I head back to the cottage alone, boots clicking, journal bag tapping my hip.
Inside, the house is warm and quiet. I climb to my room, close the door, and collapse onto the bed.
For a long second, I just breathe.
Then I reach into the shopping bag, pull out the leather journal, hold it against my chest.
Maybe it’s time to write.
Maybe it’s time to stop pretending I’m fine and finally put the truth somewhere it can’t drown me.
But not yet.
First, I stare at the cover, trace the embossed vines, and whisper?—
“I’m going back. And I’m not the same girl anymore.”
Five
LEO
Tuesday is hell.
Jade still isn’t back.
Her seat in homeroom is empty.
Her locker untouched.
Her friends quiet, careful, watching me like I’m a grenade with the pin halfway out.
I sit in first period pretending to take notes, but my knee won’t stop bouncing.
I keep checking my phone under the desk.
No messages.
No read receipts.
Nothing.
She’s really gone.
Mindy slides into the seat next to me like she belongs there now, twirling a strand of hair around her finger. “You’re shaking the whole row,” she murmurs.
“Sorry.”
“You’re worried she won’t come back,” she says softly.
I glare straight ahead. “She’s coming back.”
Mindy doesn’t argue. Which somehow makes it worse.
By lunch, the entire school is buzzing.
The cafeteria feels louder than normal.
Everyone pretending nothing happened while making sure everyone sees them pretending nothing happened.
