The Morning After

hi, this is hayley’s sister, lacey. her manager asked me if i wanted to secretly write the description for her book. she’s the writer, but i’ll do my best.

there are three days in this book.

yesterday was the house we grew up in. where she learned how to move in a burning house as i learned how to dance around the living room. she had a little sister to protect before she could protect herself. she was the one who was mature for her age, because someone had to be.

today is what she calls now. on the weekends she’s laughing with her friends and getting drunk to hide the hurt. she asks her therapist if it will ever get better, despite telling everyone else that it will. she’s good at pretending, so good, until the night she writes ten letters. she says goodbye in the first nine, but her tenth is the most difficult. saying goodbye to herself proves to be harder than she expected. she can’t finish it.

tomorrow is when i crept into hayley’s room to ask for a ride. our dog wouldn’t stop scratching at the back door. the laundry had to be moved to the dryer. she was looking for a big reason to stay. turns out her laundry was huge.

and if this is the last thing you read about this book, remember: a permanent solution to a temporary problem is never worth it.

but if you decide to keep reading, hayley will see you on page one.

"not enough people understand
that depression isn't always
wanting to die.
sometimes
it's wanting
to want to live
the way everyone else seems to."

-- from the morning after