After meeting Cal, my life became much easier, and most importantly much happier. I began talking to people again, shocking my classmates, and even managed to make a few friends. Cal came over to my house almost everyday after school, where the two of us would either play video games, watch a movie, or sometimes just talk. Overall, life was great. I was beginning to pick the pieces of my broken spirit and with Cal's help, fuse them together again. To this day, I still remember those few months as the happiest time in my life.

Unfortunately, they were short lived.

The first time I heard about Her was from my dad. He came home from work one day and sat me down in my bedroom, explaining that he had met a woman he really liked. He then asked my permission to date Her.

At first, I was angry and confused. My dad dating a woman who wasn't my mother? How dare he disrespect his deceased wife, and my mom like that? I asked him this in a slightly less aggressive way, and he sighed, putting his face in his hands.

"Bree, I loved your mother," he said, "and always will love her more than anything in this world, but she's gone now. She's been gone, and I think it is time I found someone else. Not move on, I will never move on, her memory will always stay with me, but it's time I find another partner. I can't raise you alone, and I need a companion, B. God never meant for man to be lonely. I hope you can understand that."

I stared at my father for a long time. I saw the deep lines of worry and sadness that were creased in his face, that look of misery and heartbreak that would never really leave him, and I made up my mind.

"Of course I understand daddy," I said, tears brimming in my eyes, "I just want you to be happy."

My dad then embraced me. We sat on my bed hugging and crying into each other's...