Free Something About Love: A YA contemporary romance in verse by Elana Johnson

here.”
    I glance up at the vaulted ceilings,
    The antique furniture,
    The marble, silk, hardwood.
    “Too stale,” I declare.
    I turn to face him.
    “You’re not stale. We need…”
    I glance around like I’ll be able to find what he needs here,
    In this lousy mansion,
    A sorry excuse for a home.
    “We need something…more exciting.”
    “Are you saying I’m exciting?”
    He gives me that sexy half-smile and
    Steps closer.
    “I’m saying get your keys and
    Let’s get out of here.”

“DO YOU EVER MISS HER?”
    Trevor won’t look at me, but
    Focuses out the window,
    On the road, or
    Something.
    I can’t really see his eyes anyway, because
    He’s wearing sunglasses.
    “Miss who?” I ask.
    “Your mom.”
    Instantly, I feel an invisible wall
    Go up between me and
    Him.
    The same barrier that’s been between me and
    My mother
    For the past year and a half.
    His car feels ten times colder, and
    The low music from the radio is now too loud.
    I don’t answer.
    I don’t know if I miss my mom or not.
    “I miss my dad,
    Sometimes,” Trevor says.
    I let myself look at him.
    Click, click, click.
    The need is raw on his face,
    The tension evident in his shoulders.
    “I mean, he hasn’t been around for years, but
    I still miss him.
    Watching you with your dad at dinner the other night is
    When I realized it.”
    I wish I knew what to say, or
    That I could reach for my camera and
    Capture this moment in pixels,
    Forever.
    “Where to?” Trevor asks
    After a few minutes of silence.
    He’s been driving aimlessly,
    Turning right, then
    Left, then
    Right.
    I wish I had long hair like I used to, so
    I could hide behind it
    Like I used to.
    “Wings?” he says
    Just as I say,
    “I miss her.”

“I WILL ALWAYS LOVE YOU,”
    Were Mom’s parting words to Rose
    When she moved out of our house and
    In with Darren Youngblood.
    I didn’t know until that day that
    My mom was a coward.
    She waited until Dad left on a business trip
    To move out.
    She packed all day the first day,
    Her face as still as stone,
    Her voice mute.
    The second day,
    The moving van came,
    Taking her boxes,
    Her wardrobe,
    Her jewelry, and
    Her photos.
    She called in Gramma-Linda
    On the third day.
    She bent down and hugged Rose.
    “I will always love you.”
    Gramma-Linda had stood sentinel
    Near the front door.
    She’d smoothed my hair,
    Held me close, and
    Told me everything would be all right.
    Mom barely looked at me,
    Barely spoke.
    And then she left.

COWARD
    Is what I wrote in my journal
    That night.
    I knew my mother was one, and
    I wondered if I was too.
    Why didn’t I say something sooner?
    Why didn’t I do anything?
    Maybe I could’ve saved my parents’ marriage.
    Maybe I could have—
    The entry stops there, but
    I’m still wondering if I’m brave enough
    To do hard things.
    Gramma-Linda stayed with me and Rose
    For a week after Mom left,
    Before Dad returned from his business trip.
    She talked all the time,
    Telling Rose that Mom still loved her,
    That she would always love her,
    That just because she didn’t live here anymore
    Didn’t mean she’d stopped caring.
    Dad called every night and
    Told us about Chicago and
    How good the hot dogs were.
    Rose cried on the phone every night and
    Asked me if Dad was really coming home or
    If he’d leave us the way Mom did.
    I soothed my sister with songs and
    Hot chocolate.
    I did not lie to her the way
    Gramma-Linda did,
    The way Mom had.
    Because she didn’t love us,
    At least not as much as she loved Darren Youngblood.

“THERE.”
    I point across my body,
    Almost jabbing Trevor’s arm.
    “That house. It’s perfect.”
    Trevor pulls over and
    Squints at the structure.
    “It’s one wind storm from falling down.”
    “Like I said,
    Perfect.”
    I get out of the car,
    Shoulder my bag, and
    Step around the NO TRESPASSING sign.
    “Wings, you can’t be serious.”
    Trevor hurries after me.
    “We could get in trouble.”
    “Are you worried?”
    I toss him a smirk over my