Thalia
I reached for my phone, and the moment I saw the caller ID, my breath caught.
Mother.
For a second, I just stared at the screen.
I'd imagined this call so many times. Waited for it. Wanted it. But now that it was actually happening, none of it felt real.
My thumb hovered over the green button.
Then I answered.
"Mother?" My voice came out quieter than I intended.
There was a brief pause.
"Thalia."
Her voice came through the phone, flat and distant. No irritation. No warmth. Nothing at all.
"Mother, is it really you?" I said again, quieter this time.
“God, Thalia, enough with the calls,” she said. “They’re nothing but a persistent annoyance.”
For a second, I couldn’t process the words. Then they sank in.
I gripped the phone tighter, my palms already damp, and swallowed
