Author's Note: First chapters follow the series timeline pretty closely, after that all bets are off. Creative liberties will be taken on the road to answers. If you wanna just start at say the chapter Girls (and Boys) are Confusing I won't be mad at you.

Truth in the Telling

Prologue

Dear Lacey,

I don't know if you've been reading my letters, but it looks like this will be the last one 'cause I'm getting out next week!

Mother says I'll be coming back to Green Grove for high school. I'm not super excited about that, the returning to Green Grove part, I mean, but I'll get to have a real high school experience. It could be good, right?

Anyway, I'm writing to let you know that I'll be home on Friday. I hope you get this in time and can be there to welcome me back. I hope. I really, really hope so.

I still think about you. I hope you still consider me your friend. Even after everything.

I can't wait to see you again. And Jo. I miss you.

Your friend,

Danny

.

I read the letter a fourth time before folding it and returning it to its envelope. I can't believe he's coming back here. If I were him, I'd try to make a fresh start on the opposite side of the world. Then I remember that Danny is stubborn and persistent when it suits him. It's been three years since I've responded to any of his letters and he's still writing to me as if I responded to the last one. And stupid me, I'm still reading them.

A cold unease creeps into my chest as my inhalations come quicker. I sit back on my bed and focus on slowing down my breathing, which just might help slow down my brain. My heart tap dances against my ribcage while my palms secrete a chilly dew.

I glance up and in the reflective surface I see a scared little girl staring at me with glistening brown eyes. I thought that girl was gone. I thought she disappeared about three years ago.

This isn't like me. I don't get nervous. I don't get scared. I'm calm, in control, and confident. Eleven-year-old Lacey Porter grew up five years ago, when …

I'm sixteen now. In some cultures I'm considered an adult. I am an adult. I am a confident, tenacious, strong young woman and Danny Desai does not factor into my future.

My past does not govern my future.

My breathing is slowly returning back to normal and I wipe my palms on the thighs of my black leggings.

"My past does not govern my future!" I whisper fiercely to my reflection. I pull my hair up and away from my face to further distinguish that scared little girl I was from the fierce woman I am.

Satisfied with the transformation, I stand and see the envelope where I left it at the edge of my bed. I quickly wipe my eyes before picking it up and placing it in the shoebox next to the other letters Danny has sent over the years. I close the shoe box, take a deep breath and shove it under my bed.

I smile and boldly repeat, "My past does not govern my future."

I almost believe the lie.