- Page 2 and 3:
LancaliI Fel in Love with HopeFirst
- Page 4 and 5:
This story is for both. It is for a
- Page 6 and 7:
Tonight, we argued. We fought like
- Page 8 and 9:
He doesn’t hear me. He only hears
- Page 10 and 11:
“We’re definitely getting caugh
- Page 12 and 13:
as to pretend he’s browsing for c
- Page 14 and 15:
C cocks his head to the side. “On
- Page 16 and 17:
But it doesn’t stop us from tryin
- Page 18 and 19:
are old too, nurses and doctors clo
- Page 20 and 21:
“Not when there’s a storm betwe
- Page 22 and 23:
“Do you think people will remembe
- Page 24 and 25:
I interlace our fingers and move al
- Page 26 and 27:
“Hikari,” Neo says, pensive ove
- Page 28 and 29:
“Did you steal it?”Hikari is a
- Page 30 and 31:
“Well, that sounds like everywher
- Page 32 and 33:
“Um-I-sorry.”“Why are you sor
- Page 34 and 35:
I gaze at the papers she holds tigh
- Page 36 and 37:
around her neck, another looking at
- Page 38 and 39:
Although when her mother turns to m
- Page 40 and 41:
bring him his dinner tray?” He po
- Page 42 and 43:
Neo is a writer.—For the next wee
- Page 44 and 45:
He grabs the corner of the tray and
- Page 46 and 47:
Neo doesn’t say anything else. He
- Page 48 and 49:
“Are there TVs in this place?”I
- Page 50 and 51:
can’t do much for him, but I can
- Page 52 and 53:
work. It loomsover Neo, although he
- Page 54 and 55:
His voice is a chorus of rough note
- Page 56 and 57:
“Sorry,” he says. Softly.“Do
- Page 58 and 59:
Also, I have a job to do.Neo’s in
- Page 60 and 61:
time I pictured her and listened to
- Page 62 and 63:
should tell her of our great plans
- Page 64 and 65:
“Reading makes me feel,” she sa
- Page 66 and 67:
“I’m Hamlet.” Yes, she did cl
- Page 68 and 69:
“Not anymore.”“Why?” she as
- Page 70 and 71:
I blink. “Huh?”“Since we’re
- Page 72 and 73:
The following pages were the result
- Page 74 and 75:
“You do hunch. You belong at Notr
- Page 76 and 77:
C sighs, his worry audible.“Neo,
- Page 78 and 79:
“It’s alright.” I’m incline
- Page 80 and 81:
Sony plops down on the bed too. A c
- Page 82 and 83:
“Sure,” Hikari agrees, amused,
- Page 84 and 85:
This is a darker place than Neo’s
- Page 86 and 87:
is a wild girl mercilessly kicking
- Page 88 and 89:
“I’m Sony.”Sony.All of Sony
- Page 90 and 91:
tells me chocolate isn’t a discov
- Page 92 and 93:
I’m not sure what Sony has exactl
- Page 94 and 95:
“Grumpy baby.”“Saaamm,” Neo
- Page 96 and 97:
Sony rests her head on his shoulder
- Page 98 and 99:
“I hate puzzles.”“You adore p
- Page 100 and 101:
Neo doesn’t move. He simply looks
- Page 102 and 103:
doesn’t want to talk about while
- Page 104 and 105:
They’re learning to work around a
- Page 106 and 107:
both my pockets.“I shouldn’t.
- Page 108 and 109:
much more strained than her husband
- Page 110 and 111:
“You should be.”“Why? Because
- Page 112 and 113:
“For Sony.” Hikari holds her kn
- Page 114 and 115:
People glorify youth. Maybe that’
- Page 116 and 117:
We exchange something pure then, so
- Page 118 and 119:
“Me?”Eric rolls a bandage aroun
- Page 120 and 121:
“You have no idea how nice it was
- Page 122 and 123:
“What happened to your eye?” Ne
- Page 124 and 125:
Endeared, I point back at the smirk
- Page 126 and 127:
Empathy wounds Neo’s face. He cup
- Page 128 and 129:
Neo took to Hikari the day he met h
- Page 130 and 131:
“Just throw me off the roof.”
- Page 132 and 133:
Hikari wakes in the early hours of
- Page 134 and 135:
“You’re not Hamlet,” I bite.
- Page 136 and 137:
him in his face as she reaches to s
- Page 138 and 139:
“You were rude.”“Sam.”“So
- Page 140 and 141:
“I-I never beat anyone up,” he
- Page 142 and 143:
“I’m sorry.”“Stop apologizi
- Page 144 and 145:
Sony and I settle on our usual clou
- Page 146 and 147:
“Neo.”“I forgive you, okay?
- Page 148 and 149:
For all her unintentional insensiti
- Page 150 and 151:
“It’s why he likes reading,”
- Page 152 and 153:
Still, Neo couldn’t reach those c
- Page 154 and 155:
They got in trouble often. Their te
- Page 156 and 157:
Without so much as knocking, he ope
- Page 158 and 159:
week later, he messages Neo every s
- Page 160 and 161:
But love is not a choice.“Without
- Page 162 and 163:
“Can I kiss you?” she asks. Her
- Page 164 and 165:
slowly turns to the same darkness s
- Page 166 and 167:
“Where do you want to go first, S
- Page 168 and 169: close my fists, try to take up less
- Page 170 and 171: Sony faltered once. If she falls or
- Page 172 and 173: There was a noise, wheels swerving
- Page 174 and 175: Hikari rushes backward when they ar
- Page 176 and 177: “Because it is-”“Sony’s bod
- Page 178 and 179: “Do you love me?” She motions t
- Page 180 and 181: Hikari wipes her nose. She runs her
- Page 182 and 183: screaming to die down. It digressed
- Page 184 and 185: I don’t understand it enough for
- Page 186 and 187: be. He is one of their many patient
- Page 188 and 189: animated by little things. He is mi
- Page 190 and 191: I nod with a pleased hum.We eat tog
- Page 192 and 193: Fire flickers between our palms. It
- Page 194 and 195: “We’re not upset with you,” C
- Page 196 and 197: “You told me when we first met th
- Page 198 and 199: “But it’s okay,” I admit. I s
- Page 200 and 201: “I don’t understand.”“We’
- Page 202 and 203: Sony called Eric ten minutes ago, t
- Page 204 and 205: C stands just below, a hair’s bre
- Page 206 and 207: “I’m not sure what to say,” I
- Page 208 and 209: braced on the doorframe. “Her par
- Page 210 and 211: Your mind is a palace greater than
- Page 212 and 213: I grab the hem of my shirt and star
- Page 214 and 215: can scrounge. I see their shadows f
- Page 216 and 217: There are no string lights or stars
- Page 220 and 221: It takes me a moment, but I do. The
- Page 222 and 223: Laughter can be beautiful, spontane
- Page 224 and 225: “They hurt me.” His voice crack
- Page 226 and 227: He doesn’t. He’s elsewhere, in
- Page 228 and 229: if he hadn’t woken up, I would st
- Page 230 and 231: Her sweater is all that covers the
- Page 232 and 233: It turned out there wasn’t much t
- Page 234 and 235: “I can’t wait to see it on a sh
- Page 236 and 237: Sony stands from the bed, holding t
- Page 238 and 239: “Alright,” she whispers. She sq
- Page 240 and 241: C closes his hand around the should
- Page 242 and 243: “I understand why you do what you
- Page 244 and 245: C makes a noise. “Sam, this isn
- Page 246 and 247: C starts the car.Hikari doesn’t b
- Page 248 and 249: “So are you, my beautiful set of
- Page 250 and 251: Neo nods his chin. “Sup.”“Uh,
- Page 252 and 253: “You. Sit in that chair,” he sa
- Page 254 and 255: “Remember, it’s gonna hurt a li
- Page 256 and 257: “He can’t hurt any of us. Not h
- Page 258 and 259: “Hikari, hold my hand.” C huffs
- Page 260 and 261: same exact tree.” Hikari tries to
- Page 262 and 263: “Sweet Sam,” he whispers. “Sw
- Page 264 and 265: Pessimists. The lot of them, keepin
- Page 266 and 267: They. The children in his past? Som
- Page 268 and 269:
“Oh, you filthy little animals!
- Page 270 and 271:
Sony smirked, as devils do. She gra
- Page 272 and 273:
the far distance.Neo and Hikari wri
- Page 274 and 275:
“I can’t believe you kissed Car
- Page 276 and 277:
“Hamlet wouldn’t say that.”
- Page 278 and 279:
I wake to the sounds of struggle.Ch
- Page 280 and 281:
A metronome is all reality leaves b
- Page 282 and 283:
“You said that to me the night we
- Page 284 and 285:
“Sony.” My voice shakes. “Why
- Page 286 and 287:
Time, in a turn of kindness, slows.
- Page 288 and 289:
“Goodbye, butter baby,” I whisp
- Page 290 and 291:
He simply hauled me along, feasting
- Page 292 and 293:
“Hah!” he cheers, throwing his
- Page 294 and 295:
that I smell nice, that he wants to
- Page 296 and 297:
bouts of shame return with rosy sha
- Page 298 and 299:
He can’t be like the people on th
- Page 300 and 301:
Hikari is vomiting. I rub her back
- Page 302 and 303:
“Cœur, t’es pas censé te prom
- Page 304 and 305:
“I’m not allowed to leave,” h
- Page 306 and 307:
“It’s okay,” Hikari says agai
- Page 308 and 309:
she keeps is the black stone I gave
- Page 310 and 311:
“Coeur,” he says.“I want to k
- Page 312 and 313:
“Si Dieu me laisse, on sera ensem
- Page 314 and 315:
Music became his constant companion
- Page 316 and 317:
“Sorry, I’m stupid,” Coeur wo
- Page 318 and 319:
Neo looked up from his book. His ga
- Page 320 and 321:
“Poor lad’s back in the hospita
- Page 322 and 323:
He was mildly aware that his health
- Page 324 and 325:
“To my Coeur, ” Neo mocks, “F
- Page 326 and 327:
“So great,” Coeur says. “Drug
- Page 328 and 329:
All can see me, I think. They simpl
- Page 330 and 331:
Love can also be gentle, subtle. A
- Page 332 and 333:
frown. He holds in a laugh, his lip
- Page 334 and 335:
We’re in the middle of a card gam
- Page 336 and 337:
a reason despite the fact that I co
- Page 338 and 339:
in the light, his friend was waitin
- Page 340 and 341:
putting a hand to their mouths in s
- Page 342 and 343:
I thought. Then, he would tell me I
- Page 344 and 345:
Because you meant them. You knew yo
- Page 346 and 347:
That is the last thing he ever gave
- Page 348 and 349:
“I’m not brave,” Neo says, sp
- Page 350 and 351:
The door opens with wind. Eric stan
- Page 352 and 353:
doesn’t matter.—Dad,Two weeks a
- Page 354 and 355:
“Oh, good.” The wind accompanie
- Page 356 and 357:
The clouds above us sink, like whal
- Page 358 and 359:
Whatever it is in this world that h
- Page 360 and 361:
He cannot contain his joy. He jumps
- Page 362 and 363:
“What?”“Up,” she says again
- Page 364 and 365:
“No.” Sam takes my face in his
- Page 366 and 367:
another. I’ve never lied to you a
- Page 368 and 369:
More people arrive at the hospital.
- Page 370 and 371:
“No,” I whisper, caressing her
- Page 372 and 373:
outside with her back against the w
- Page 374 and 375:
loneliness and hurt cannot touch us
- Page 376 and 377:
“They’ll never grow old,” Hik
- Page 378 and 379:
she says, regret fleeting past her
- Page 380 and 381:
moment it clinks against the cerami
- Page 382 and 383:
i understand“Is this how you felt
- Page 384 and 385:
He doesn’t. He grabs another char
- Page 386 and 387:
unless everyone takes their medicin
- Page 388 and 389:
a gray, foggy evening. They cast th
- Page 390 and 391:
To have known a boy, foul-mouthed a
- Page 392 and 393:
Nurse Ella dies at the peak of spri
- Page 394 and 395:
He thins. His cheeks become hollow
- Page 396 and 397:
I walk into his room. The curtains
- Page 398 and 399:
He peered at the children on the ot
- Page 400 and 401:
I realize, as my tears fall, that I
- Page 402 and 403:
“No, no-” she whimpers, as if I
- Page 404 and 405:
“I don’t know,” I say, becaus
- Page 406 and 407:
reserved, afraid, as she was in the
- Page 408 and 409:
“You didn’t need to be saved,
- Page 410 and 411:
I bow dramatically, outreaching an
- Page 412 and 413:
What if it was so desperate for ans
- Page 414 and 415:
“I love you,” Hikari says, my h
- Page 416 and 417:
she graces me with her contagious s
- Page 418 and 419:
tears, fathers’ tears, lovers’
- Page 420 and 421:
And hope. Hope is the bittersweet c
- Page 422 and 423:
A flash of light wherein hope reach
- Page 424 and 425:
In the end, mean or kind, the world
- Page 426:
hikariendwordAbout the Author