MOM WOKE AN HOUR before the sun came up and listened to the birds as they began their day. It wasn’t supposed to rain, but you couldn’t...

“WHO WAS THAT?” Lisbeth asked as Allie came into the living room. “Who?” “Allie!” “It was…one of my teachers. He gave me a ride home...

TIM CAME BY on Christmas day, celebrated a little bit with the Aprils, then took Mandy out. They drove to his apartment because Stan was...

“WHAT'S WITH YOU these days?” Lisbeth asked, hurrying to keep up with Allie. “You always hated school, and lately it seems like you can’t...

MANDY AND TIM were up first. After a quick shower together and a handful of dry cereal, they left quietly to walk to the lake. Half an...

“IT'S REALLY PERFECT here, Simon,” Jules said, breathing in the balmy woodsy air. “I’m going to get lots of writing done. Being in nature...

“WHEN YOU SAID FANCY…wow!” Lisbeth whispered to Simon as they were shown the way to the ballroom. “I can’t believe someone lives here!...

WHEN MANDY MENTIONED that the owners of Russel-Berries were looking for a part-time bookkeeper, Tim promptly suggested that she apply....

JULES AND MICHAEL talked about everything—philosophy, art, literature, politics, the meaning of life, religion, karma. She impressed him...

“I GUESS IT'S SAFE to say I am never going to have breasts,” Lisbeth said to Allie. “They should have grown by now.” “It’s not such a big...

ZEKE WAS ALWAYS quietly overjoyed when Allie showed up at the playground in the middle of the day. He knew she had to be careful about...

JULES TRIED TO PARTICIPATE in the conversation about Karen Carpenter’s recent death. She shook her head when PJ asked, “How could someone...

ALLIE STEPPED OFF the train, squinting in the glare of a new spring’s sun. Her fellow passengers, including the middle-aged orthodontist...

SIMON HUNG UP and sighed. He was one of those rare students who had a phone in his room (Grandfather had insisted) and for several...

SIMON PULLED UP to the dorm. “Got time for pizza or something?” he asked hopefully. But Jules already had her door open. “Can’t. Have to...

"MOST OF US," began Professor Griggs, Jules’ writing teacher, “draw on personal experience for our stories. We can’t help it. We love...

ALONE MOST OF THE TIME, Allie tried to keep busy drawing for two hours a day. She took art books out of the library and studied...

MANDY SAT AT HER DESK trying to appear busy, but it was impossible to stop checking her watch. Two o’clock? How could it only be two...

MOM'S ARM WAS TIGHT around Jules’ waist as they stood in the driveway preparing to say goodbye. “Do you remember your first day of...

AFTER JULES' GRADUATION ceremony, a crowd that included Dad who’d flown in for the weekend, collected at the Aprils’ home for a cookout....