A week went by and nothing. But eventually, as they always will, the rumors reached me. And everyone knows you can't disprove a rumor.

It's nothing. A school project. My go-to answer for anything. Staying out late? School project. Need extra money? School project.

But I need to wake up somehow. Or maybe not. Maybe it’s best to get through the day half-asleep. Maybe that’s the only way to get through today.

They were like two magnets who couldn't decide whether to attract or repel.

You can't go back to how things were. How you thought they were. All you really have is...now.

The Golden Rule will always be good advice!

Because no, I didn’t push her away. I didn’t add to her pain or do anything to hurt her. Instead, I left her alone in that room. The only person who might’ve been able to reach out and save her from herself. To pull her back from wherever she was heading. I did what she asked and I left. When I should have stayed.