HEARTMENDED CHAPTER FIVE
370 Words
CHAPTER 5: GHOSTS IN THE DRAFT
* Tiny apartment. Peeling paint.
The heater didn’t work so we wore hoodies inside.
Caleb was 20.
I didn’t know him yet.
Addison sat on the floor with a laptop on her knees.
“Read it again,” she said.
Caleb cleared his throat. He looked younger in my head. Tired.
“Chapter 1. ‘She left on a Tuesday. No note. Just the coat I bought her and the coffee I didn’t drink.’”
Addison typed. Fast.
“Good,” she said. “Sad boy sells. Keep going.”
He did. Chapter 2. Chapter 3.
About grief. About a girl who dies. About a boy who stops writing.
All true. Lily had just died 2 months before.
When he finished, Addison closed the laptop.
“We’ll call it LOVELORNED,” she said. “I’ll pay for the cover. $200. You sign this so we can publish.”
She slid a paper to him.
“What is it?” he asked.
“Just co-author stuff. Standard. So I get credit for the cover and typing.”
He signed. He didn’t read it.
He was too busy trying not to fall apart.
They uploaded it to a free site. 12 reads.
Then Lily’s birthday came. And Caleb stopped answering Addison’s texts.
And the book died.
For 2 years.
Cut to: Now.
My dorm.
I’m reading Caleb’s old emails because Priya asked me to.
One from Addison, 2023:
“Babe, if this blows up, we split 50/50 okay? I did the formatting.”
His reply:
“I don’t care. I just want people to read it.”
Another one, 2025, after LOVELORNED blew up on Dreame:
“Caleb. We need to talk about the book. My lawyer says I own it.”
No apology. No explanation. Just: Maya does now.
I printed them. Highlighted them.
Proof.
My phone buzed.
Caleb: You okay?
Me: Reading ghosts.
Caleb: I’m sorry you have to.
Me: Don’t be. They’re making me stronger.
At 2 AM I wrote.
HEARTMENDED - Draft 1
Word count: 3,001
Chapter 1 of the new book was about a girl who finds old emails.
And decides not to burn them.
But to use them as fuel.
- Writer
