I stared at it for a long moment, my chest tightening with a memory I had spent a decade trying to bury. Then I kept scrolling, pretending I hadn’t seen it.
I crashed for four hours after that, until the alarm dragged me back up to get ready. I dug through the back of my closet until I found the only dress that still fit. Navy blue. Simple. I held it up to the mirror and tried to recognize the woman looking back.
« You look pretty, » Owen said from the doorway.
« You think? »
« I think you look like a mom who’s about to win something, » Eli added.
I told myself I would stay for one drink.
I kissed the tops of their heads. « Be good for the sitter. »
« Be brave, okay? » Owen whispered.
The reunion hall smelled like cheap perfume and overheated food, all of it softened by string lights. I stepped through the doorway carefully, like the floor might give out beneath me. Soft music. Laughter. A hundred faces I half remembered.
I told myself I would stay for one drink. One song. One small reminder that I had ever existed outside of double shifts and grocery lists.
