Serial · ongoing
The Second Wren
At Harlow Bay High, Ethan Hale is the kind of student teachers call on only when they need the room to go quiet. He is good at math, good at keeping still, and not good at being seen. Then Wren Lennox comes back. Wren knows what Ethan is about to say. She knows how he can get closer to Cora Bennett, how he can get out from under his father’s careful accounting of every favor, how he can stop being the kid in the front row nobody picks. She offers to help. Each time she helps, she weakens. Ethan tells himself he can keep the help and keep his promises. Then the lies start to stack: to Cora, to his father, to the other Wren who shares Wren’s name and face and no memory of loving him. The Second Wren is a contemporary New Adult story about climbing, borrowing, and the things we ask of people who only ever wanted to be real to us. I wrote it for readers who like a back cover that promises a little heartbreak with the hope.
Chapter 1: Roll Call
Mr. Vance had his back to the room, which meant the room was allowed to talk. Fourth period precalc, second week of the year. The ceiling fa…
Chapter 2: Password
The light above them went last, and then it was the window and the two of them. "Okay," Wren said. "That's a yes." "It's not a yes." "You pu…
Chapter 3: The Last Two Bites
The Last Two Bites The place was called Cade’s. It was two streets over from the school, a low brick building with a hand-painted sign and a…
Chapter 4: The Old Classmate
## The Old Classmate The thread had ninety-one replies. He read all of them twice, the way you check a lock you've already checked, and only…
Chapter 5: Fifty Dollars
The phone rang once. He had it at his ear before the second one. "Hey." "Wow," Wren said. "You're up." "Yeah." "You picked up on the first r…
Chapter 6: Receipt
The lobby door let them out onto the sidewalk, and the morning had turned into a mistake. He'd put the orange hoodie on because everything e…
Chapter 7: No Returns
Nate was grinning at him over Wren's shoulder, mouthing it so only Ethan could see. You're welcome. Ethan got his wallet off the counter. Th…
Chapter 8: The Third Floor
He got the door open with his elbow on the third try, and everything stayed in the bags. Inside, he set them down in the entry of the apartm…
Chapter 9: Five Seconds
The radio kept playing. It was some slow song with the bass turned up until the window glass buzzed, and nobody in the gym said one word und…
Chapter 10: It Suits You
He came in with his head down, which was not new, and with a band-aid on his jaw, which was. There was a geography to that room, and Ethan h…