It is its own religion, this love. Uncontainable, savage, and…
Chicago, early 1980s. I reached twenty utterly unprepared for life…
“What’s wrong with relaxing in my own home, Claire? There’s…
My days of suburban isolation were over. This time, her…
Paul, Mia, and I moved to Los Angeles when she…
“Test her for every possible drug you can test for.”
“Mia is a very troubled girl.”
I don’t know what about animal dissection inspires this teacher…
“I can’t believe she hasn’t called yet, she promised,” I…
“Our ‘A’ student was drug addicted…. Renee graduated from the…
Mia’s draped across me asleep on the flight to Vienna.
“I honestly don’t know how you could send your own…
“So, Mia, what is it about giving strange guys blowjobs…
Parents at the meeting encouraged us to join the Link,…
You’d think the president was coming to visit. The silence…
My seminar high just ended. The sense of shame and…
The seminar room’s easy to find. Waiting outside the doors…
She finally forgave me. And in such a wonderful letter.
I’m in the second day of Focus, the seminar following…
“We’re being raided.” It’s Glenn, early on a Friday morning.
It’s dead quiet in the van save a static-y country…
Cameron’s speech was prophetic. The new girls are already back…
“That’s the moment, Claire. She wouldn’t turn back even if…
As if dropping wasn’t bad enough, I’m waiting for results…
“When this is over you’re going to have a lot…
Good God, that voice. High, sharp, nasal, and LOUD.
“Mia, come on in, I’ll grab you in a second,…
Each step outdoors in the Luberon valley is redolent with…
I’ve pulled myself out of my funk. I still refuse…
Nick looks like a dimmed version of himself. He’s paler…
“You don’t think we should at least consider it?”
“You don’t know what it’s like. I haven’t seen Paul…
To be so completely immersed in a world of broken…
Cameron’s instinct was a good one. Mia’s finally becoming the…
This note falls from the pages of one of Mia’s…
“You know, I ran away once, too, before the war,”…
Mia finished her year at Santa Monica College with a…