LAST YEAR'S MISTAKE
by Gina Ciocca
After a painful parting, a girl’s first love suddenly reappears and turns her life upside down, forcing her to confront her biggest regret.
The summer before freshman year of high school, Kelsey and her family embark upon their annual trip from Norwood, Connecticut, to Newport, Rhode Island. Kelsey barely makes it out of the car before she collides with David, the boy who becomes her best friend for years to come. As time passes, it becomes clear David has feelings for Kelsey, but the moment he chooses to reveal them to her couldn’t be worse. Both end up hurt, and Kelsey pulls away, hoping to reinvent herself when her family relocates to a new town. A year later, Kelsey has moved on; she’s in love with her new boyfriend and has totally changed her style. But the moment David walks through the doors of her school, her carefully constructed house of cards begins to collapse. Soon she’s forced to confront unresolved emotions from her past and decide what she wants for her future. The love triangle offers no thrills; it’s built on Kelsey’s frustrating indecision and self-proclaimed possessiveness. Bitter banter takes precedence over romance, and it’s unclear why anyone wants to be with anyone by the end, especially Kelsey.
An exhaustion of soap-operatic romantic entanglements (Fiction. 14-18)