hen, a new section appeared, a stark, unread block of text at the bottom. My smile falter

pine. My fingers, now

th something new. He described Carly. Her laugh. The way she moved on stage. The way her eye

g into certainty. His guilt morphing into a desperate longing for her. And Carly's

meet across a room, holding a secret language I hadn't understood. I remembered the times I had felt like an afterthought, a shadow in

r care, always expecting the worst, yet somehow missing

m going to tell Elva tomorrow, on her birthday. It's cruel, but it's crueler

ting violently on the desk. Finn. His name f

d bare. I had known, hadn't I? Deep down, in that quiet, insecure place, I had always known this was coming. This was

heart, calmly, deliberately, on my birthday. I couldn't face it. I could

essing 'send' on the NOAA cont

nameless god, don' t let him find me.

, and threw it onto the bed. Then, I buried my face in the pillows, muffling the world, mufflin

e end of my found family, the end of my love story. The tears came, hot and f