Chapter 1

“Time stands still when…”
The last word was either cut off or was never spoken, the quote was never finished.

I stared at the wall of the Starbucks for well over 15 minutes just trying to figure out what the last words could have been to the quote. It was honestly starting to bother me and it seemed like a waste of Starbucks quote wall. Was it meant for us to guess? Or did he have a spontaneous brain aneurism before he finished it…?
As I was thinking of increasingly ridiculous reasons for the sentence not to be finished I heard the door of the shop open. I tore my eyes from the wall and looked up right as Blare was lightly stepping through the door.
I’ve known Blare for 5 years and there is one thing that I will never ever see her do and that would be to cry. She’s probably the most resilient and uplifting person I know, and she’s one of the best friends I will ever have.
Blare briskly walked to the table I was sitting at and flashed a warm smile before taking her beanie and gloves off, her mahogany colored hair fell gracefully down past her shoulders.
“Hey Vinny”
“Hi Blare”
“Have you ordered anything yet?” She asked
“It’s like 9pm why would I need coffee?” I asked her quickly
She sighed “Well fine make me feel unhealthy” She said in a mocking tone “Could you be a fantastic person and get me a white chocolate mocha then”
“If you’re gonna be unhealthy you may as well burn some extra calories by walking up to the counter” I repeated her tone.
As Blare and I walked out from the Starbucks (with steaming white chocolate mocha in Blares hand) a weird tinge of depression hit me. It was almost like I was repressing something in the back of my mind but I couldn’t figure out what it was. It only made me fold my arms bracingly against the cruel and freezing October air.
Blare and I were lucky enough to live in the same neighborhood as one another (and near a Starbucks) and as we came closer to our street I noticed that there was new car with a U-haul thingy latched to the back of it in the driveway of the house across from mine. I hadn’t even noticed that the house had sold, the woman that lived there last was the crazy cat lady type, except she had birds. I heard their annoying caws even in my house and apparently birds just love to keep people awake at like midnight. Bitch….
I actually love new people moving in, unless they are suckish people.
“We should totally go meet them tomorrow” I said ecstatically to Blare
She just laughed and said her goodnights to me as we got to the front door of her house.
I blew her an overdramatic kiss goodnight and walked over one more house to mine.
I had to fumble through my jacket pocket to find my key, I dropped it twice before I was able to sprint out of the cold wind and into the warmth of my home.



I left my shoes and jacket at the foyer and tiptoed up the stairs so I didn’t wake my parents, who at this point were probably already in a deep sleep. I walked into my bathroom to quickly brush my teeth and get changed for bed. I tripped over my own foot getting across my room, as I hit the ground I made the ground shake and probably woke someone up. I cursed at my own stupidity and just crawled into bed, it was just a few minutes before I was out.
And through that whole process I never noticed him sitting on the top of the car parked in the driveway across the street staring…