Page 64 of Library or Lattes?

• Nobody needs me

• Pop kept secrets for months

• Lennie hates me

• James is hot and cold and confusing

• Nothing ever changes here

• I’ll always wonder “what if”

• Rich people saved the tree—didn’t even need the fundraiser

• Same small town forever

• Watch everyone else’s lives while mine stays stuck

LEAVING OAK FALLS:

Pros:

• $25,000 to see the world

• London, Paris, Rome, Tokyo, everywhere I’ve ever dreamed about

• Meet new people who don’t have expectations – fresh start where no one knows me?

• Adventure

• Pop has someone else now. I don’t have to worry about leaving him alone.

• Won’t have to see James every Saturday

• Carter said Rome was amazing

• It’s literally what Aunt Lisa wanted

• Childhood dream

• No one will even miss me

Cons:

• Deleted (Pop’ll be fine, he has Jo)

• Deleted (Lennie hates me … everyone will be fine without me)

• Deleted (Geoff will be back soon to take over the Little Acorn. And James is there)

• Deleted (James clearly doesn’t want me anyway)

Looking at the list, messy as it was, it seemed so obvious. Why was I even thinking about staying? The only reason would be to try to please everyone else, same as I always did. I wouldn’t be staying for me, I’d be staying for them. And why?

After school, I headed for the bookstore to get a new notebook. One I could start fresh, one that wasn’t full of Oak Falls.

Main Street Books was ready for Halloween too, with twinkling ghost-shaped lights strung up all over the dusty bookshelves.

I headed straight for the stationery section, since I knew exactly what I wanted. I’d seen it months ago, just after Christmas. Pop had just bought me a new notebook, so I couldn’t justify the cost. But it was beautiful, a soft green leather. The fact that Mary-Ellen still had it in stock felt like a sign.