Page 11 of 912321

He smiles, soft and tired. “Just take care of yourself.”

Hayzel and I push the door open and step into the sunlight.

“See you, boss!” Hayzel screams before turning to me. “I can’t believe we will start in two days,” she says. “Do you think our dorms will be next to each other?”

“I hope so.”

The journey back home takes longer than expected, and as we sit and wait at the traffic lights, my thoughts continue to plague me.

“Reya, c’mon, you know everything is going to be alright,” Hayzel tells me softly, pulling me away from my thoughts.

“How did you know what I was thinking?”

She lets out a scoff before nudging me. “Because you have that look on your face.”

“What look? I don't have a look.”

Hayzel chuckles before rolling her eyes at me, “Yeah, Reya, you do!” I glance at her as she plays with a strand of my hair. “You know Milo will be fine, Nana will be taking good care of him, and besides, you'll still go back to visit on the weekends, but knowing you, you'll go to check on him during the week as well.”

“I’m going to leave my baby.”

“Oh, trust me, I know that.”

“I still need to tell him. I hope he won’t be too sad. I’ll miss our weekly My Neighbor Totoro rewatch.”

She doesn’t even need to say anything. The little head shake and the soft smile she gives me are enough to tell me I’m probably just overthinking again.

I’ve been working almost every day for four years now. Dropping him at Edna’s before sunrise, picking him up after work, avoiding any social life during the weekends.

He’s used to me being gone. I try to be present, I try so damn hard, but it’s exhausting.

Some days, I’m so tired I wish I could just lie down and not wake up. But if I did, who would cook his dinner? Who would stay up with him when he’s sick? Who would keep him safe from this house? No one. So, I stay. I keep moving even when it feels impossible, and this is the best opportunity for us to escape this nightmare.

“You’re a good sister, Reya, I hope you know that,” Hayzel says after a few seconds of silence.

After a few minutes, we’re finally home. The door opens, and a very excited Milo runs toward me. “Rey!!” The hug comes just after that soft voice.

“Hi, firefly, I missed you.”

“Missed you too, sissy.”

Hayzel picks him up and kisses him on the cheek, “Hey, you, didn’t you miss Aunty Hayzel?”

Milo shakes his head and lets out a little, “nope.”

Edna is waving at us, screaming for us to come in because it’s too cold.

“Reyrey, Nana helped me with my homework, and now I’m all done!” Milo smiles as he steps down from Hayzel’s arms to run inside.

Edna kisses Hayz’s cheek before doing the same with me.

“Oh, my little Reya, you look so tired, you need a good dinner and a good sleep tonight.”

“Oh… thanks, I guess.”

Her hand is in mine as she guides me to sit at the dinner table. Milo and Hayzel join us a few seconds later, and Edna is already moving back to the kitchen.

I'm convinced she's an angel. She was my teacher before she retired. She was the only one who kept asking where I'd gone when I stopped coming to school. Dad told the school I had the flu.