Read Online The Year We Fell Apart by Emily Martin - Free Book Online

quickly. “Seriously, though. Unfinished business?”
    “We’re just . . . We used to be good friends.”
    She stops to take a picture of a plastic water bottle nestled in a bed of wildflowers, then scoops it up. “Huh. I just thought there might be some history there.”
    The camera strap is so hot around my neck. I shift it and wipe the sweat off my skin. Gwen and I both examine Declan, who is waiting for us up the trail.
    First, ten years of friendship. The kind of friendship that means knowing everything there is to know about each other. Where every one of our scars is, and how we got them. The pitch of his laugh when he’s had a lot of sugar, or exactly what kind of coffee I need after a bad day. Friends who could spend twelve straight hours doing absolutely nothing and still want it to last twelve more. Who listen, even when the other is wrong; even when they’re not making sense. Friends who could be mad at the whole universe, but never angry with each other for long. Who love each other unconditionally.
    Then, six months of everything. A spring of skipped heartbeats every time he called me his girlfriend, then a summer of learning what being part of someone really meant. Six months of discovering the sound his heart makes with my head against his chest, and the taste of his tongue after he eats something salty. Or how his breath catches when I kiss his throat, and the way it tickles when he traces my collarbone. Two seasons of feeling more connected to a person than I ever thought possible.
    Then October up until now. Nine hollow months of being nothing at all.
    “What about you?” I ask. “Do you have a boyfriend?”
    She smiles. “Jason. He lives in Charleston.”
    “Long distance, huh? That’s rough.”
    “It’s not so bad. I have some family down there—my cousin was actually the one who introduced us. So I get to visit a few times a year, and he drives up on the weekends sometimes.”
    Mackenzie skips right past us, all the way to Declan’s side. We catch up a moment later.
    “That was so fun, wasn’t it? It’s, like, the perfect day for a photo shoot.” Mackenzie takes a snapshot of Gwen, who glares back at her. She turns to me next. “What are you up to this weekend?”
    “Nothing really,” I say. “Just lying low.”
    “What about you?” she asks Declan. “Any plans tonight?”
    He nods to me. “Cory told me about a party off Route Two. That old campsite?”
    Effing Cory. He almost never wants to come to parties. Suddenly he’s interested now that Declan is back?
    Everyone from school will be there. Including Kyle. And probably a small handful of other guys I messed around with last year. These are two worlds I do not want colliding.
    “That’s perfect! So, we’ll all go.” Mackenzie looks back and forth between us.
    Gwen nudges her toe against my foot. “You in?”
    Declan looks at me through his viewfinder and I shift my weight. The problem is, I already told Sadie I would go. Now I’m trapped. “Um . . . sure.”
    “Yay!” Mackenzie actually claps her hands together and I can’t help but laugh. “First things first, I’m hungry. I think I want Thai food. Or maybe just a sandwich. Harper, are you coming to lunch?”
    “Oh, I—”
    “Yeah, she’s not going to take no for an answer,” Gwen says.
    “You make me sound bossy or something.”
    “Nooo.” Gwen shakes her head at Mackenzie, then nods to me.
    We all head back to the community center parking lot. Mackenzie and Declan are joined at the hip, nudging each other and whispering as they plan their evening. Gwen hangs back to walk beside me, and I resolutely stare at the bumpers of each car we pass. I barely even notice when Declan rubs his neck and glances over his shoulder at us.
    When we reach his car, he taps Mackenzie’s arm and says something in her ear. She smiles and bounds over to her Datsun.
    Declan leans against the trunk of his Focus and nods at us. “Bye, Gwen.”
    “Later.”
    I slow to a