Friction

Prologue

Temecula was a sleepy suburban oasis tucked between the two SoCal titans of Los Angeles and San Diego. Life in Temecula was meant to be comfortable. Easy. Sloping hills and valleys made up the bulk of the landscape. The city boasted an abundance of high-achieving schools, spray-tanned soccer moms in Range Rovers, and scenic views of wine country all around. Berry-picking farms and fishing resorts near Vail Lake added just the right touch of countryside wholesomeness that made Temecula an idyllic place for kids to go to school, make friends, and learn to navigate the twists and turns of adolescence.

Dan Weiser and Teresa Castillo-Ortiz, or "Danesa" as they were dubbed at school, were two such kids trying to navigate these twists and turns. The couple had broken up a total of six times since their first kiss. No one believed that Danesa would make it past their senior year, but Dan shocked the entire student body by dropping down on one knee to propose to Teresa at their graduation ceremony. Teresa squealed and cried and screamed out the happiest "yes" in the world as he slipped a small, sparkly ring on her finger. The two young lovebirds were engaged on the spot.

Within the same week, the new Mr. and Mrs. Weiser were registered at the Riverside County Clerk's office. Dan gave up his Baylor U football scholarship to stay in Temecula, and Teresa, who had planned to attend the nursing assistant program at MiraCosta, started working full-time in retail instead. Everyone, including their closest friends and families, thought Dan and Teresa had lost their freaking minds. Danesa wasn't crazy, though, they simply knew something that no one else did.

Their son was born on January 30, 1996 at 2:37 AM in Temecula Valley Hospital. Maxwell Byron Weiser had his mom's honeyed-brown complexion and light brown curls, his dad's nose, and blue-green eyes of his own.

He was a beautiful baby boy.

Teresa insisted on naming him after her late mother, Maxine, and her favorite poet, Lord Byron. Lord Byron held a special place in her heart. After Teresa's family immigrated to the States from Mexico, she had taught herself how to read English through Lord Byron's lyrical, soulful words as a young teen girl.

Dan, however, wouldn't stop bitching about the name and how it made their kid sound like a pretentious asshole.

After a five-hour screaming and shouting match, nothing was resolved between Danesa. Maxwell Byron Weiser kept his name, Dan remained pissed about the fact that his son was going to grow up to be a pretentious asshole, and, that evening, while Dan wasn't looking, an equally pissed off Teresa dropped her hubby's toothbrush in the toilet bowl and watched him use it for a week, every morning and every night, before confessing her crime.

Little by little, petty resentments and disagreement chipped away at Danesa's whirlwind romance. The once-happy newlyweds were happy no more. Danesa's marriage fell into deep shit, and life would only get worse for the young couple as time dragged on. Soon, Dan checked out of their relationship in every way that mattered. As a husband. As a father. He went out one evening for groceries and never came back.

Nineteen-year-old Teresa was left to raise Max with a broken heart that no amount of Byron's poetry could ever mend.