Falling Like Leaves (Bramble Falls, #1)(3)

Mom shoots him a glare, then settles her eyes on me. “Let’s not get ahead of ourselves.”

I shake my head. “Okay, well, I know you two have been fighting a lot, but can’t you work it out?”

“No, we can’t. Not this time,” Mom says. “But your aunt Naomi has some extra space at her house, and I think some time apart will be best for all of us.”

I look at Dad, hoping he’ll object. Hoping he’ll have some other solution. He always has a solution to everything.

But he only continues to stare at the wall, his jaw twitching.

“Dad? Say something. Do something.”

“There’s nothing to do, Ellis. The decision’s been made,” he says, finally meeting my eyes. Stubble shadows his face, and his hair looks as though he’s run his hand through it a hundred times. He looks defeated.

“It’ll be tough for the family not to be together, but we’ll get through it,” Mom says, offering a weak smile.

“How long will you be gone?” I ask.

Mom’s eyes widen a bit, some realization dawning on her. “Oh. Well, you’re coming with me to Bramble Falls.”

“What?” I stop breathing. “No, I’m not. School starts this week,” I remind her.

“You’ll go to school in Bramble Falls for a little while,” she says. “We’ll be back by Thanksgiving.”

“Absolutely not. I’m not starting at a new school. Dad, tell her.”

Dad pinches the bridge of his nose. “Like I said, the decision’s been made, Ellis. You heard your mother.”

I stand, now hovering over Mom, who sits with her lips pressed tightly together, avoiding looking at me. “I’m not going to freaking Connecticut. You can’t make me leave my home and my friends and my school during my senior year! What about my commitments? I mean, I’m volunteering at the nursing home, and I’m still doing my internship at Street Media after school three days a week. And I’m finally the editor of the school newspaper this year! I’m sorry, but no. I can’t leave. Being here is imperative to my getting into Columbia. Why can’t I just stay with Dad?”

Mom finally looks at me, her face hard and unreadable. “This isn’t up for debate.” She stands. “We’re leaving first thing tomorrow morning, so you better go pack.”

“What? I don’t even get to say goodbye to Fern or give my jobs any notice? I’m supposed to have lunch with Mr. Street this week. Please, Mom, don’t do this.”

My heart thuds wildly and unshed tears blur my vision. I can’t believe this is happening.

“Staying isn’t an option,” she says, her eyes glassing over. “I’m sorry.”

I turn my back to her. “Dad, please,” I beg, walking over to him, blinking rapidly in my refusal to cry.

Dad pulls me into a hug and kisses the top of my head. “It’s only temporary, Ellis. Your internship will be waiting for you, okay? I’m sure Mr. Street would love to have lunch when you get back.”

I pull out of his arms, shaking my head in disbelief. How can he just let this happen?

I clench my teeth as my eyes dart between my parents. “I hate you both for doing this.”

“Ellis—”

My bare feet pound against the hardwood floor with each step toward my bedroom, cutting off whatever empty argument my mom was about to offer. I slam my door behind me and walk over to my window, where, finally, I let my tears zigzag freely down my cheeks.

Outside, the sun washes over the city. People go about their Saturday morning as if the whole world didn’t just flip upside down and catch fire. As if my whole life weren’t just upended. As if my whole future weren’t just crushed.

Until I started high school, my parents and I used to visit my aunt Naomi and my cousin Sloane every summer. So I already know what I’m walking into.

I already know there’s nothing for me in Bramble Falls, Connecticut.





Chapter Two




Mom and I arrive in Bramble Falls early on Sunday. The newly risen sun reflects off the morning dew and paints the town in a golden hue. Sugar maples line the quiet streets, their green leaves clinging to the dregs of summer the same way I’m clinging to home, relentlessly resisting the inevitable change.

The passenger-side window is cold against my forehead as I take in the small town, which looks exactly the same as it did when I was a kid. Small houses sit atop small, perfectly landscaped yards. A few people walk their small dogs down the sidewalk.

Everything here is small.

I already miss New York City. I miss its vastness and its sounds and its bustle. I miss its food and its buskers and its bookstores. Hell, I even miss the trash and the awful smells and the subway.

I do not belong here.

Mom stops at the only traffic light in town and turns to me, grinning, as if everything is fine and normal. Her lips move, and Gracie Abrams’s voice fades as I pull out my AirPods.

“What?” I ask.

“I said it’s beautiful here, isn’t it? Do you remember all of this?” She gestures at Bramble Falls’s town square in front of us.

The white gazebo where my cousin Sloane and I used to eat picnics and meet up with her friends sits surrounded by the same freshly cut grass that always felt like silk beneath my bare feet. The green lawn is dappled with trees, their branches casting shadows over beds of orange and maroon mums.