Back Before Now Save as PDF
Chapters (123)
  1. PLAYLIST
  2. CONTENT NOTE
  3. Dedication
  4. 1
  5. REMI
  6. 2
  7. FOSTER
  8. 3
  9. REMI
  10. 4
  11. REMI
  12. Before…
  13. 5
  14. REMI
  15. Now…
  16. 6
  17. FOSTER
  18. 7
  19. FOSTER
  20. Before…
  21. 8
  22. REMI
  23. Now…
  24. 9
  25. FOSTER
  26. 10
  27. REMI
  28. Before…
  29. 11
  30. FOSTER
  31. 12
  32. REMI
  33. Now…
  34. 13
  35. FOSTER
  36. 14
  37. FOSTER
  38. Before…
  39. 15
  40. REMI
  41. 16
  42. REMI
  43. 17
  44. REMI
  45. Now…
  46. 18
  47. FOSTER
  48. 19
  49. FOSTER
  50. Before…
  51. 20
  52. REMI
  53. 21
  54. FOSTER
  55. 22
  56. REMI
  57. Now…
  58. 23
  59. REMI
  60. Before…
  61. 24
  62. FOSTER
  63. Now…
  64. 25
  65. FOSTER
  66. Before…
  67. 26
  68. REMI
  69. Now…
  70. 27
  71. FOSTER
  72. Before…
  73. 28
  74. FOSTER
  75. Now…
  76. 29
  77. REMI
  78. Before…
  79. 30
  80. REMI
  81. Now…
  82. 31
  83. FOSTER
  84. 32
  85. REMI
  86. 33
  87. FOSTER
  88. 34
  89. REMI
  90. 35
  91. FOSTER
  92. 36
  93. REMI
  94. 37
  95. FOSTER
  96. 38
  97. FOSTER
  98. Before…
  99. 39
  100. FOSTER
  101. Now…
  102. 40
  103. REMI
  104. 41
  105. FOSTER
  106. 42
  107. REMI
  108. 43
  109. FOSTER
  110. 44
  111. REMI
  112. 45
  113. FOSTER
  114. 46
  115. REMI
  116. 47
  117. FOSTER
  118. EPILOGUE
  119. FOSTER
  120. Later…
  121. ALSO BY C.G. BLAINE
  122. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
  123. ABOUT THE AUTHOR

We’ve never gotten here before. Nearing a point of not being able to take shit back. I can’t figure out why he’s pushed us here now, but I move the rest of the way to him. Chest to fucking chest.

“I don’t know what the hell your problem is, Chase,” I say, my tone low but even. “Or where any of this is coming from, but I’m over it. I’m over you, and I’m over this entire fucking trip.”

I stare him down while he seethes right back.

“Maybe you should leave then,” he bites at me.

“That’s the first thing we agree on all night.” Then I step again, around him, walking away.

He curses and knocks something over behind me and shouts for me to stop.

I don’t, unwilling to give him the fight he clearly wants.

Chase is my brother. Nothing could ever change it. But right now, his bullshit is on the list of things I have no interest in.

On my way down the stairwell, I order a ride, and once outside the club, I cut off the end of the video.

I send the rest to Remi.

15

REMI

Slutty fairies.

Black mini dresses with a corset top, see-through front panels, a sparkly tulle over the skirt, and of course, silver wings. My heeled boots have straps and buckles and stop mid-calf, which means plenty of skin. The costumes are sexy. Attention-grabbing.

And fucking freezing.

Even with the arm warmers I insisted on wearing, covering wrists to elbows, I can’t pretend we are anywhere except Ashfield, Ohio, in late October. As much as I’d rather be anywhere else.

The Halloween carnival my town puts on every year loses its appeal after about an hour. Not that it had much to begin with—outside the room of mirrors. That was by far the most fun I’ve had all night.

Dimitri Sinner might have made his living photographing wildlife, but he completed a series out of college involving mirrors. Some kids read bedtime stories with their dads, mine told me about shoots, showing me the prints. He went into detail about his processes, how he framed each photo. With the amount of information I absorbed simply from falling asleep as he talked, it would be shocking if I went into anything other than visual media.

Specifically film studies.

He captured stills of the world, and I want to capture it spinning.

Document all the beautiful things.

It just so happens, I found someone interested in seeing all those things, too.