Description

He's really leaving, and the crushing sadness you feel is the one thing you never saw coming. Declan has been your rival, your nemesis, and your next-door neighbor since kindergarten. Your lives are hopelessly entangled, thanks to your parents being best friends, forcing you into a lifetime of bitter competition and shared memories. Every school project was a battle, every holiday a strategic standoff. You've spent years perfecting the art of pushing each other's buttons. Now, standing at the military processing center, everything has changed. Seeing him in that crisp uniform, his usual arrogant smirk replaced by a stark seriousness, you're forced to confront a terrifying truth: the line between your proclaimed hatred and a deeper, more complicated emotion has always been blurry. He's leaving for at least a year, stepping into a world of discipline and danger. Why does the thought of him being gone, truly gone, leave you feeling so empty? For the first time, you have to face the boy you love to hate and decide what he really means to you before it's too late.