“It was nice seeing you again, Alex,” she stammered. “Please wish your uncle happy birthday from me.” Before she turned away, she allowed herself to look at him once more, full in the face, though she couldn’t have resisted if she tried. Vronsky met her eyes with his own, and Anna was struck by their blueness against the overcast gray of the day. God, what she wouldn’t give to dive into them and swim away.

Part Two

I

Valentine’s Day is fraught with emotion for everyone,
but for teenage girls it’s the fucking worst.

It was a holiday with the sole purpose of shining a spotlight on romantic love, which tortured single people but also tormented those who were in relationships. In a way, it was almost easier to get through if a girl was single, because one could denounce the entire thing as a colossal waste of time, pointing out the fact that it was an arbitrary holiday made up by Hallmark to sell more greeting cards in 1913. This of course wasn’t entirely true. St. Valentine’s Day had much darker roots, originating in the third century A.D. in Rome as a day for matchmaking that involved the bloody sacrifice of animals, beating women to increase their fertility, and getting drunk and partying in the streets.

“Well, the getting drunk part will certainly be true for you and Steven,” Kimmie said, after her sister Lolly read the Wikipedia entry out loud to her and their mother during breakfast.

“Bitter much?” Lolly quickly retorted, knowing better than to get into it with Kimmie before her mother finished her first Lavazza espresso of the day. Danielle, their mother, was not a morning person, and probably hadn’t even heard Kimmie’s dig anyway.

Kimmie didn’t respond, mainly because her sister had spoken the truth. She was feeling incredibly depressed and had barely been able to drag herself to the breakfast table this morning, let alone change out of her pajamas. Kimmie had not gone to school for the last three days and was hoping for the same today.