Artwork by Zach Braga

Artwork by Michaela Savell

Artwork by Alyssa Russell

Baby Shower

by  Kaity Casey

          “Kenzie, hurry up!” Missy banged impatiently on the bathroom door. “I still need to put on my makeup, and I'm supposed to leave in 10 minutes!”

            “Wow, Missy chill! I'm just peeing. I'll be out in a sec,” Kenzie shouted back as she thought of what she was about to do tonight. She was going to surprise Wyatt, and tell him that she wanted to get back together. She wasn't telling Missy because she wasn't in the mood to hear an entire lecture on why it was a bad idea. “Alright, I'm done!”

            “Finally!” Missy said under her breath as she pushed through the door.

            “Where are you off to in such a hurry anyways?” Kenzie questioned.

            “Oh just a job interview...” Missy quickly lied.

            “Oh really? Makeup for a job interview? Mhm.”

            “Yeah...It's a good job, and I want to make a good first impression. Now leave, I have to focus!” Missy shoved Kenzie out of the bathroom and slammed the door shut in her face. 

            “What are your plans tonight Kenzie?” She asked grabbing her purse.

            “Oh I got a crapload of homework. It's gonna take all night.”

            “Oh that sucks. Well, I'm out.”

            “Okay Hun! Well have fun at your interview,” Kenzie winked at her.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

            Missy and Kenzie are roommates at NYU. They are both college freshman, and have been best friends since eighth grade. They spent basically every second together, and shared everything. Well, mostly everything.

            I wonder who she has a date with tonight? And why the hell did she lie about it? Kenzie wondered as she rushed into the bathroom when Missy finally left. She quickly put on her makeup, and threw on the dress she'd just bought at Nordstrom's. It showed off all her curves, and made her look amazing. Now she was ready to see Wyatt.

            Wyatt was Kenzie's ex-boyfriend, and they had dated for three years. They'd only broken up because she went off to college, and he was taking a “break” from school. He had a job at a gas station. He had even moved out of his parents house at the beginning of last summer, right before they broke up.

            Missy was the main reason for the split. From the beginning she'd told Kenzie he wasn't right for her, and that he was going no where in life. Kenzie knew that Missy was right but she just couldn't help herself; she was in love. Missy only got Kenzie to change her mind by assuring her that she'd meet someone better in college.

            “You don't want to spend your life living in an apartment married to a gas station owner, do you? Come on Kenzie, just give it a chance. You'll meet someone  better. Who knows? Maybe even a doctor.” That was the argument that won Kenzie over. It was always her dream to marry a doctor, but they'd been in college for six months and Kenzie hadn't dated a single guy. It was time, she decided, to get Wyatt back.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~    

            Kenzie arrived at the Fairview Apartment Complex at around ten o'clock. She'd been texting him earlier, and he said he was staying home tonight. She parked her car, then checked herself in the mirror. She crept up to his apartment and unlocked the door. She looked in the living room but couldn't didn't find him. Then she noticed his bedroom lights were on. So she prepped herself one more time, and then flung open the door. Before she could even say a word she saw him on top of some blonde bimbo. Kenzie was struck like a deer in the head lights.

            “Kenzie, what are you doing here?” Wyatt asked. Kenzie noticed a familiar face next to his. Kenzie's jaw slowly dropped open as she ran out the door crying. It was Missy.

            “Kenzie...I'm so sorry...” Missy called after her.

            My own best friend! My own best friend! The girl who said he was a horrible investment. Kenzie was beside herself. She jumped into her car. Before she closed the door, she whipped Wyatt's keys at his car, shattering his window. Then she slammed the door, and sped off. 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

            On a cold November night, twelve years later, Kenzie was in the grocery store buying some last minute things for her party. She pushed her carriage down the frozen food aisle.

            “Oh my gosh! Kenzie is that you?” Kenzie stared blankly at this person in front of her. She had no idea who it was.

            “Kenzie, it's me! Missy!”

            Twelve years had gone by since that terrible night at Wyatt's, and the girls hadn't spoken since then. Kenzie had transferred to UConn, and met a guy there. He wasn't just any guy; he was studying to be doctor. Missy had been right. Kenzie and the doctor got married just after he finished medical school. They'd even moved back to her hometown and had a baby on the way.

            “Oh. Hey Missy. How are you?” She said cold-heartedly.

            “Wow a decade later and your still mad. You haven't changed a bit...But hey listen, I... uh...never got to apologize,” Missy said.

            “Whatever, I don't care.” Kenzie snapped back.

            “But I do. I haven't slept soundly for twelve years because it's been eating me up inside. I know you don't want to know everything, and to tell you the truth I don't even know how it all happened. I thought I was in love with him. I even dropped out of college to live with him, but he got me pregnant and left me when he found out. So I was forced to move back with my parents. I didn't even have the option of going back to college because I had a baby. Oh Kenzie! I'm so sorry! I should have never done that. Friends should always come before guys,” Missy said wiping the tears from her face.

            “Oh Missy! You hurt me really bad, but I think that is way too much of a punishment. I forgive you!” Kenzie pulled Missy in for a hug. It was then that Missy realized Kenzie was pregnant. Then she saw the wedding ring.

            “Oh my God! Congratulations!” gasped Missy.

            “Thanks ,and by the way, you were right.” Kenzie laughed.

            “About what?” Missy asked.

            “He's a doctor.” Kenzie pointed at her wedding ring. The two girls started to laugh really hard. “Oh and before I forget! Here you go.”  Kenzie handed Missy a card. Missy took it, and open it up. It read :  “MISSY ROSENBURG! YOU'VE BEEN INVITED TO MCKENZIE'S BABY SHOWER!”

            “I've been hoping this day would come. I take this invitation everywhere I go. My childhood best friend can't miss my Baby Shower.” Kenzie said as she pulled Missy in for another hug.

Photography by Steven Pena

He Was Always...

by Crystal Volpe

He was always the last one to leave the gym after a practice or a game. He’d be there an hour early every day just running, working on plays, working on shots; he’d do anything as long as he had that ball in his hands. Four hours out of every day was devoted to basketball. He played on three teams: one travel, the other high school, and the last recreation. He was a point guard so he always handled the ball, and was always the play maker who got all of the credit. Even though he was the best player on the team, he wasn’t a ball hog or a show off and people loved him even more for that.
His name was Matt Bay. He was the best player in Massachusetts and everyone knew it. People came from other cities just to watch his games; just to watch the upcoming superstar everyone loved. He was seventeen and had full basketball scholarships to four colleges, and partial basketball scholarships to eleven other schools. His life hasn’t always been like this, though. Matt’s brother, Tyler, died two years ago in a car accident. It was horrible. Tyler and his friend were driving home from a Boston College basketball game when they got t-boned by a drunk driver who ran a red light. They both died in the crash, and the drunk “walked” away with only a concussion and a broken arm. That night at about 11:30, the police called the Bay’s house. Their mom was asleep so Matt answered the phone.
“Hello, this is Frank from the Marlborough Police Department. Is this the residence of Tyler Bay’s family?” Asked the police officer.
“Yeah, Tyler isn’t home right now. I’m his brother Matt,” Matt told him.
“We have your brother Tyler with us. He is on his way to the Marlborough Hospital. Can you please have your parents come to the hospital? It is urgent,” Frank sighed, sorrowfully.
Matt panicked.
“What happened? What is going on? I need to talk to my brother!” Matt yelled into the phone.
“ I’m sorry but that is impossible,” said Frank.
“Why?” Matt whispered.
“He is dead,” Frank whispered back. “I’m sorry for your loss. I need your parents to meet us at the hospital. Again, I’m sorry for your loss.”
The line went dead and Matt was left to face this problem himself. He couldn’t control himself. He threw the glass plate that was on the counter against the wall and watched the pieces shatter and fall to the ground. That wasn’t enough to control him, though. He threw himself against the wall and started kicking it as hard as he could. Tears were running down his face. He finally stopped and sunk to the ground. He felt that if Tyler’s future was gone, his future would be gone too because he couldn’t picture his life without his brother.
While he and his mother were sitting in the metal folding chairs in the hospital’s waiting room, Matt realized that he had to be the backbone of the family now. He had to take Tyler’s place. He had to take care of his mother who was sobbing in the chair next to him. All Tyler’s life, he took the father roll in the family because their real father was a pass out drunk who left when Tyler was three. He was more than a brother and a father to Matt. He was that one person in Matt’s life that he shared everything with. Tyler loved basketball and was good at it too. He taught Matt as much as he could so that they could share the love of the sport together. Tyler was planning to go to Boston College once he graduated high school and play basketball for them. Now, that was Matt’s goal. He didn’t make it easy though. He wouldn’t do anything for the first five days after his brother died: wouldn’t sleep, wouldn’t eat, wouldn’t do homework, and wouldn’t help his mother with any of the funeral arrangements. Somehow he woke up from his depression. He started playing basketball again and started talking to his mother. He only pulled it together because he knew that that’s what Tyler would’ve done.

It was Matt’s senior year in high school. These were the best days of his life. He was loved by all teachers, faculty, and students because of his friendly personality and caring nature. If he didn’t win you over with that though, it did help that he was gorgeous. He had bronze skin with dark black hair and green eyes. He was the captain of the basketball team and led them to championships. Matt always thought of Tyler when he played basketball. He’d remember the pointers Tyler gave him and the situations where he could steal the ball. Before he knew it, it was the championship game against Shrewsbury High School. Obviously, this was a big game for the whole school, but to Matt it was more than a game, it was what he could do to make his brother proud. The Boston College basketball coach was coming to this game. Matt had never been nervous before a game until now. Matt was sitting in the middle of the basketball court holding a ball in his hands three hours before the game. He was waiting to remember everything Tyler ever taught him about basketball because Matt knew that he needed to have Tyler’s help during this game. He sat there in the middle of the court until twenty minutes before game time. He changed into his uniform and jogged out to the court with his teammates. Soon after the game started and went by fast. The other team was good, but Matt was better. No one had ever seen him play like this. He kept on thinking of that old country song he and his brother used to listen to when they would practice together. It was called “Live like you were Dying”, and that’s exactly what he was doing. He was playing that game to the fullest; not holding anything back! He dribbled to the rhythm of the music and shot at the end of the verses. The other team’s coach started to catch on, though. He knew that Matt was the backbone of the team, and knew that if he blocked him out, not many plays would be getting made. He told his players to block Matt out, and because of that, the game got close until the score was tied, 57-57. It was the last minute of the game and the other team was bringing the ball up the court. They double-teamed Matt so that he couldn’t stop the play. The other team’s guard shot, the score changed, and the buzzer sounded. Matt’s team lost 59-57.
Since that game, he had been moping around the house ashamed of himself. He knew for sure that he let his brother down, and suffered from depression. He wouldn’t be able to get a scholarship to B.C. for basketball. His hope was running out. Every day, he would drive home, grab practice clothes and just go shoot around the court. One day when he came home, he found an envelope from B.C. on the kitchen table addressed to him. He opened it up.
Dear Matthew Walker,
We are pleased to inform you that you have not only qualified academically for Boston College, but we also would like to give you a full basketball scholarship for the next four years to be one of out team’s point guards.
The only thing he could do was cry a tear and look at the picture of him and his brother that sat on the counter. He looked at his brother’s face and said, “this is for you, bro."

The Last One

by Allie Supernor

“The last one” Those are the words Dad last said to me, as he tucked me into bed that night. I wondered what it meant. When I woke up the next morning, he made me eggs and toast, he handed the plate to me he said “The last one.” Still confused I ate me breakfast and packed my bag for school and Dad handed me a brown lunch bag with my name scribbled on the front of it, “The last one” he said. He said it emotionally that I started to get nervous. What did he mean by this?! I got my coat and shoes on, threw my bag over my right shoulder and headed towards the kitchen where he sat drinking coffee and reading The New York Times. I bent down and pecked him on the cheek and he whispered “The last one”. I began to get very scared by this, so I confronted him about it.
“Daddy,” I began timidly, “Why do you keep saying that phrase?”
He simply replied, “Have a good day, darling.” He wouldn’t even look up from his paper, so I knew the conversation was over.
I walked out of the kitchen and through the doorway, yelled like usual, “Love you!” and went outside. I walked to the bus stop and took the bus to school. Classes went by very slowly as usual. At last the bell finally rang for school to be out. I texted my Dad, like always, notifying him I was taking the bus home and that I was on the bus safe and sound. Dad has been overly protective since Mom died. He never was the same since Mom died. He misses her terribly, and always talks about how he can’t wait to go to heaven to be with her. It drives me crazy! But this time, his response to my text was the same as it had been the whole damn day “The last one,” I slammed my phone shut, very aggravated with this message. Finally the bus reached my stop. I got off and walked home. I stepped up each step to the front door and saw a note posted on the door “The last one.” Okay, now I was getting really mad. I tore off the note, ripped it apart, threw it in the air and watched it fall to the ground. What is going on!? I stepped inside and the house was completely empty, no one was here! Dad was gone...
I was so confused and scared. I started to yell out his name “Daaadddd?” No response.
My stomach dropped, I was feeling really uneasy. What do I do? I tried one more time.
“Daaaddddy?” “This isn’t funny!” I yelled nervously.
Calm down, Sammie! He probably went to the store, he will be back soon and you can give him a big squeeze, I thought. If only it was that simple. Did his absence have anything to do with those notes? It had to! Should I call the police?
I rushed over to the kitchen, slipping and sliding in my socks, and reached for the phone. I quickly dialed 9-1-1.
“Hello, I just got off the bus and no one is home, and Dad is always home!”
I breathed very heavily, waiting for a response. Click. They hung up.
I searched my house, he had to be here! I though about the note, shredded on the front steps, and that scary phrase he had been repeating all day. What could it mean?!
I decided it would be best to search the house. I bolted up the stairs. I reached the top of the stairs, out of breath I strolled down the hall to his bedroom. He is probably just laying down taking a nap. He wasn’t there. I walked over to my bedroom, spare bedroom. He wasn’t in any of the bedrooms. Okay, he isn’t taking a nap in the bedrooms. Where else could he be? I sprinted over to the bathroom. Maybe, he is just taking a shower and couldn’t hear me calling. I opened the unlocked door, and went in. I pulled back the shower curtain. Dad couldn’t hear me because he was drowning. He was under a tub full of water. Oh no! I reached down by his neck to pull his head up the best I could. His body just slipped down further in the tub. It was clear, he was dead. I began to cry, I lost my mother and now my father killed him self! Why!!!? Right then, I knew my life would never be normal again.

Fragile Heart

My heart is held together
With safety pins and glue
Duct tape and stitches
Do all they can do
To keep it from bursting
Or tearing apart
But you already knew this
You knew about my fragile heart

Now I’ll tell you the story
The fine print that you didn’t read
My heart was in tact once,
Long before it learned how to bleed
It beat with conviction
When it wasn’t shy about being alive
Before I was this contradiction
Killing myself while trying to survive

It had given up on pumping
And forgotten what it felt like to love
In the middle of this endless sea
There was no olive branch or dove
The flood that drowned my breaking heart
Pushed it down and down, barely breathing
To this day, I still don’t know
Why my poor little heart kept beating

In the time that it’s been with me,
My fragile heart has seen it all
With teary eyes and memories
It watched get up only to fall
My heart has been abandoned
Broken and lied to and betrayed
But after all it’s been through
By safety pins and stitches, it was saved

The Safety pins brought the pieces together
While the glue resealed the cracks
Duct tape gave it back its shape
And stitches closed the gaps
But this marvelous surgery,
You knew all about that, too
Because there was glue and duct tape
And safety pins and stitches, there was you

By Sadie Tremblay

What I Can’t Handle

Heat wave, sudden chill
Holding on while the earth stands still
The sleepiness I can blink from my eyes
But it’s the pain that I never will
Wash of darkness, crash of light
Waiting until I can escape the night
White noise I can take ringing in my ears
But it’s the white streaks that blind my sight
Rush of anger, full of regret
Wishing the sun didn’t have to set
Feeling empty about all that’s left I can handle
But I can’t live with having to forget

By Sadie Tremblay

Exist

I turn the page,
Inside my head.
I shut my eyes,
And all is dead.

Tornados whirling,
In my chest.
I shut my eyes,
And heartbeats rest.

Dancers crawling,
Through my veins.
I shut my eyes,
And all is sane.

You softly touch,
My lips so red.
I shut my eyes,
And all is dead.

By Alyssa Russell

Mother and Child by Mary Cassatt

She busies herself with her embroidery,
As the wind blows outside,
The sound scares her child.
In her mother’s lap
She hides.

Soon the child will grow up,
And venture away from her home,
And there her mother will embroider,
Sitting all alone.

By Laura F.

The Fall Of One

Love is complicated,
hard to understand.
There is no definition
written by human hand.
The harder you love,
The harder you fall.
But once you find that love matters after all,
It makes everything else
Seem so small.
People can be cruel
When times of troubles come,
And friendships start to break
Sometimes it hurts someone.
Some things can be given,
Others, more a steal.
You don’t understand how long
It takes someone to heal.
So go ahead and take me,
Just take my all
Don’t bother to look back,
And watch me fall

By Lauren Priess