Where the Heart Stops

Summary

Eight years ago, I stood on the auditorium stage at Northwood High and publicly destroyed Cole Everett.

He had just given the valedictorian speech, all brilliant and full of promise, the golden boy everyone adored. Afterward, he’d cornered me behind the heavy stage curtains, his expensive suit smelling like clean laundry, and asked me to prom.

I told him I had a boyfriend.

He was the kind of person who’d never been rejected in his life. He just nodded, polite, and walked away.