I have decided to take this story in an entirely new direction as I came to a standstill with the original. It has a similar storyline to the original, but will be in Widow's Vale instead of Winnie's home.

Hope you all like this new version!

"Not to sound like a complainer—"

"Even though it's in your nature," I interrupted, earning a swift kick to the thigh from Winnie.

"Why couldn't one of your parents come pick us up? That bus was revolting." Winnie said primly, readjusting her duffle's strap on her shoulder.

Winnie Allen was, for lack of a better word, a brat. English, snooty, and always had a backhanded compliment at the ready. Three years ago I had started school in New York City with Winnie, which, at the time, was a blessing in disguise. I had finally been able to breathe, think…live a relatively normal life and not have to hide who I was.

Because no one cared.

No one cared what religion I practiced, if I was a virgin or not, if I was lame for not having tattoos and piercings. I didn't have to answer to a rather judgmental family about my life choices. All I had to do was my school work and have fun on the weekends.

Winnie has been my roommate for the last three years, and had gotten me out of my shell. After having Bree for a best friend all these years, with her perfectly cut hair and flawless model-like figure, I had initially thought it was a slap to the face to have Winnie come into my life.

If Bree had the dark, edgy beauty, then Winnie was light and bubbly and just as obnoxiously gorgeous as Bree. No insecurities there. Even now after a hot, sweaty bus ride to Widow's Vale, her skin was pink and dewy, strawberry blonde hair in a perfect mess of a top knot, breasts propped up and on display.

I had pretty much been the same since puberty, with the exception of slighter wider hips and an actual cup size. My boring, one-length hair still fell past my waist. I was still only 5'6" and slender. I often wondered if I was cursed, or if it was just my lot in life to be surrounded by women who actually looked like women leaving me to have a girl's face with a boy's figure.

"Ah!" Winnie's shriek made me jump, and she dropped all of her bags and batted a spider web out of her face. "I hate this!"

I rolled my eyes and helped her pick her bags back up. Winnie had a rolling suitcase, a duffel bag for hair and makeup, one for shoes and accessories, her purse, and her laptop bag.

How anyone could travel like that, I had no idea.

"Come on, we're almost there." I said, grabbing the handle of my suitcase. I waited for her to get situated and started walking again. "Need I remind you that you were the one who wanted to come home with me this summer? I didn't force you, Winifred. I didn't hold a gun to your head and demand you come here."

Winnie huffed and attempted a smile. "I'm sorry." She said with a sigh. "I'm tired, and I don't like public transportation, it's just so…dirty. Why do you think I walk everywhere?" she said, and then started walking again.

I shrugged. "To work off the calories from your martini addiction?"

"Thank you for inviting me," she said instead. "I really was not looking forward to my parents griping about how I've thrown my goddess-given gifts out the window. I don't want to have powers, or whatever it is that I have. I'm such a weakling in that area that I shouldn't have had this…curse in the first place. Unlike you."

I stopped, grabbing her arm to halt her. "What the hell are you talking about?"

Winnie wriggled out of my grasp. "You think we all haven't heard your story?" she laughed to herself. "My god, try being me at home. My parents were absolutely floored hearing about this uninitiated prodigy. They wondered why I, a child raised that way and had been initiated, couldn't do what you could. It's not so glamorous growing up this way, Morgan."

"I didn't say it was. It would've been a hell of a lot easier though, not having Catholic parents breathing down your neck about a fucking book being in the house or not going to church."

"That sounds wonderful to me." She said with a smile.

"Then you're in the right place—come on." I grabbed my suitcase handle again and trudged up the road and on to my street a few minutes later.

Winnie struggled up the driveway, so I took one of her duffle bags. "So how do your parents feel about boys in the house?"

I grinned, knowing this would come up. Winnie had a boyfriend she was dying to see, who was willing to fly out here from England. "They're fine with it," I said, and she smiled and squealed a bit, picking up her pace. She was halfway to the door when I added, "Downstairs, where my parents can see at all times."

She spun on her heel. "What?" she hissed. "Why?"

"How's the Catholic parent scenario sounding now?"

She just gaped at me, and I walked past her and opened the door. "They're still at work, and my sister won't be here till tomorrow morning."

Winnie came in, dropped her bags, and surveyed the downstairs. "This is really nice, very…homey."

"I believe that was their intention, yes." I said with a nod. "Come on,"

She followed me upstairs and into my room, which was exactly the same as I'd left it when I was eighteen. Exactly meant that when I left it, I had still been with Hunter Niall. I still had a picture of us on my nightstand, still had his ridiculously comfy hoody hanging in my closet. I walked over to the nightstand and shoved the picture frame into the drawer without looking at it. I didn't need that right now.

"Where am I sleeping then?"

"Um… I think we have an air mattress in the attic," I said. "Otherwise we'll be sharing my bed, or you'll be sleeping on the couch."

"Fantastic." She muttered. "Well, I still feel grimy from that adventure we just endured, so I'm going to wash up."

I pointed to the door behind her. "Bathroom is right there, towels are in the cupboard."

I went downstairs and was greeted with a demanding mew. My cat, Dagda, was waiting impatiently for me to acknowledge him, his tail swishing. "Hi baby," I said, kneeling down to stroke him. He purred and flopped on his side in front of my feet, wanting his fill of attention.

"Have you figured out your major yet?" my mom asked me at the dinner table. We had just settled in to eat Mom's most famous meal—take out.

I swallowed the bite of orange beef I'd taken and cleared my throat. "Not yet. I'm only 21, am I supposed to have my life figured out?"

My parents shared a look. "We're proud of your grades," my dad told me. "And then you seem to be adjusting well to living in the city."

"But?" I asked.

"We're just worried, honey." My mom answered. "After Hunter—"

I held my hand up to stop her. "I'm over it."

She clicked her tongue and started pushing food around on her plate. "All I'm saying is you really haven't had time to…grieve. He left, and you went to school, and haven't been home in three years."

"Grieve? God, he's not dead Mom. You guys wanted me to go to school; he wanted me to go with him. I chose you guys. Can we please drop it? I love him, he loves me, but it didn't work out and that's that."

Another shared look.

"Who are we talking about?" Winnie asked, coming into the dining room.

My mom smiled up at her. "Hi Winnie. Did you get settled in okay?"

She nodded. "I did, thank you." She said, picking through the contents of the take out containers with her fork and placing a tiny bit of everything on her plate. "So who were you talking about?"

"My ex," I said, and then stuffed my mouth full again.

Winnie cut a piece of sesame chicken into a tiny chunk and stabbed it with her fork. "He exists?" she exclaimed. "She's never even told me his name."

I put more food on my still-full plate. It was going to be a long night.