock Jacob!"

She plops down on my insanely huge bed. "I brought ice cream."

My face lights up. "Please tell me you brought Ben & Jerry's tonight dough!"

Izzy chucks the pint and a spoon at me. "Obviously."

She moves beside me and starts the next movie on my list.

Top gun.

"I tried to text you," Izzy says with Ice cream in her mouth.

"Oh, I haven't looked at my phone today."

Izzy nods her head in understanding.

I know I have tons of texts from Wyatt. I didn't want to see them.

Izzy doesn't say a word the entire movie. She even cries with me at certain parts.

That's right no spoilers here.

Once the credits roll I pause the TV. "Hey, what are you doing?" Izzy whines.

"Ask it." I snap.

"Ask what?" Izzy says with fake confusion.

"About Wyatt," I exclaim while pushing her.

"How do you feel?" Izzy asks after her giggling fit.

"Like crap. Like I'm the most pathetic person on the planet." I say not meeting her eyes.

Izzy puts her arm around me. "Awe Sweetie, you're not pathetic. You just fell for the wrong guy."

She places her chin on top of my head. "It's not your fault."

The dam I have been building all morning breaks and the tears fall.

I ugly cry into Izzy's shoulder.

She rubs small circles on my back and suddenly slow quiet music starts playing.

"What's that noise," I ask between sniffles.

"When Ty told me what happened I made a sad breakup playlist."

I laugh and pull away from her slightly.

Izzy wipes tears off my face with her thumbs. "Babe, trust me there will be other guys that are much more desirable."

I lean my head into her hand. "Why does it hurt so much?"

Izzy does a breathy laugh. "You opened up to Wyatt, you trusted him and fell for him. It's a lot for your heart to adjust to."

I close my eyes and fall back onto my pillow. "I don't think I just fell for him, Izzy. I think I'm in love with him."

Izzy lays down beside me and pulls me to her.
"Katie, I'm so sorry," Izzy says against my head.

I scoff. "Why the hell are you sorry?"

"Because I'm the one who pushed you to do this. You're hurt because of me."

I pull back and look into her eyes. "No Izzy, do not feel bad. If it wasn't for you, I wouldn't have the amazing opportunity to work with a five-star rider this summer."

I take a shaky breath. "Yeah, my heart got broken but I learned so much about myself."

"I learned that's is okay to let people in."

Izzy smiles. "I'm so proud of you."

The song changes into Carrie Underwood's song Before He Cheats.

Izzy quickly changes it. "Iz, why did you do that?" I ask annoyed.

"Oh Babe, your not ready for the Carrie Underwoods break-up songs. That's stage two."

"What stage am I in?" I ask grinning.

"Lewis Capaldi, Taylor Swift and Olivia, Rodrico stage," Izzy says matching my grin.

My door opens and Tyler sticks his head in. "Can I come in?"

I wipe my face. "Yeah."

Tyler skips in with Derek following. They sit on the end of my bed.

"Did you tell her yet?" Derek asks Izzy.

"No, not yet," Izzy says nervously.

"Told me what," I ask.

Tyler holds his phone out. "This."

I look at it and it's a video of me and Stacy last night.

"Someone must have recorded your fight with Stacey and posted it on TikTok," Derek says.

"And it kind of went viral," Izzy adds quietly.

"How viral?" I ask.

"The original video has 1.3 million views," Tyler says.

I gasp and take his phone from him.

I watch the video and read some of the comments.

Everyone is saying how good it is that I stood up to Stacy.

"Why is this hashtag, BullyStandUp, trending?" I ask as I hand Tyler his phone.

"Everyone is using it to post videos about people that bully them or bullies at their school," Derek says smiling.

"Wow." I breathe.

"You're famous Katie," Izzy says shaking my shoulder.

"Yeah, I guess I am."

"What movie do you want to watch now?" Izzy asks holding the remote.

"Top Gun Maverick."

"Uh!" Both boys groan.

Izzy is laying against Tyler's chest and I'm laying against Derek's shoulder.

I couldn't think of a better way to spend my day.

After everyone leaves I finally open my phone.

Shockingly I have no texts from Wyatt.

I did have a ton of notifications from Instagram and TikTok. It took me an hour to go through them all.

After, I decide to go through my photos. There are so many pictures of me and Wyatt.

Some are just of me when he must have stolen my phone.

Some are of Wyatt when he wasn't paying attention.

There are some of us together that Izzy had sent me.

And there are tons of selfies.

In all of them, I look so happy. I couldn't bring myself to delete them.

I just move them to my hidden album so I don't have to see them.

Around 11:00 I finally put my phone away.

Tomorrow is a new day. No more crying. I'm officially moving on to stage two.

Wyatt
When I wake up my mouth feels dry and I have a killer headache.

I slowly make my way downstairs to see my mom making breakfast.

"Good Morning."

"Morning," I grumble out.

She turns around. "Someone's in a bad mood."

I slam my glass cup down. "Wow, I'm surprised you noticed."

She puts a hand on her hip. "What's that supposed to mean?"

I open the cabinet. "You're never here."

My mom turns the sink on. "You know I have to work a lot."

I don't know why I decided to pick a fight with my mom. But there's no going back now.

I remember something Katie told me a while back. She said I need to talk with my mom and tell her how I feel about her working all the time.

"No, you don't."

Still with my back turned I say, "Working all the time isn't going to bring Dad back."

I turn around to see tears welling up in her eyes.

"Wyatt, you know we're tight on money." She says sternly.

"But I hardly ever see you," my voice comes out shaky.

"You're seeing me now." My mom exclaims.

"Yeah, it's the first time in a week," I say dryly.

My mom slams a cabinet door. "There are responsibilities that fell on to me when your father died, Wyatt."

"We're living on one income. It's not easy."

"No crap. That's why I worked all summer so you could work less."

My mom glares at me. "Don't use that tone with me."

I cross my arms. "You never listen to me anyway so what difference does it make."

She throws a spoon into the sink. "I don't know what you want Wyatt. I'm trying my best."

I take a deep breath to calm myself. "I know you are mom. Ever since Dad died it feels like I lost you too."

My mom walks closer to me. "Wyatt you didn't lose me."

I blink back tears. "I feel alone Mom."

She wipes her thumbs under my eyes. "I'm so sorry Wy."

She sighs. "Your right I have been working a lot. Being home reminds me of him. It's easier to be at work, it takes my mind off it."

She finally breaks and tears roll down her face. "I don't know what to do. Your father was my other half. He made me whole."

I pull my mom into a tight hug. "I'm sorry too."

"I miss him so much." My mom says.

"Someone once told me even though we can't see people after they pass doesn't mean they're not with us," I say with a smile.

Mom pulls back. "Did Katie say that?"

I nod my head.

She places her hand on my cheek. "Starting now I'm going to work less and spend more time with you."

I smile. "That sounds good."

She moves away and continues making breakfast. "Why were you so snappy earlier?"

I sigh. Nothing gets past my mom.

"Katie and I broke up."

She stops. "I thought you weren't dating."

Any other mom would comfort me, but not my mama she's always brutally honest.

"We were sort of, it's a long story," I say.

"I've got time." My mom chirps.

So I tell her everything.

After breakfast, Mom takes off work and we go shopping, afterward, we stop by dads grave.

That evening we watched TV. It was a nice day considering last night's events.

"Hey, Wyatt?" My mom says as I'm going to my room.

"Yeah."

"Give it time. If it's meant to be it'll work out with Katie."

I smile. "Night Mom."

"Goodnight, love you, honey."

"Love you."