I hadn’t understood.
I’d nodded to make the conversation end after they’d brought me into the room and made me feel like a monster. I’d nodded because no one had asked how it felt to be talked about like a diagnosis instead of a daughter.
“You’re sending me away?”
The words scraped out of my throat before I could stop them. My chest felt tight, like all the air had been sucked out of the room.
She didn’t answer right away, just looked past me, her jaw set, her eyes shiny but dry.
“I want to stay here,” I blurted, panic clawing its way up my ribs. “I’ll be better. I swear, I’ll—” My voice cracked. The rest got lost somewhere between breath and pleading.
I wasn’t sure whatawaymeant yet, but every part of me knew it was bad. Bad in a way that changed you.
“It’s not forever,” she said, cutting me off as she turned away. “Just a few weeks. A reset.”
A reset.
Like I was a busted machine. Like if they unplugged me long enough, I’d come back better. Easier.
“Let’s go,” she said over her shoulder. “You can bring a sweatshirt and your toothbrush. That’s it.”
Then she walked out. No hug or last look.
Just the sound of her boots hitting the stairs, one after the other. Measured, final, like punctuation at the end of something I didn’t know was over.
I wanted her to turn back. To touch my hair. To tell me it wasn’t as bad as it felt. One small gesture, something warm to hold onto before everything changed.
But of course she didn’t.
It took me a second to drag myself off the bed because I was busy staring at the floor like maybe it would open up and swallow me whole.
Maybe that would’ve been easier.
Eventually, I stood and grabbed the photo from beneath the covers where I’d hid it.
The one of Nico.
Still perfect. Still smiling like he didn’t know he’d ruined me.
I held it for a second, then tucked it into the inside pocket of my hoodie.
Pressed it close.
If they were going to lock me up, I’d take him with me.
Even if I was the only one who ever believed it was love.
CHAPTER 1
OPHELIA
SENIOR YEAR
The glow from my laptop screen made everything else in the room look gray.
COMMON APPLICATION—FALL TERM ADMISSION
Click. Fill. Tab. Repeat.
