Pepper never meant to lose her best friend. Lucas never meant to fall in love.
Yet the aftermath of broken hearts leads them to blur the lines of their friendship forever. When Pepper is dumped by her boyfriend and Lucas is led on by his crush, they...
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A VOID has made it's home in the center of my chest. The world around me has been...barren and foreign these past few days, yet nothing about New York is empty or foreign to me. It's like I don't know where I am or where I'm going, but I'm not sure I care to find out. If only Lucas hadn't-
Stop.
I shove the memory aside before it takes form. My sweaty palms have been wringing together at a constant persistence as anxiety burns beneath my skin. If he had known how uncomfortable I was, I'm sure he would have stopped. He didn't mean to ignore me. I know Lucas like the back of my hand. He just gets overeager sometimes. He was caught up in his own lust, so perhaps he didn't witness my unease.
And the distance that's grown between us since that night? It's only temporary. We'll go back to normal and put it behind us.
My phone vibrates in my coat pocket, diverting my thoughts and pulling me from staring out the window of my father's car. Unpocketing it reveals a text from Mason.
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We arrive at his house mere seconds later. The only one in the neighborhood that's gradually forming into a Korean styled home with renovations made every few months it seems. It's a beautiful place of beige, white and wood-styled exterior that's overflowing with memories. Mason and I are embedded in the walls and floors; months spent exploring each other's secrets and hidden treasures. It pains me to arrive at this house in a foreign position. A house holding infinite life and culture behind high walls.
Releasing a nervous breath, I pocket my phone and glance at my parents in the front seat. They're too busy chattering like children visiting their best friends to notice my discomfort.
This'll be easy. We're friends now. Just pretend like you were never hopelessly in love with him.
My parents ditch me and climb out of the car to scurry up the expansive driveway. Trailing them, my path is illuminated by tea lights and lanterns up to the furnished porch.
The corner of my mouth curves from the smallest insignificance. So many mornings Mason waited for me in the heat of the summer in one of those wood woven chairs whenever I announced I was coming over. By the time I arrived, he'd be ruby red. I would giggle at how instead of tanning, he'd simply turn into the ripest tomato whenever he sat in the sun for too long.
