Chapter 13

• Even the illusion of your love chills me. My heart doesn’t know what’s true, it just knows it beats for you.
• ARLET
• Roses are red. Violets are blue. There’s only one life I want to spend with you. I held the card close, my fingers trembling as I pedaled my bike toward the high school. The streets seemed endless, each rotation of the wheels carrying me closer to him—but I never crossed that line. My feet refused to move, frozen against the pedals. No matter how many times I’d practiced the words in front of the mirror, my chest tightened, and my throat seemed to close up. Nervousness? Fear of rejection?