Lizzie had been my closest friend back in school. Running into her at the airport when I arrived had been pure coincidence, one of those unexpected moments that felt like a quiet gift.
I nodded. “Yeah.”
“I’ll take Haille out,” he said easily. “You should go. Spend some time with your friend.”
“Are you sure?” I asked.
“Of course. I don’t get to see her like this often. I’m not wasting the chance.” He crouched down in front of Haille, “do you want to go to the park with Papa?”
Her entire face brightened. “Slideee!”
He laughed. “Okay. Slides and swings.”
I kissed Haille again, longer this time, then grabbed the car keys.
Driving to the mall felt strange. The roads were familiar, but the buildings had changed. Stores I used to love were gone, replaced by names I didn’t recognize. The place felt slightly foreign, like a memory that had continued without me.
Then my phone rang.
“I’m here!” Lizzie said cheerfully.
We met at a coffee shop near the center of the mall, and I froze when I saw her.
And Alicia.
“What—” I laughed, disbelief slipping out before anything else.
They both grinned and pulled me into a tight hug, the three of us collapsing together like no time had passed at all.
We talked. God, we talked. About how long it had been. About how rare it was for me to come back. About life.
Then we drifted back into memories—debate competitions, academic Olympiads, the ridiculous pressure we put on ourselves to be perfect students, and the boys we used to have crushes on back then. The popular ones. The quarterback. The one teacher who terrified all of us.
I laughed until my cheeks hurt.
When we finally parted, Lizzie squeezed my hand. “We’re meeting again, okay? While you’re here.”
“I’d like that,” I said, meaning it.
Driving home, something felt lighter.
Not fixed. Not healed.
But lighter.
Coming back here wasn’t a mistake. It was a reminder. That somewhere beneath everything I had survived, I was still here, waiting patiently to be found again.
CHAPTER 29
Adrian
I learned quickly that silence was louder when you had too much time to sit inside it.
The first few days after Elena and Haille left, I kept my routine intact on purpose. Wake up early. Shower. Coffee. Work. Meetings. Deadlines. Anything that gave structure to hours that otherwise stretched too wide. At night, the house stayed quiet, and I let it. I didn’t turn on the TV. I didn’t scroll mindlessly. I went to bed, even when sleep didn’t come.
Every morning, I checked my phone before anything else. Not because I expected Elena to text me. I didn’t. That was part of the space she asked for, and I was determined not to violate it, not even once. But I still needed to know they were okay.
So I called her father instead.
