in any way? It was like a Christmas gift, and it was nowhere near December.
“This is incredible. Who would have ever thought?” My mom shook her head as she moved back toward the dish she had been working on and made my dad stop picking at it.
“Do you guys still have your place there? In New York?” Danika asked.
My dad answered, “We do. It’s in Sutton Place. We could never give it up. Too many memories.”
He looked back at my mom, and she practically melted on the kitchen floor.
“And plus, I love that apartment,” my mom added, clearly lost in memories.
“I forgot to warn you that my parents are super gross and in love,” I groaned.
“Figured that one out all on my own, Hotshot, but thanks.”
“Do you miss New York?” Jacey’s voice asked.
I hadn’t even heard her come back into the kitchen. Or knowing her supersonic hearing, which I’d also forgotten to warn Danika about, she’d probably overheard everything from a mile away.
“I do. But I know I’ll be back there after graduation,” she said, and my heart felt like it had been dropkicked.
Danika had her whole life planned out after she graduated. She was going to move back home. Most likely with her stupid boyfriend, Jared. A boyfriend who didn’t know where she was right now.
“I’ve only been there a few times, but I really like it there. It’s so cool.” My little sister sounded wistful.
Danika agreed, “It is cool. There’s nothing else like it. Just like there’s nothing else like Southern California. I love it here, but it’s completely different from the city.”
“I think I’d like to live there,” Jacey announced with certainty, and I choked, hitting my chest with my hand.
“Oh yeah?” I asked my little sister.
“Maybe I’ll just go to college there. What do you think, Mom?”
My mom looked at her, no concern or worry in her expression at all. “We’ll see how you feel when the time comes. You might change your mind.”
“Why do you want to leave me, Jacey Bear? New York is so far away,” my dad whined, and I coughed out an insult.
“Oh, Dad. Don’t be so dramatic.” Jacey rolled her eyes.
Danika glanced up at me, her eyes filled with emotion. It took all my willpower not to wrap her in my arms and hold on for dear life.
When Pasts Collide
Danika
Chance’s parents had known my mom. My eyes welled up at this revelation, this unbelievable twist of fate.
How in the world could something like this even happen? How random.
Then again, maybe it wasn’t random at all. Maybe every piece of my life had fallen together in this way because that was exactly what it was supposed to do. I was meant to come to Fullton State so that I could meet Chance and his parents. Because they had known my mom when she was alive. It was overwhelming. I was overwhelmed.
“Danika? Can I borrow you for a second?” Cassie asked.
I stood up from the chair I’d been sitting in and nodded. She reached for my hand. It was a simple gesture, motherly really, and I relished in it as I let her guide me down a long hallway. I noticed various jars filled with what looked like quarters all over the house before we walked into an office that I assumed was Cassie’s. There were even more jars with quarters on the shelves and one sitting on top of the desk. Only once we were inside the office did she let go of my hand.
Cassie Carter made me miss my mom even more, just by existing.
The room was well lit, but there were additional art lights hanging above framed black-and-white photographs, spotlighting each one along the walls. They were spectacular.
“Did you take all these?” I asked as she sat down at the desk and started frantically working at the mouse and keyboard.
“I did.”
“They’re really stunning,” I said because they were.
The majority were landscapes of places I didn’t recognize, but the ones that included people were heartbreaking, showcasing genuine emotion after what looked like some sort of loss. It was written all over their faces, and Cassie had captured it beautifully. Her pictures made you ache when you looked at them.
“Thank you. I have something to show you,” she said as she waved me over.
I walked around, peered over her shoulder to the oversize monitor, and gasped. There, alive and in color, were pictures of my mother and my father together.
“Oh my God,” I said before reaching out and touching the screen, my