Alyson Cox believes in fate. So when her ex, Ethan Richardson, shows up at the diner Alyson works in after two years of elusiveness, she doubts if they are fated to be together.
However, with Alyson only being able to work for one summer before she...
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It's well past six in the morning when I get home. I lay in bed, reeling over how the fragments in my life seem to detach from one another. What would happen if I take away the fragments that involve Ethan?
But life is like a hot air balloon—air fizzles out once it is pricked, and all you have left is a shell without a single tad of courage.
And Ethan pricked my balloon. Now that I have taken out all of my courage and admitted my feelings to him, I feel hollow like a big blank loophole. The only things left in my life are fragments. But they don't seem to make sense.
My eyes are heavy as my head starts throbbing from dizziness. Just when I'm at the edge of drifting to sleep, I realize that I have to connect the fragments together. And the only way to do it is to know why Ethan is back.
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When I'm back to the diner the next night, I school myself to a perfect mask. I've tried to apply as much concealer as I could to cover up the haunting dark circles under my eyes, but in my peripheral vision, I notice Cassandra constantly glances at me.
"This is your sixteenth yawn in ten minutes." Cassandra stands by the doorway of the kitchen.
I try my best to force open my eyes and I raise my eyebrows as well, hoping that my eyes can be tucked up by them. I stare at Cassandra and try to sound as neutral as I can. "Yeah, didn't sleep well last night."
"Oh well, that's not an excuse, Alyson. You're working in my place. I don't pay for you to stand here and yawn," Cassandra deadpans.
I stifle my urge to roll my eyes. "Just shut up," I mutter under my breath and make sure that she can't hear me. I feel bad for being rude, but maybe because of my lack of sleeping, I really can't deal with people now.
"What did you say?" Cassandra walks toward me.
I don't glance up from the towels I'm folding. "Nothing."
She doesn't speak, but then I feel her slowly sidling up beside me. I sidestep a bit to avoid any contact with her.
The bell jingles and we look up to the entrance door in unison.
A group of high school girls enter, chatting and laughing while walking toward a table. I let out a humph and drop a towel onto the table with a small force. Of course it's not him.
"Alyson," Cassandra begins. "You know, I've warned you before."
"The whole love causes problems and move on thing? Yeah whatever, I suck at this."
