1 Prologue

Lydia’s P.O.V

Some instances in life change you forever.

For me, that moment became a life or death situation. I was able to get one last look at Roy’s face as the bullet left his gun. He didn’t want this. He hadn’t wanted any of this. But we had forced him into this situation. How much can a person be pushed until he bursts. How much anxiety, how much humiliation can lead a person to the very edge that the only way out is to take a life? Trust me; I hadn’t wanted to find the answer…not like this. I didn’t see my life flash before my eyes; but I saw my brother’s face. Stephen and Nathan would be sad. My mother would be devastated.

And my dad? He would rip the world apart. If only I hadn’t supported my best friends who bullied Roy and countless others like him. If only I had stopped them from being so mean. If only I had shown Roy and the others some kind of mental support to let them know I wasn’t a part of this. If only…

I didn’t know if I was going to come out of this alive, as I pushed my friend out of the way and took his hit, but if I survived, I would do better. Today, Lydia McKenzie will die forever. And if I survived, a new Lydia will be born; someone who will never again stand back and watch as another life was lost to the teenage dramas of high school and all the burdens that came with it.