Lost Time, Found Love: Ava's Return

never

sumed. He handled my discharge with quiet efficiency, offering me a hotel

all, except

that I needed observation, physical therapy. I ig

i

ferent, taller, shinier, but the roads were the same. I knew the way to Blackwood Preparatory, the school Eth

the ornate iron

rms crisp, were gathered near the entrance

of their cir

She clutched her books to her chest like a shield, her shoulders hunched as the o

ge, painful tu

d, the fragile line of her neck,

gs unsteady. I stayed by the school wall, watchin

nde hair, a condescending smirk, and a designer h

book from the girl' s arms, letti

girl said with a fake

teens laug

n' t say a word. She just bent

leaned in, her voice low but

y keeps you around out of pity. A sa

her hand hoverin

d, enjoying the e

es you were too. Soon he' ll marry my mom, and I' ll

i

physical blow. It sucke

ly. M

rld we

s of lost time-it all burned away, incine

ld. And they we

run. I did

were cold

d towar

right there. I moved through their circle as if they were ghosts, my ey

d my hand closed

her eyes wide with su

l are you?"

ould feel the delicate

ker of my old self, the woman who built an empire

e was