Excerpt:

“Alex?”
“Hmm?”
“I don’t know.” I can hear the smile in her voice as she talks. “Don’t you kind of wish that we were at home? I would go to the mall everyday with Morgan and you would do…whatever you do and life would be normal and happy.”
I nod and then realize she can’t see me, but somehow she knows anyway because she continues talking. Her voice takes on a darker edge.
“But have you noticed that things rarely turn out the way we plan for them to?”
I chuckle. “I noticed that quite a while ago, actually.”
“Well, to tell the truth, I guess this adventure isn’t going as planned, anymore. I used to think that being one step ahead of everybody was the best thing possible in life. And, I guess, sometimes it is. But it’s also good to follow other people and listen to them and respect their views. I learned that no matter what, I’m not always right. And here…with you…where there’s so much time to think and reflect, I’m not sure that I always want to be right.”
She swallows, and when I don’t say anything, she continues.
“I’m not sure how to exactly say this, but I think I’ve just realized that what I’ve based myself upon for the past five years is something that really isn’t important. But now, if I’m not that person from before, who am I?”
I glance over at her. She’s staring at the sky, determinedly not looking at me. I close my eyes, and there she is, illuminated by moonlight, against the back of my eyelids. I suddenly realize that she’s wormed her way into my heart. I don’t know how she made it there, but there’s a piece of me that’s now with her.
“I…don’t know,” I whisper. “I guess you’ll just have to find yourself. It’s in your essence…somewhere. When you find it, though, you’ll know.”
Nikki nods. “I want to leave a piece of myself behind for you,” she murmurs. “A part that you will remember 10, 15 years from now.”
I chuckle again.
“What?”
“You already have.”