Lila’s POV

Serena’s fingers were warm around mine, her eyes soft with that stubborn concern she always wore when she knew I was hiding something.

“What are you scared of, Lila?”

The question hit as it stirred up the past pain I have tried so much to bury. I stared past at her, the living-room lamp casting long shadows across the worn out carpet, and suddenly I wasn’t twenty-five anymore.

~~~

I was fifteen, standing in the doorway of a crumbling apartment that smelled of stale ...