Celeste

My phone buzzed, pulling me from my thoughts. A text from Elowen lit up the screen.

“Are you okay?”

I stared at the message for a moment before typing back. “It’s complicated.”

“Your mom again?”

Elowen knew me better than anyone. She’d been there through the nights I’d cried myself to sleep, the endless calls when everything at home felt like it was collapsing.

“Among other things. This whole situation… it’s just weird.”

“The stepbrother?”

I ...