“b***h” – Meredith Brooks The trees that sprinkled the park were changing colors, and the streets were lined with pumpkins and paper luminaries to be lit later. As a kid, this festival was better than Christmas to her. She and Vanessa had gotten up much too early that morning to score prime seats for the parade, but it had absolutely lived up to her expectations: the cheerleaders, the band, the old cars, the candy- all of it. These were the types of things she"d gained when she"d chosen to move back. Strolling down the booth-lined path with Ethan squeezing her hand felt like living out one of her favorite movies. “We have to buy, like, every available food item here,” she insisted. “Even those candy apples?” he replied, calling her out. “Sure, as long as it"s cool if I only eat the can

