After four years.

August had the kind of presence people noticed before he ever spoke. Blonde hair that never stayed perfectly in place, green eyes that caught the light, and a smile so effortlessly pretty it made people stare a second too long. He was one of the popular boys at school, though he never seemed to care much about the attention. Most days, he kept to himself, speaking only when he had something worth saying. He had a girlfriend—Tracy—and everyone knew it, not because he flaunted the relationship, but because she was one of the few people he let close. To everyone else, he offered nothing more than a quiet nod or the occasional gentle smile, the kind that was over almost as soon as it appeared. Yet somehow, those tiny moments were enough to leave people thinking about him long after he'd walked away. Later that day, in school, August is walking with his friends in the hallway.