Some said the world would end in fire, others in ice.

They were wrong; there was only heartbreak.

I couldn't describe how I felt. I wasn't being dramatic. I wasn't being childish. Vinnie had been my best friend for twelve years. He had been a gift from my mom. I didn't have very many things that reminded me of her left; my father had thrown most of her things away after she had died.

Losing Vinnie hurt twice. It hurt for the loss of a friend— the one who stayed up late with me during the worst nights of my life— and it felt like I was losing the last...